Preface
Welcome back to our mid-Summer at DMS
Picfest Central! We won't be surfing on the
waves, but we'll sure be web surfing. Please do join us for a
Sugilite Picfest!
So, jump on in with this month's favorite:
Sugilite!
Let's
go!
Introduction
Welcome to
another annual Mineral
Picfest summer blast!
Sugilite began its career as curiousity, discovered by a scientist
around
sixty years ago. Lately, its lapidary potential and consumer
response has
led this stone into a dollars-per-gram spotlight. Well, here it
is: Sugilite.
Enjoy!
Sugilite is a mineral named after a scientist: Professor Ken-ichi Sugi,
as approved by the
IMA in 1974. He discovered it in Japan around 1944. Today's
major source is Africa. A
complex silicate mineral, sugilite has grown in popularity since
1981, when it was marketed
as a gemstone.
Premiering
at the Tuscon Minerals Show in 1981, Sugilite was introduced as
"Royal Lavulite",
or just "Lavuelite". One year after, a California company
trademarked the name "Royal Azel".
The latter name is what I remember selling it as in, earlier in
my jewelry career.
(Source:
http://www.denelder.com/crystals/sugilite.html)
Best known
as a purple to lavender hued stone, it is best suited to
cabachon treatment in
jewelry and lapidary world. To my eye, the best color
might be described as a half-eaten grape
Tootsie Pop, the dark brown undertones of the chocolatey center
refracting through the hazy,
deep purple lollipop shell.
A provocative mineral, Sugilite, stands out as memorable
magenta,
a winner for gem color in the violet range.
Uses
Sugilite has
only a gemstone usage known to date.
Links
http://www.mindat.org/min-3822.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugilite
http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/silicate/sugilite/sugilite.htm
Members' Gallery
Here is where DMS Members can add their
Sugilite
photos to share with us.
Until Next Time
We hope you have enjoyed our all too short visit to
Sugilite. Please join us next month,
for another article, and we shall journey together!
Until then, stay safe, and happy collecting.
Article Contributors
I would like to gratefully acknowledge the generous contributions of our fellow
Sugilite
enthusiasts,
collectors, authors, curators, professionals, and club members who made this
work possible.
Thanks.
© 2008 All contributions
to this article are covered under the copyright protection of this article
and by separate and several copyright protection(s), and are to be used for the sole
purposes of
enjoying this scholarly article. They are used gratefully with express written
permission of the
authors, save for generally-accepted scholarly quotes, short in nature, deemed legal to
reference
with the appropriate citation and credit. Reproduction of this article must be
obtained by express
written permission of the author, Kenneth B. Casey, for his contributions, authoring,
photos, and
graphics. Use of all other credited materials requires permission of each
contributor separately.
Links and general contact information are included in the credits above, and throughout
this article.
The advice offered herein are only suggestions; it is the reader's charge to use the
information
contained herein responsibly. DMS is not responsible for misuse or accidents caused
from this
article. All opinions, theories, proofs, and views expressed within this article, and in
others on this
website, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Delaware Mineralogical Society.
Suggested Reading
|
|
 |
About
the Author:
Ken is current webmaster of the Delaware
Mineralogical Society. He has a diploma in
Jewelry Repair, Fabrication & Stonesetting from the Bowman Technical School,
Lancaster, PA, and worked as jeweler.
He has
also studied geology at the University of Delaware.
And,
he is currently a member of the Delaware Mineralogical Society and the Franklin-Ogdensburg
Mineralogical Society.
E-mail:
kencasey98@yahoo.com.
|
|
