Apatite, what is it?

[Nicrez]

This past weekend I was glued to the floor of the Museum of Natural History''s Gem wing...I saw a stone, similar to a blue topaz, called Apatite. What exactly is the deal on this? What is it composed of, what shades of colos does it come in? Is it pricey? Can it be heat treated, or can I find a natural one fairly easily? Anyone?

 

[mike04456]

Apatite is mainly a collector's stone. Although it can be very attractive, its low hardness (5) and poor toughness make it unsuitable for most jewelry use.




Apatite comes in a variety of colors. The blue you were looking at, also called "neon apatite," is the most valuable. It is not expensive except in large sizes (4+ ct), which tend to be rare.




As for what it's made of, apatite is formally calcium (fluoro, chloro, hydroxyl) phosphate; it can be one of three different minerals, depending on the predominance of either fluorine, chlorine, or the hydroxyl group.




Apatite is normally untreated. I am not aware of any known treatments for it, and I could not find any reports of such in my reference works.

 

[Nicrez]

As usual...Thanks LawGem for that encylopedic description! I am sad to hear it's not jewelry worthy, and considering how I am "tough" on my jewelry (I used to rip gold necklaces, bracelets and rings as a kid, along with lossing stones like mad), I may just buy it to collect. It's truly a lovely stone. I also was fascinated with Hematite. It hink they would make an elegant set of cufflinks...

Anyone know where Apatite and Hematite can be purchased?




By the way, I found a synthetic apaptite...?


http://www.hsn.com/cnt/prod/default.aspx?pfid=199598&club_id=199598&sz=&sf=&rdr=1&sourceid=qDQQQDuqnyg9Al7ByQJA0039764425




And here is an apatite cut in a RB, but not recommended for jewelery?

http://gemmologist.tripod.com/ge04006.html




This is one link to a bigger apaptite stone, but it didn't look ridiculously priced, which makes me wonder if they are real or if they are treated in any way...


http://www.mtlilygems.com/apatite/ap628.html

 

[katbadness]

Nicrez,

I have seen neon apatites set as pendants (Lovely color! Especially since the color approximates that of paraiba tourmaline). I agree with LawGem that it will be too soft as a ring stone.

I have to dig my list of colored stone retailers. As far as I can remember the price is pretty reasonable.

 

[mike04456]

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On 2/24/2004 2:42:51 PM Nicrez wrote:







By the way, I found a synthetic apaptite...?


http://www.hsn.com/cnt/prod/default.aspx?pfid=199598&club_id=199598&sz=&sf=&rdr=1&sourceid=qDQQQDuqnyg9Al7ByQJA0039764425

----------------

Actually that--according to the description--is not synthetic but simulated. A simulant just looks like the real thing; a synthetic is real, just man-made. CZ, for example, is a diamond simulant.

Synthetic apatite does exist; however, but I would not worry about seeing it in jewelry since the real thing is so reasonably priced.

Edited to add: I stand corrected. This place:

http://www.swissgemshop.ch/en-us/dept_31.html

is selling synthetic apatite. Will wonders never cease!

 

[Nicrez]

Wow. I would of course rather the real thing, so no swiss gem shop for me! I like the look of neon apatite, so I will search for a good online place to get a good deal and a nice shape.


If anyone has any good gemstones places to find them, let me know. Thanks!

Why is princess cut the only squareish shape they cut in gemstones...




I thought I have seen yellow diamonds cut in Radiants, and was told that a radiant cut brings out the color of a stone very well. If such is the case, why is it such an unpopular cut in gemstones where that would probably be more helpful to lighter stones like Blue Topazes and Apatite?

 

[katbadness]

----------------
On 2/24/2004 3:10:08 PM Nicrez wrote:


Why is princess cut the only squareish shape they cut in gemstones...


I thought I have seen yellow diamonds cut in Radiants, and was told that a radiant cut brings out the color of a stone very well. If such is the case, why is it such an unpopular cut in gemstones where that would probably be more helpful to lighter stones like Blue Topazes and Apatite?

----------------

This is probably a question that needs to be answered by the experts around here.

Princess is not the only squarish cut used for colored gems. I have a tanzanite cut more like a radiant. Unfortunately I don't have a camera, otherwise I'd have posted a picture.

 

[Nicrez]

Katbadness, thanks for responding! Do you remember where you go it?




*whine* I rally love the radiant cut, and am really hoping to find a nice gemstone in a lighter color, topazes, apatite, Kunzite, some lighter sapphires, lighter pink rubies, florite, aquamarines, etc...can there be anyone who cuts different shapes? I like cushion, but a squarer shape is always sought...

 

[mogok]

Hello,
Here is a link to an informative page about apatite...

http://www.gemwow.com/category_info.php?cat2=37

It was a good question as it remember me something related to the "green stone asterism or cats eye" topic: Green apatite can be cats eye also as you can discover in the following photographs.

Blue, green and all the tint in between this 2 colors are found in Mogok.

