Tenebrescent Scapolite

[trishy]

i was window shopping from my laptop today... and i came across this... this... tenebrescent? scapolite. im surprised i have never seen or heard of it before cuz it is just the coolest thing. apparently, its colorless, and when exposed to sw uv it changes to blue, then in a matter of minutes will go back to colorless!!!
i have so many questions!!!
-does tenebrescence happen with any other gem?
-do these only go from colorless to a shade of blue?
-do they come in any other colors like pink or lavender etc?
-are these a rare occurence?
-is it some form of fluorescence?
-does it ever get 'stuck' in one color after so much sw/uv exposure?

i'd love to know more about this lovely newfound treasure, as im really thinkin i gotta have one. i have not ever seen or heard of this til now, and im wondering if anyone has seen this tenebrescent action in real life...?
even better, does anyone here own one that they can share some pics? i am just so intrigued by this

in any case PLEASE!! help me know more!! and if possible show me more... whether its from your own collection or any that are available for purchase online... i've tried to do a search and come up with nothing..the colorless photo, seems very drab to me, but pics can make it so hard to tell what a gem is like irl
but if there is better quality to be had out there, i know pricescope will know

here is a pic of said gem - both colorless and swuv exposed blue

 

[morecarats]

Hackmanite, the pink variety of sodalite, is the mineral most known for tenebrescence -- when exposed to light it slowly fades to colorless. If you put it in the dark for a while (or expose it to short wave UV light) it will regain its color.

The process is know as reversible photochromism. You may be familiar with this if you have some photosensitive eyeglasses that turn darker in sunlight and then lighter indoors. (If you haven''t seen this before, it''s just the coolest thing).

There are other gems that sort of exhibit this property. There used to be a lot of brown topaz sold on eBay as "imperial topaz". If you exposed it to sunlight for about 24 hours it would go from brown to colorless. But it would never turn brown again. This is non-reversible photochromism. Not a good thing really.

 

[trishy]

i do have glasses, and i have the transition lenses. lol or should i say the tenebrescent lenses. thanks, very cool.
i emailed the guy and i would have to carrry around a swuv penlight in order to make it change that cool blue color. apparently just taking it out in the sun isnt good enough. so maybe it isnt as cool as i thought. i''d still love to see one in person though.

the gem i posted is about $100 so i am not sure its worth it to see this. especially if the novelty dies quickly.
hmmm decisions, decisions