Zunyite Value, Price, and Jewelry Information

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Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0 [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

An overview on Zunyite Jewelry and Gemstones. Covers details and essential information on the physical properties and characteristics of Zunyite gemstone.

Zunyite Information

Data	Value
Name	Zunyite
Stone Sizes	Cuttable zunyite may be found in Japanese material but has never been reported. However, in 1986 enormous (up to 2 cm) crystals of zunyite were found in a prospect pit near Quartzsite, Arizona. These are perfect tetrahedra, pale beige—brown in color, in matrix. Minute areas of some of these crystals were perfectly transparent, colorless, and suitable for cutting into faceted gems up to ½ carat in size.
Formula	Al₁₃Si₅O₂₀(OH,F)₁₈Cl.
Colors	Colorless, grayish, pale beige—brown.
Hardness	7
Cleavage	Easy 1 direction
Crystallography	Isometric, typically in tetrahedral crystals, rarely octahedrons; twinned.
Refractive Index	1.600
Birefringence	None
Luminescence	Fluoresces intense red (Quartzsite).
Luminescence Present	Yes
Luminescence Type	Fluorescent
Absorption Spectrum	Not diagnostic.
Pleochroism	None.
Optics	N = 1.600.
Luster	Vitreous.
Specific Gravity	2.87
Transparency	Transparent to translucent.

Optics: N =1.600.

Occurrence: At the type locality, the Zuni mine, near Silverton, Colorado, enclosed in guitermanite; also as a vein mineral in Ouray County, Colorado, and as an alteration product of feldspar in a dike rock in Saguache County.

Quartzsite, Arizona: large crystals.

Postmasburg, South Africa: in aluminous shales.

Kuni village, Gamma Prefecture, Japan: transparent tetrahedral crystals.

Algeria.

Name: After the type locality in Colorado.