KUNZITE, the pink variety of spodumene

Dims: 1-3/4" x 1-3/4" x 1/4"

Wt: 1.1 oz

Northwestern Frontier Province, Pakistan

One of our finest specimens of Kunzite, this Pakistani masterpiece is a symphony in rich, pink color, odd crystal form, and clean, curved terminations. It is Steve's favorite piece because the weird terminations are natural, not break-off points! The crystal looks as if it is made up of several crystals that are intergrown to form a parallel association. Its odd terminations are possibly caused by partial-healing after breakage, but may simply be caused by varying growing conditions during its formation. It has a pale pink color and a bright vitreous luster, and is transparent and quite clear, though a few internal fractures are visible. It is positively beautiful!

Dims: 2" x 1-1/2" x 1/4"

Wt: 1.1 oz

Northwestern Frontier Province, Pakistan

This piece of pink Spodumene shows a pale pink color, great clarity, and some unusual terminations due to partial healing after breakage. With a gem-quality clarity, this piece shows intense pleochroism according to its axes, ranging from an almost colorless, rosy hue to a deep pink, seemingly translucent glow. A tasty little specimen, if I do say so myself.

Dims: 2" x 1-1/2" x 3/16"

Wt: 0.6 oz

Northwestern Frontier Province, Pakistan

I like this piece best of all. The shape, of course, is the reason. It has a shallow, "spearhead" termination to it, and I'd swear it was due to a mirror-image contact twin. Steve isn't so sure. Anyway, its very clear due to its thinness, and has a groove etched into it that is not parallel to its striations; it got damaged somehow, but it doesn't look like a human-induced flaw. I think that this specimen is the best deal of the Kunzites.

Dims: 1-1/2" x 1-1/8" x 1-3/8"

Wt: 1.8 oz

Northwestern Frontier Province, Pakistan

This particular Kunzite specimen appears to have been broken at both ends and then partially healed before it was discovered. There are no large termination faces that one would expect for a crystal this diameter, but there are many small ones among the craggy basal faces. Its color is a medium pink and it has a pearly luster on its prism faces and a vitreous luster on its basal ones. As the close-up image shows, it glows readily under longwave UV light, although the glow is much more purple than the image shows. There is a small amount of broken albite in the crevices on one side of the specimen, accompanied by a tiny bit of muscovite mica. Due to much internal fracturing, I think that this piece would make a better specimen than a potential gemstone.

Dims: 4-3/8" x 1-1/2" x 5/8"

Wt: 2.89 oz

Northwestern Frontier Province, Pakistan

This specimen of gemmy Spodumene has a considerable mass. It consists of one crystal that ranges from pink to gray in color and from vitreous to waxy in luster. The pink end of the prism has a relatively complete termination that resembles an inverted chevron in shape, with the primary faces made up of several smaller, curved faces. There may be a small amount of damage to it at the termination tip, but the general structure of the termination makes it difficult to determine. The crystal fades in color and in luster along its prism faces to a dull gray. However, there are definite, if incomplete, termination faces at this end, too. The crystal may have simply underwent some heavy weathering at that end- it was perhaps the end that was protruding from a pegmatite. Anyway, it is impressively-sized and has an interesting variation.

Dims: 1.3" x 1.2" x 1.0"(3.3 x 3.0 x 2.5 cm)

Wt: 1.10 oz.(31.3 g)

Nuristan, Afghanistan

This Kunzite crystal not only has reasonably good form and a complete termination, it also has a zone of exceptional clarity inside of it. Like most Kunzite crystals, it has a moderate pink color and a vitreous luster. Many small, curved faces and one large, pitted face make up the termination. Its sides are heavily striated, interrupting one's view of the transparent crystal's interior. A small, clear face acts as a window, showing a spot inside that is quite free of internal fractures and other flaws. The crystal was broken off of its base while it was still forming, so its rough underside shows substantial healing. It is a very pretty specimen.

Dims: 1.8" x 1.3" x 0.5" (4.6 x 3.3 x 1.3 cm)

Wt: 16.3 g

Northwestern Frontier Province, Pakistan

This particular Kunzite specimen consists of part of a large, flat prismatic crystal that broke off during its formation and subsequently underwent partial healing. The area where the break occurred has multiple curved faces that appear conchoidal, which is not the way that Kunzite fractures. The intact faces look like the typical faces from a monoclinic prismatic spodumene crystal, with heavy, parallel striations on its prism faces and uniform growth patterns on its termination faces. It has a pale pink color and a vitreous luster, and is transparent and very clear, with only a few visible internal fractures.

