What Color is Iolite?

[Tacori E-ring]

I always thought it was a blue or grayish blue, can it be a purple?

 

[conitta]

Violet-blue to gray-blue is what my Jewelry & Gem book says.I have a pair of earrings and they would fall into that color range...more violet than blue.

 

[Jelly]

Think a darker tanzanite. It''s a beautiful stone.

 

[C Smith]

My references call it out as intense blue/purple to appearance of colorlessness from some directions.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Richard M.]

Date: 6/25/2006 9:04:00 PM
Author:Tacori E-ring
I always thought it was a blue or grayish blue, can it be a purple?

It''s trichroic (3 different colors depending on the direction you view it). Usually only one pleochroic color is eye-visible, either yellowish or colorless depending on chemistry, and it''s nearly always oriented with the best blue color perpindicular to the table facet.

Arem gives the basic colors as: blue, bluish violet, smoky blue; rarely greenish, gray, yellowish, brown. It''s a popular substitute for violetish tanzanite but its distinctly lower refractive index gives it away -- to my eye, at least. Any ''tanzanite'' that''s dull or of low brilliance should be checked by a gemologist.

Richard M.