Andalusite is a little known gemstone which usually comes in earthy or fall colors such as orange, yellow, brown, green and gold. It is rated at 7.5 on Mohs hardness scale so it is suitable for all types of jewelry. It is not often found in very large sizes but is available in convenient calibrated lots for jewelry design or display.
Its special feature is the change of color seen when the gemstone is moved from angle to angle. With Andalusite, you do not need to move the gemstone very much to see the effect, very often green, red and orange flashes can be seen with only the slightest of movement.
It is usually facet cut to emphasize this color shift. The most common shapes are round, which gives an almost mosaic result as the various colors blend into each other, or longer shapes where the lighter colors in the middle are capped by dark colors at each end.
My order was late by a few days, even though I paid extra for express shipping. Everything else was fantastic though, stones arrived beautifully packaged and I was pleasantly surprised that information cards were included for each stone. Fabulous :)