Dims: 1.9" x 1.4" x 0.3" (4.8 x 3.6 x 0.8 cm)

Wt: 21.2 g

Northwestern Frontier Province, Pakistan

Another specimen of Kunzite that consists of part of a broken crystal, this piece nonetheless does not show any human-induced damage. Its breakage face has been partially healed over, and has many small faces that have an almost conchoidal appearance to them. Its intact prism faces are heavily striated and the angled termination consists of many tiny, curved faces; all of them show a vitreous luster. The piece has a pale pink color and is transparent and quite clear, though there are several internal fractures visible and some white inclusions on one edge of the flattened prism.

Dims: 1.5" x 0.9" x 0.6" (3.8 x 2.3 x 1.5 cm)

Wt: 1.01 oz. (28.7 g)

Northwestern Frontier Province, Pakistan

A section of a broken prismatic Kunzite crystal constitutes this specimen. It appears that the piece was broken on both ends during its formation, then partially healed. This may not be true, but I believe it is, because both terminations look nothing like most of the natural terminations that I have seen. It has a prismatic form that has an almost perfectly rectangular cross-section. All faces have a vitreous luster and its color is a pale pink. It is transparent and very clear, though there are several visible internal fractures and faint veil-like inclusions. Even though it does not have actual terminations, this specimen is very pretty.

Dims: 1.6" x 1.1" x 0.6" (4.1 x 2.83 x 1.5 cm)

Wt: 1.0 oz. (29.0 g)

Shigar, Northwestern Frontier Province, Pakistan

This single Kunzite crystal is in fair condition, showing considerable damage along its prism- at least one face is completely missing, and one other is incomplete. However, there is evidence of slight partial-healing that suggests this damage was not human-induced. Its monoclinic prismatic form is very good, however, as its intact edges are well-defined and its faces are striated but clean and possess a bright pearly luster. Its color is quite odd, and is its most appealing trait- the lower half of its length has the standard pink-to-lavender coloration that is expected of Kunzite, but its upper half has the pale green coloration that is associated with its relative, hiddenite. This color change occurs abruptly, along a line that runs parallel to the one intact prism face that lies above it. Apparently, the surrounding impurities changed abruptly as the crystal formed. There is no host rock present, though a thin crust of a dull, white material covers the termination.

Dims: 1.3 x 0.5 x 0.4" (3.3 x 1.3 x 1.0 cm)

Wt: 9.4 g

Kunar Valley, Afghanistan

This single Kunzite crystal is in moderately good condition, showing considerable damage that has removed half of its most acute prism edge and left a clean, flat face that is deprived of striation. It has good monoclinic prismatic form, with relatively well-defined edges and heavily striated but mostly clean faces that possess a bright pearly-to-vitreous luster, and is doubly-terminated. When viewed from its sides, it shows a rather pale pink coloration, but Kunzite's pleochroism makes the color appear much deeper when the crystal is viewed from either end. It is transparent and quite clear at one end, but clouds up considerably at the other end because of a high concentration of inclusions and internal fractures. There is no host rock or other material present.

Dims: 2.8 x 0.6 x 0.4" (7.0 x 10.4 x 10.1 cm)

Wt: 0.8 oz. (23 g)

Pala Chief Mine, San Diego County, California, U.S.A.

This Kunzite crystal is in very good condition, showing no fresh damage, and has reasonably good monoclinic prismatic form. Its pink color is standard for its variety, and pleochroism is obvious. Its luster is pearly-to-vitreous on its patterned surfaces, and it is transparent and moderately clear, containing many internal fractures. There is no base or host rock present.

Dims: 1.7 x 0.6 x 0.6" (4.2 x 1.5 x 1.5 cm)

Wt: 8 g

unknown

A small, warped Kunzite crystal comprises this thumbnail specimen. The crystal appears to be in very good condition, but its form is so warped and it has so many curved striations and edges that it is quite difficult to be certain. Its monoclinic form is visually nonexistent, and its warped faces have a vitreous luster and allow one to see inside the transparent, clear material. Its pink color has a faint violet tint and looks deeper when the crystal is viewed along its length. There is no host rock present.

