AAA Bicolor 7x5mm .9ct Oregon Sunstone

This stone originated at the Sunstone Butte mine. This higher elevation mine (about 15 miles from the Sunstone Collection area) has an abundance of darker colored greens and bicolor Oregon Sunstones. This one is cut in a rectangle with concave cuts on the sides to give it extra refraction. Photos just don't do this stone justice. The stone weighs 3.85ct and measures 7.8x12mm.

Here's a nice little Oregon Sunstone with some fantastic color and copper schiller. Oregon Sunstone is such a fun material because no two stones are ever 100% alike. This one has that AAA copper schiller, and the color is a nice dark pink, a little less orange than some. The color is almost what I'd call a Padparadscha pink. There are many legends around Oregon Sunstone and Sunstone in general. The Northern Piute legend is that a great warrior fell wounded by an enemies arrow. The warriors blood carried his spirit into the stones, staining them red and giving them sacred power. The Norse were known to have used calcite to be able to determine the location of the sun on overcast days, but this is different from the silicate feldspar we know as Sunstone today. While there are other feldspar materials known as Sunstone, Oregon Sunstone is the only one with the unique copper inclusions. This particular gem weighs 1.02ct and measures 6mm. It's cut into a cute cushion design that would work well in a ring or a small pendant.

Oregon Sunstone, the always natural and untreated state gem is a rare feldspar containing copper, which gives it not only a wide range of colors, but also the aventurescent quality called "schiller" from thousands of microscopic bits of copper inside the stone. Usually, these crystals get only as large as 60-70cts before being cut. Often, bigger crystals have fractures, which makes cutting large stones over 10cts difficult. This stone, however, is not the norm. It weighs a massive 22.9ct and measures 23x17mm. It's the largest stone in my inventory. Just being large isn't the only thing that makes this stone special, though. The tri-color green, pink, and gold or "mystique" color is one of the rarest for Oregon Sunstone. Watch the colors shift and move as the stone turns. The concave cutting on this gem also ads to the brilliance, giving it a radient shine. It is truly a one of a kind masterpiece.