Iolite Value, Price, and Jewelry Informa on

This stone, which represents one of the few rela vely available and affordable blue stone op ons, is rapidly gaining in popularity. Arguably the gain is due m
exposure in mail order catalogs and on cable shopping channels than to promo on by tradi onal jewelry stores. Run of the mill stones o en have a steely, i
washed out blue color, but the best specimens can rival AAA tanzanite in the satura on of their blue-violet hue.

Iolite Value
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Iolite Value via Gem Price Guide

Top Color: slvB 5/4

Faceted Under 1 carat 1 to 3 carats 3 carats plus

   to   /ct    to   /ct    to   /ct

Colorless All sizes

   to   /ct
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Iolite Informa on
DATA VALUE

Name Iolite

Is a Variety of Cordierite

Crystallography  Orthorhombic.

Refrac ve Index  1.522-1.578

Colors  Blue, slightly violet blue, gray, near colorless

Luster  Vitreous.

Fracture  Conchoidal to uneven

Hardness  7-7.5

Specific Gravity  2.53-2.78

Birefringence  0.005-0.018

Cleavage  Dis nct 1 direc on

 DATA VALUE

Dispersion  0.017

Heat Sensi vity No

Luminescence  None.

Wearability  Very Good

Enhancements  None.

Special Care None

Instruc ons

Transparency  Translucent to transparent.

Absorp on Iron spectrum. Weak bands at 6451, 5930, 5850, 5350, 4920, 4560, 4360, and 4260. Spectrum observed varies with direc on of crystal.
Spectrum 

Phenomena  Chatoyancy, asterism (very rare).

Formula (Mg,Fe2) Al4Si5O18

Pleochroism  Intense and dis nc ve. Fe-rich crystals: a = colorless; γ = violet. Mg-rich crystals: pale yellow to green/pale blue/violet, violet-blue.

Op cs  Biaxial (+). May be (-).

This stone, which represents one of the few rela vely available and affordable blue stone op ons, is rapidly gaining in popularity. Arguably the gain is due m
exposure in mail order catalogs and on cable shopping channels than to promo on by tradi onal jewelry stores. Run of the mill stones o en have a steely, i
washed out blue color, but the best specimens can rival AAA tanzanite in the satura on of their blue-violet hue.

Iolite is frequently step cut to enhance color and o en windowed and/or shallow cut to lighten tone. The cu er must orient the rough carefully, taking iolit
trichroism of blue, gray and near colorless into account. So far, no treatments have been successfully used to lighten color or to remove inclusions, so one c
assume that gems are untreated.

Its hardness of 7-7.5 makes it a suitable jewelry stone, though the presence of cleavage must be taken into account and some care exercised. Most of the io
world commerce comes from India, but substan al amounts are also mined in Tanzania, Brazil and Sri Lanka.

VALUE CONSIDERATIONS
Sinkankas lists the wholesale value of fine blue violet stones in the 1 to 5 carat range as $60 to $80 per carat and $100 to $150 per carat for stones 5 to 10
also notes that stones larger than 8 carats are rarely eye clean. Federman is more conserva ve, lis ng retail values as $100 and $150 per carat, respec vely
those size ranges. Wri ng in 1990 he reports that German cu ers have been buying iolite rough in quan ty to capitalize on an expected surge in popularity
price.

by Barbara Smigel, PhD. GG

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