Help finding a saturated morganite for rose gold ring

[chrono]

Date: 5/13/2010 11:43:37 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover
I thought Morganite faded too. Does anyone know for sure?

I read that it takes many years for morganite to fade.

 

[LD]

Roger - Morganite can fade however, the fading issue is not as bad with Morganite as with Kunzite. A few articles that mention fading - although I don''t know how accurate they are!

http://www.preciousgemstones.com/gfwin97two.html
http://www.minerals.net/work/morganit.htm
http://www.jckonline.com/article/283706-Fade_Testing_Has_The_Time_Come_.php

By the way, it''s not necessarily sunlight either than causes Kunzite to pale. I had a large Kunzite set into a ring, it stayed in my safe for 2 years without coming out. It started off as a gorgeous mid-pink - two years on, without sunlight - it''s virtually lost all its colour and now only has a hint of pink. I''m sure sunlight can speed up the process if a Kunzite is going to fade anyway BUT it doesn''t have to be placed in sunlight.

 

[Roger Dery]

Thanks LD and Chrono for your follow-up, all good information. As I looked through the article from Dr. Nassau, I selected out this particular text of his:

"Some materials don''t fade significantly for one to several weeks in the fade test described above and will last a few to many years under normal wear or display circumstances. They include pink kunzite, some rose quartz, some pink to red irradiated tourmaline, some apricot morganite and all deep blue to deep green maxixe beryl (may have been irradiated). On rare occasions, some amethyst has been reported to fade very slowly. Any materials colored with an organic dye will normally fall into this slow-fading group. Agates and other porous materials colored with inorganic salts do not fade."

So in this context he refers to "apricot morganite", which I must assume is not the pink variety.

And then, in his text "Gemstone Enhancement" from Butterworths 1991 edition, Dr. Nassau states on page 99: "Sinkankas mentions peach-colored morganites from Brazil and California which fade in the light to a permanent pink"

Therefore, it could be inferred that the Morganites that are now pink, are permanent, and may have been peach or apricot colored at one time. As a further note, I have a fairly large piece of Morganite rough that is still ''peachy'' colored. I have had it since 2002 and it has yet to fade yet it has had regular exposure to the sun. I know this is just anecdotal, but interesting nonetheless.

 

[sruizaroo]

I;m going to go with a lighter colored, very bright pink tourmaline instead of a morganite. Thanks for the Barry suggestion!