They produce beautiful stones but very brittle as most of the time they break when the cutter tries to cut them. Its a very difficult stone to cut!
But so nice...

All the best,

 

[mogok]

Oh by the way...
During my last trip to Burma (last month), I've found out that there is a new mine in Mogok that produce very unusual apatite crystals. These crystals have a very hight luster, "noise" with each other as aquamarine and can go from pure fine blue to more greyish blue. But the most strange thing is the melted aspect of their surface! Beautiful partially melted crystals have been found there.
The name of the mine by the way is "Ohn Bin ye Htwet" near Le-U in the east of the Mogok valley. Together with this apatite are found rubies and mica.
Have a look on these fun crystals!

 

[Nicrez]

Wow! Mogok, you always have the most interesting pictures and facts to show on these gemstones! I didn't even know apatite could be green and that it could be formed in a cat's eye...WOW! Is that fairly rare and pricey?

The books you suggested on gemstones are on my list to get this week! Thanks!!! I am officially obssessed with gems now. I have gone back to that Thai gem e-tailer and bought MORE gems....Now some ideas how to mount!!!

 

[valeria101]

Nicrez... if you buy an apatite, you'll need a crazy jeweler to set it (it is far to soft). It really is not suitable for anything but looking at, not wearing. I have yet to hear about red apatite (some pink comes from Pakistan though), but everything else is out there. the thing is considered sort of a "tour de force" for a cutter to shape and polish (being soft, one can't afford to miss any move on it)... The blues are out of this world though. On top of it all, apatite is found everywhere, and large sizes with good quality are not exactly rare: juts hard to find faceted and even harder to figure out what they could be used for when cut. Given this, prices are set for individual stones rather than "per carat" and accout for color, origin (given the "collection item" status) and cut. For what I know, a relatively rare piece of drab greenish-brown apatite from Lapland would be just as expensive as a "paraiba blue" chunk from Madagarscar, based on 'rarity'. The most expensive pieces (neon blue to deep purple color change) made it to $300/ct. Nice, but what can one do with it ?

Here are a few ...

Neon Apatite, reference and all...

Blue and green apatite from Russial and Madagascar...

Apatite gives some nice mineral specimens, but as a gem.... well, it would need to toughen up, literally.

 

[valeria101]

 

[mogok]

Yes I completly agree with Ana.
Apatite can have beautiful colors, but it is soft and so brittle that to get one stone on a setting you will may ba have to loose 4 or 5... And then better be nice with these pretty stones while you wear them.
Apatite is definitly not a stone to recommend for any piece of jewelry. Just may be to test the skills of your favorite jeweller (This is very bad...) Its a nice collector item!

All the best,

 

[Nicrez]

Nooooooooo! It's such a phenomenal color, and I just wish that I could extend my color options for jewelry...but I may just buy it to stare at....and be happy never wearing it...Or I'll carry it in a silk pouch in my pocket...?

Thanks so much Mogok, Ana and LG for the Apatite lesson!!!!! /idealbb/images/smilies/appl.gif

 

[winyan]

Oddly enough, while looking at Mara's aquamarine, I spotted this stone for $8 on e-bay. The auction ends in about 2 hours, so if you're interested get on the stick.

Jewelers and knowledgable folks, couldn't the apatite be bezel set in 18k yg for a pendant? I don't think that would stress it too much, and if you are very careful with it, ... well, I dunno, just makes sense to me.

win

Oops, added the link for the auction!! I forgot to post it!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2693601487&category=282

 

[desireis19]

Date: 2/24/2004 2:30:21 PM
Author: mike04456



Apatite is mainly a collector''s stone. Although it can be very attractive, its low hardness (5) and poor toughness make it unsuitable for most jewelry use.






Apatite comes in a variety of colors. The blue you were looking at, also called ''neon apatite,'' is the most valuable. It is not expensive except in large sizes (4+ ct), which tend to be rare.






As for what it''s made of, apatite is formally calcium (fluoro, chloro, hydroxyl) phosphate; it can be one of three different minerals, depending on the predominance of either fluorine, chlorine, or the hydroxyl group.






Apatite is normally untreated. I am not aware of any known treatments for it, and I could not find any reports of such in my reference works.

I''m brand new...Found this site while searching for some neon apatite. I already own one, and just purchased another which has not yet arrived. I just wanted to clear up one point...apatite is, indeed, heat treated...or at least the one which I purchased from Switzerland was....

 

[desireis19]

Date: 2/25/2004 10:47:41 AM
Author: mogok
Yes I completly agree with Ana.
Apatite can have beautiful colors, but it is soft and so brittle that to get one stone on a setting you will may ba have to loose 4 or 5... And then better be nice with these pretty stones while you wear them.
Apatite is definitly not a stone to recommend for any piece of jewelry. Just may be to test the skills of your favorite jeweller (This is very bad...) Its a nice collector item!

All the best,

By the way...although it''s a very soft stone, one can actually have AND wear jewelry made from apatite. I have a ring which ''ve worn for ten years with no problems...I bought my daughter a pair of apatite studs for Christmas...