Shattuckite Value, Price, and Jewelry Information
Shattuckite is often mixed with quartz, and data often reported for properties may be erroneous. The cabochons are rich blue in color and very popular, but the material is not abundant and seldom seen on the market.
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for full access to our price guide (updated monthly).Shattuckite Value
Highest values go to finer blue colors.
Optics
a = 1.752-1.753; β= 1.782; γ=1.815. Mean refractive index 1.75.
Biaxial (+), 2V: 88°.
Occurrence
An alteration product of secondary copper minerals.
- Shattuck Mine, Bisbee, Arizona: dense blue massive material; also psuedomorphous after malachite.
- Ajo, Arizona: with other copper minerals.
- Katanga, Zaire: masses of light blue crystals; fibrous, radial aggregates, sometimes resembling a pale blue pectolite.
Comments by Dr. Joel Arem
Shattuckite is often mixed with quartz, and data often reported for properties may be erroneous. The cabochons are rich blue in color and very popular, but the material is not abundant and seldom seen on the market.
Comments by Donald Clark, CSM IMG
Often mixed with quartz. Primary source Shattuck Mine, Bisbee Arizona.
Shattuckite is often confused with plancheite, which has recently been identified as a separate species, formula Cu8(Si4O11)2(OH)4 . xH20 There is no method of distinguishing between these species with common instruments. Gems must be sent to a major lab for positive identification.
Name
From the Arizona locality, the Shattuck Mine. Recent studies have shown that plancheite, a mineral similar to and often confused with shattuckite, is a distinct species. The formula of plancheite is: Cu8(Si4O11)2(OH)4 ·Xh2O.
Joel E. Arem, Ph.D., FGA
Dr. Joel E. Arem has more than 60 years of experience in the world of gems and minerals. After obtaining his Ph.D. in Mineralogy from Harvard University, he has published numerous books that are still among the most widely used references and guidebooks on crystals, gems and minerals in the world.
Co-founder and President of numerous organizations, Dr. Arem has enjoyed a lifelong career in mineralogy and gemology. He has been a Smithsonian scientist and Curator, a consultant to many well-known companies and institutions, and a prolific author and speaker. Although his main activities have been as a gem cutter and dealer, his focus has always been education. joelarem.com
Donald Clark, CSM IMG
The late Donald Clark, CSM founded the International Gem Society in 1998. Donald started in the gem and jewelry industry in 1976. He received his formal gemology training from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and the American Society of Gemcutters (ASG). The letters “CSM” after his name stood for Certified Supreme Master Gemcutter, a designation of Wykoff’s ASG which has often been referred to as the doctorate of gem cutting. The American Society of Gemcutters only had 54 people reach this level. Along with dozens of articles for leading trade magazines, Donald authored the book “Modern Faceting, the Easy Way.”
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