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By Gavin Clarke Reviewed By Andreas Zabczyk Jul 11, 2008 Updated Sep 15, 2017

History of Sunstone

Sunstone belongs to the plagioclase feldspar group, and gets its name from its unusual spangled or glittery appearance. Its proper mineralogical name, however, is aventurine feldspar, named after a type of glass made with copper that was discovered by chance (from the Italian, a ventura). This is one of the rare cases where the name of a natural stone came from its synthetic simulant.

Aventurine is the name used for both a type of green quartz and a golden variety of feldspar. Both have a metallic glittery appearance caused by inclusions. The spangled effect is known as aventurescence. Perhaps to avoid confusion, the name sunstone was adopted in the gem trade for the feldspar, while the name aventurine (or aventurine quartz) is used for the quartz variety.

Sunstone is typically a red-brown hue, with a metallic glitter that is caused by tiny platelets of hematite or goethite. The glitter is usually gold or red, but very occasionally it is green or blue. We have found opaque to transparent specimens in the market. The opaque material is cut as cabochons while the transparent material can be faceted. Some of the cabochons display a discernible star effect and are sold under the name star sunstone.

Sunstone is composed of sodium calcium aluminum silicate, with a hardness of 6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale. It has a density of 2.62 to 2.65 and a refractive index of 1.525 to 1548. It has perfect cleavage.

Sunstone deposits are found in India, Canada, Madagascar, Norway, Russia and the USA. In 1987 sunstone was declared the state mineral for Oregon in the USA. The Oregon sunstone is rather unique in that it is the only sunstone that contains copper crystals.

Sunstone has been known for many centuries and has been discovered in Viking burial mounds. Sunstone was thought to have magical properties and could be used to invoke the energy of the sun. In ancient Greece, it was thought to represent the sun god, bringing life and abundance to those fortunate enough to own it. The native people in Oregon used it for trade and barter.

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Overall Rating -> 10

It was a nice and easy process throughout! The website is simple and well made I found everything I needed quickly. I needed some emeralds of a certain size for my custom engagement ring but they only had 3 available on the website, So bought the available ones and reached put to customer service to see if they have any more and they messaged me back within minutes with a list of similar sized emeralds that were not on the site! I quickly purchased my remaining emerald and they added it to my first order! I am more than pleased with the experience and I will be recommending them to anyone in the market for gems! 10/10

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Source: Bizrate

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what i like is the variety, the search options. Would like a few more pictures though of each gem

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This is the second purchase I have made from you. I am very pleased.

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Source: Bizrate

Overall Rating -> 8