Dims: 3.4 x 2.7 x 1.3" (8.5 x 6.9 x 3.3 cm)

Wt: 10.3 oz. (293 g)

Nuristan, Loghman Province, Afghanistan

This considerable cabinet specimen consists of a columnar association of parallel, partly intergrown Kunzites. These crystals are in excellent condition, showing only very minor damage, and have reasonably good monoclinic form, given their intergrowth- all show rather intense growth patterns and possibly some weathering in areas. The crystals are essentially colorless, though there is a faint pinkish tinge, and their luster is pearly on their prism faces but vitreous on their termination faces. They are cloudy and translucent except for the last one-fourth of their length near their terminations, which are transparent and noticeably clear. There is no base or host rock present.

Dims: 1.0x0.5x3.2" (2.6x1.2x8.1 cm)

Wt: 1.1 oz. (31.5g)

La Veo ole Vaucum, Galilea, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Our first kunzite specimen from Brazil has excellent clarity, color, and pleochroism. The crystal has only a few faces that appear to be natural crystal facets, although the irregular appearance and terminations can be typical for kunzite. There are a couple of whitish inclusions, one of which has a black tip, but I have no idea of their composition.

Dims: 3.2x1.1x0.3" (8.1x2.9x0.8 cm)

Wt: 0.56 oz. (15.9g)

Madagascar

A very nice kunzite, this specimen of purple spogumene is extremely clear and shows excellent pleochroism, being completely colorless from some angles, and yet appearing purple when viewed along the length of the crystal. The surfaces all appear to be fracture surfaces - there is no indication of original crystal faces. It has been attached to a plastic display stand.

Dims: 2.1x0.9x0.3" (5.4x2.4x0.9 cm)

Wt: 0.45 oz. (12.8g)

Madagascar

This specimen of kunzite shows exceptional clarity and very good pink color along the length of the crystal. The pleochroism is also excellent, as the crystal appears completely colorless from one angle, yet pink from another. It also appears to be undamaged. At first, I thought that there were some diagonal scratches on the face of the specimen, but close examination reveals that they are internal to the crystal, and along the "parting" direction, possibly evidence that the crystal was flexed slightly at some point in its history. The crystal faces show a complex pattern, with typical curved terminations.

Dims: 1.8x1.1x0.3" (4.5x2.7x0.7cm)

Wt: 0.46 oz. (13.1g)

Madagascar

This kunzite specimen is undamaged, and shows good pleochroism. It does not quite look colorless when viewed face on, but the color does go to a nice pink when viewed along the crystal axis. The texture of the crystals, when viewed with the aid of a loupe, is very appealing, as what superficially appears to be a rough surface is resolved into thousands of tiny identical growth patterns. Also, at one end of the crystal, in a small cavity, is an oddity: it looks like another crystal of spodumene, either completely colorless or perhaps another kunzite crystal with a different orientation. To the unaided eye it appears as a bright colorless or white inclusion, but with a loupe it becomes a very bright colorless transparent crystal nestled in a pink cavity. Very pretty!

Dims: 1.8x0.2x1.2" (4.5x0.5x3.0cm)

Wt: 0.30 oz. (8.6g)

Madagascar

This kunzite crystal has excellent color, clarity, and pleochroism. One face is nearly a perfect plane, while the edges and other face have enough of the charactgeristic shapes and faces to reflect the pink interior to the sides. Odly enough, there is a hole passing through the crystal. Also, some of the edges are razor sharp.

Dims: 2.62x1.10x0.51" (6.66x2.79x1.30cm)

Wt: 1.10oz (31.1g)

Kunar Tal, Nuristan, Afghanistan

This is a very unusual specimen - it is a phantom of kunzite in a spodumene crystals. Of course, kunzite is just pink or lilac colored spodumene, but what makes this specimen so nice is that the bottom 40% of the crystal is lilac in color, with the remainder being nearly colorless. The colored portion has the same shape as the overall crystal. There is a hint of the kunzite crystal impressed upon the pink druze which coats one side of the crystal. Upon tilting the specimen, the color zoning becomes evident. Speaking of the druze, it is lilac colored and I wish I could identify it. A loupe shows that the crystals are transparent, have a basal termination, and as far as I can tell, A CIRCULAR CROSS SECTION. There is so much of it that I am sure it is something common but with an unusual form and/or color.