Iolite

[stepcutnut]

I was wondering if those of you who own Iolite,(yes-I know this might be few and far between because it is difficult to find a pretty specimen without much grey), have you set it in a ring at all? If so, how is it holding up???

 

[soberguy]

I do not own one, however, Borsheim''s Jewelry in Omaha NE had a beautiful one. I almost bought it, but I didn''t know enough about them. Oh, it was in a ring btw lol

 

[T L]

They always have grey down one axis of the crystal since they are a dichroic stone. Therefore, to find one without significant grey is difficult because the table would have to be perfectly aligned to the axis without the grey. I''m not particularly crazy about iolite, low RI, too much grey, but they are inexpensive.

 

[Barrett]

TL is right..always a gray color down one axis or as you are going between axis

 

[stepcutnut]

Thanks for the input. Does anyone have one in a ring that they wear?

I must have got a good one from Barry-he said it is one of the best he's seen. It has a gorgeous color shift from blue to purple---looks like a very nice tanzie, without the dreaded grey-which he said is such a feat to cut without in turn making it overly dark. It is a bugger to photograph though!!!

I am planning on setting it in a ring, because I love the color. If it survives the setting process, I will still have to be very very careful wearing it though.

 

[LD]

I''ve got (well I''ve lost them at the moment but I did have) a pair of earrings with an Iolite top and bottom with diamonds in between. They have very little grey and actually look incredibly like Tanzanite.

 

[marcy]

I have owned several iolite rings and did not find them too gray. They are very pretty stones and do remind me of tanzanite. They wore well but I did not wear them every day.

 

[lavatea]

Sorry for dredging up an old thread, but I guess that's not much different from starting my own.

I'm curious about treatment on iolite. I found a cool iolite ring on etsy, but I'm trying to make sure that any future gemstone purchases are free from treatments. Just wondering what, if anything, one has to look out for when purchasing iolite.

 

[PrecisionGem]

In Tanzania, Iolite is sometimes mixed in with parcels of rough Tanzanite, as they can look rather similar. It seems from what I have seen that the best blue colored stones are usually too dark. There are very pretty iolite stones, finding a nice one can be a challenge.

 

[T L]

I am unaware of any treatement on iolite. It is a rather inexpensive gem, and it's acutally used to dupe people into thinking it's a more expensive tanzanite. It is basically used as a simulant for tanzanite, even though it is a natural simulant. However, "never say never" when it comes to gem treatment, at least that's my stance and I'm sticking to it!

 

[zeolite]

Re:

They always have grey down one axis of the crystal since they are a dichroic stone. Therefore, to find one without significant grey is difficult because the table would have to be perfectly aligned to the axis without the grey.

Here's an iolite rectangle (not quite a cube) cut to show the extreme dichroism. The triangular shaped facets in the gray direction are actual crystal faces that should have been cut away, during the "cube" cutting process.

 

[AustenNut]

I am always learning something new here. And wow, Zeolite, what an illustration of TL's point! But I might have to go searching for one of the rare, non-greyish iolites...

(ETA a missing article)

 

[StonieGrl]

I must have seen some well-cut iolite because it wasn't very gray.

I've been wanting to buy some but Barry says he isn't buying any more iolite rough until his source drops the price, he said it was much too high.

So add iolite to the growing list of stones jumping in price. Remember spinel 3 or 4 years ago?

 

[Lee Little]

Generally, Iolite is not a treated stone, no heat even.
It is also harder and tougher than Tanzanite, which is almost always heated.
Iolite has many qualities that allow it to stand on its own, even though it is often thought to be a simulant for Tanzanite. Best regards, Lee

 

[chictomato]

HI there! This is an Iolite from gemrite. I did not set it though