Kunzite

Millions of years ago, deep in the bowels of our Earth, gemstones were created in innumerable variations. We are familiar with most of them, and indeed we have been so in most cases for thousands of years. Yet every now and again a previously unknown variant of a gem comes to light. One of these 'young' gemstones is kunzite, with its delicate pink hues, a gem which is seen more and more often nowadays, making an attractive eye-catcher in jewellery. Yes, kunzite has only been known for a little more than a hundred years, and yet it is now going through something like a second renaissance.As we have already said, kunzite is still a very young gemstone. It was not until 1902 that the New York jeweller and gemstone specialist George Frederick Kunz (1856 – 1932) became the first person to give a comprehensive description of this stone, which had just been discovered in California. And since newly discovered gemstones are usually given the name of their discoverer or patron, this new pale pink discovery was called 'kunzite'. Above all, the appeal of this gemstone lies in its clarity and its fine delicate pink nuances which often display a hint of violet. These are delicate, tender hues, feminine and seductive. In order to make sure that the fine colour is shown to its full advantage, the cutter must align the raw crystal very precisely during his work. The reason is that depending on the angle from which you look at a kunzite, it can appear violet, pink or even colourless. Indeed some kunzites from finds in Afghanistan display a rich, strong violet, a light violet and a light green depending on the angle of observation. In gemmology, this phenomenon is known as pleochroism, the meaning of which equates to 'multi-colouredness'. This property is particularly well developed in kunzite. If you have the opportunity to look at a kunzite from close up, watch out for it. In a well cut stone, the most beautiful colour nuance will always be visible from above, experienced cutters working the raw crystal in perfect accord with its material properties. Most kunzites, however, have a fairly light colour. Strongly coloured kunzite is rare and thus correspondingly valuable. This gemstone is the youngest member of the spodumen family, to which the green or yellowish-green hiddenite, discovered about a quarter of a century earlier, also belongs. Hiddenite too bears the name of its discoverer, W. E. Hidden. Those who are interested in gemmology will know that, together with diopside, jadeite and three other kinds of mineral, the spodumens make up the pyroxene group, the word pyroxene being derived from the Greek words pyr (fire) and xenos (stranger).