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By Gavin Clarke Reviewed By Andreas Zabczyk Jul 02, 2008 Updated Jan 24, 2019

Scapolite Gemstones

Scapolite is one of the lesser-known gemstones and is not widely available. You're unlikely to find it in your local jewelry store. Nonetheless, it's a desirable and attractive gem for both jewelers and collectors, with good brilliance and a vitreous luster.

Faceted Scapolite Gemstone

Cat's eye scapolite is also found occasionally and is sought after by collectors. Scapolite is not a particularly hard stone, however, with a rating of 5.5 to 6 on the Mohs scale. So it is best used for pendants, earrings and brooches.

Scapolite was first discovered in 1913 in the Mogok Stone Tract in upper Burma. It comes in an interesting variety of colors, including white, colorless, greenish, gray, yellow, brown, reddish and pink. There is also a lavender variety of scapolite that is produced by heat treatment. The other colors are typically untreated. The most common color for scapolite gemstones is bright honey-yellow.

Scapolite, which is Greek for "rod" or "shaft," is commonly found long columnar crystals, hence the name. Its crystals are tetragonal so it will commonly have a square or octahedral cross-section. Scapolite has a density of 2.57 to 2.74 and a refractive index of 1.540 to 1.579.

Natural Cat's Eye Scapolite Gemstone

Scapolite, which is sodium calcium aluminum silicate, has a rather complex chemical composition. Scapolite is actually the name of a series of minerals between the sodium chloride rich mineral called marialite and the calcium carbonate rich mineral, meionite. Distinguishing the scapolite minerals from each other can be difficult. Types of scapolite differ only slightly in density and refractive index, and both density and refractive index increase along with the calcium content. It is because of this closeness in properties and yet seemingly different chemistries that scapolite has had its share of pseudonyms, the most common being wernerite (named for its discoverer). Scapolite has also been known as mizzonite, dipyre, marialite and meionite.

Gemstone-quality scapolite usually exhibits excellent transparency. Some of the less transparent material exhibits chatoyancy (the cat's eye effect) when cut as cabochons. Cat's eye stones are rather rare and desirable as they tend to have exceptionally sharp eyes.

Scapolite is found in a number of locations around the world, including Canada, the USA, Norway, Italy and Mexico. Gemstone sources are found in Brazil, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Canada and Burma.

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ES MI PRIMERA COMPRA, EN CUANTO A LA INFORMACION Y GUIA PARA COMPREAR VEO QUE ESTA MUY BIEN.ESPEREMOS A VER COMO TERMINA LA ENTREGA DEL ARTICULO.

Posted By ANGEL in June, 2022

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Overall Rating -> 10

I recently bought some stones for Christmas gifts for my family from GemSelect and was thrilled at the speed they arrived to me. The descriptions were accurate and could be verified by myself upon receiving the stones, though the only issue i had was finding exact stones i wanted. The sorting system is fanastically detailed, but often seems to trim more results than expected when i was selecting things to look by. They arrived safely and all together, as described per my purchase order and i could not be more satisfied. There aren't many that are looking to buy loose stones like this, but it really gets the job done.

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I was led to the site by google when looking for specific green sapphire briolette. Site is well laid out and very easy to purchase from. Hope the stone is as satisfying!

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Everything was perfect, the stone was gorgeous, and delivery was on time. I cannot add anything else.

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As long as I continue to have confidence that what I am buying is genuinely what is being advertised then I am happy. If an item is listed as natural but is actually lab created, well that would be the last time I support this company.

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