Sunstone – Harry & Co Jewellery

Properties of Sunstone

Sunstone exhibits an optical effect called schiller due to reflections from inclusions of red copper, hematite, or goethite.
The appearance of sunstone is similar to aventurine.
Two kinds of sunstone are distinguished: oligoclase sunstone and orthoclase sunstone.
The color of sunstone is darkest in the middle and becomes lighter towards the outer edges.
Unpolished sunstone displays the optical effect caused by inclusions.
The inclusions in sunstone are hexagonal, rhombic, or irregular in shape.
The inclusions are parallel to the principal cleavage-plane.
Aventurine appearance is usually seen in oligoclase feldspar.
Orthoclase feldspar can also exhibit the aventurine effect.

Sunstone was not popular until recently.
Sunstone is found in Tvedestrand, near Arendal, in south Norway.
Other locations where sunstone is found include Lake Baikal in Siberia.
In the United States, sunstone can be found in Pennsylvania, Oregon, and North Carolina.
Orthoclase sunstone has been found in New York, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and Amelia County, Virginia.

A gemstone called Andesine, resembling sunstone, appeared in the market.
Many of these gemstones were artificially colored using a copper diffusion process.
A genuine source of red andesine was eventually verified in Tibet.
The authenticity of Andesine gemstones sourced from China was debated.
Independent groups of gemologists confirmed the authenticity of Tibetan red andesine.

Oregon sunstone is found in Harney County, Oregon, and eastern Lake County.
Crystals of Oregon sunstone can be quite large.
The copper content in Oregon sunstone leads to variant colors.
Oregon Sunstone was designated as the state gemstone of Oregon in 1987.
Turning one stone of Oregon sunstone can result in manifold hues due to varying copper content.

Reference	URL
Glossary	https://harryandcojewellery.com.au/blogs/glossary/sunstone
Wikipedia	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunstone
Wikidata	https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2729026
Knowledge Graph	https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/06fy5t