Sunstone

Sunstone is an extremely rare member of the Plagioclase Feldspar group of minerals and is closely related to moonstone and labradorite. The opaque cabochon usually has a shimmering brownish orange to reddish orange colour and contains hematite flakes in parallel bands. Some copper coloured sunstones have a metallic lustre and asterism – clear four-ray star. It is known as ‘schiller’ to gemmologists and ‘flower’ to African miners. Others are clear, colourless but have reflective inclusions consisting of red, orange and green platy crystals. These multitudes of coloured inclusions look like glitter. Facetted sunstone is translucent to slightly translucent and ranges from a soft pinkie orange to a fiery bright red colour. Initially sunstone was a collectable item for gemstone enthusiasts but now due to deposits found in Oregon they now are appearing on the market.

Sunstone is grades on its appearance Hardness – 6 Mohs – can be brittle . Low end of the market is nearly opaque with orange and patchy colour where as higher quality stones have an even body of colour and a clear four-ray star.

The name Feldspar comes from the German ‘Feldt Spat’, meaning ‘Field Stone’. This originates from Feldspar weathering it releases large deposits of nutrients for crops such as potassium, thus enriching the soil. Its gemmological name andesine derives from the location of its first discovery in the lava flows of the Andes Mountains, Bolivia in 1841.

It is mined from the surface from partially decomposed rock using a pick and shovel or from shallow pits, shafts and short adits dug to retrieve the rough.

Sunstone was discovered in the Viking burial mounds. Among the Vikings sunstone was believed to have aided navigation both in reality and during ones journey to the afterlife. Pope Clement VII (1478-1534) was reputed to have in his possession a sunstone with a golden star that moved according to the suns sunrise and sunset. The native Americans in Oregon used sunstone for trade and bartering and was declared the official gemstone of the county in 1987. Crystal healers believe sunstone to be useful for adding personal insight and alleviating depression.