Sphalerite Fire

Some gemstones display a rare property known as fire. When you turn a gemstone in the light, these gemstones will display flashes of color, which is the result of the dispersion of white light into the colors of the spectrum. Dispersion occurs when different wavelengths of light are separated by refraction. Diamond is famed for this quality, and a number of other gemstones are notable for their fire, including demantoid garnet, sphene and zircon.

Reddish-Orange Sphalerite Gemstone

However, there is a little-known gem which has even greater fire; in fact its dispersion rating is three times as high as that for diamond. The gem is called sphalerite. It is a rare gemstone that is not usually seen in mainstream jewelry, but gem dealers who specialize in collector's gems will sometimes have specimens in stock.

Natural Sphalerite

Sphalerite is zinc sulphide and is best known in the mineral world as the chief ore of zinc. Most sphalerite contains iron and when the iron content is high it is opaque and black. The rare gem-quality crystals have a very low iron content and considerable transparency. They are typically yellowish to honey brown, red, orange or green.

Sphalerite is a relatively soft gem, with a hardness of only 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale, about the same as fluorite. So despite its amazing fire, it is not suitable for everyday-wear rings. It has a density or specific gravity of 3.90 to 4.10, making it one of the denser gems, similar to sapphire and ruby, but not quite as dense as zircon. In addition to its outstanding dispersion, it has a very high refractive index of 2.368 to 2.371, just slightly lower than diamond and substantially higher than zircon, spessartite garnet and sapphire. Sphalerite can have outstanding luster and it is one of very few gems that are classified as having an adamantine (diamond-like) luster. Like diamond, sphalerite forms as a cubic crystal and has perfect cleavage. Clean specimens are very rare except in small sizes.

Namibian Sphalerite

The two most important sources for gem-quality sphalerite are the Chivera mine in Sonora, Mexico and the Picos de Europa mine, near Santander on Spain's northern coast. Sphalerite is also found in Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Enthusiasts seek out sphalerite specimens for their impressive dispersion. It is worth noting that gems with darker body colors tend to show less fire compared to lighter colored gems. As a general rule, large light-colored stones with excellent clarity are likely to showcase the highest dispersion.

First Published: December-09-2008

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