What colored stones have great fire?

[ieatbugs]

I'm talking about the multi-tonal rainbow of hues that great specimens of Sphene have:



(See the colors in the lower left corner of this one)


I know diamonds often have it, but what other colored stones deliver an intense fire? Are there any?

As always...does anyone have pictures of some they can share??

 

[GregS]

I have a Brazilian Alexandrite that sends out fiery hot pink and aqua blue flashes under incandescent lighting.

 

[chrono]

Plenty; I once listed them somewhere on PS. In terms of wearability, they all rate poorly though. Rainbow dispersion is a function of white light being broken down into various colours and can be measured by RI. A dark body colour will also interfere with dispersion.

Demantoid - 0.057 The chrome greens will show less dispersion than the lighter bodied yellowish greens.
Sphene - 0.051 Same with the above, the yellows will show better dispersion than the darker bodied greens.
Zircon - 0.039
Diamond - 0.044
Tanzanite - 0.030 Their darker body colour masks the dispersion
Spessartite - 0.027

The rest are much lower.

 

[GregS]

It seems I may have misunderstood, nevertheless here are some pictures of my Alexandrite in mixed lighting. Multi-color fire which is impossible to photograph.





A brown Pakistani Sphene, beautiful light show from a mud colored stone. Lot's of dispersion...

 

[ieatbugs]

I don't think you Misunderstood at all, GregS, those are beautiful!

 

[ieatbugs]

Plenty; I once listed them somewhere on PS. In terms of wearability, they all rate poorly though. Rainbow dispersion is a function of white light being broken down into various colours and can be measured by RI. A dark body colour will also interfere with dispersion.

Demantoid - 0.057 The chrome greens will show less dispersion than the lighter bodied yellowish greens.
Sphene - 0.051 Same with the above, the yellows will show better dispersion than the darker bodied greens.
Zircon - 0.039
Diamond - 0.044
Tanzanite - 0.030 Their darker body colour masks the dispersion
Spessartite - 0.027

The rest are much lower.

Ah, well this list explains a LOT about my own personal preferences: Some of my top favorites are Demantoid, Sphene, Zircon, Tanzanite, Alexandrite.