What is this?

[lyndra]

It''s a brown blue stone that has no backing, there is no damage to the setting to suggest there ever was. My Grandmother wore it at her wedding but I have no idea what it is

 

[lyndra]

Another view of the pendant, from a different angle

 

[lyndra]

Showing a transition between the two

 

[ma re]

On the first photo it looks like an opal (which would also explain color transitions), but I''ve never heard of opals showing brown

Boulder can be brown, but that doesen''t look like a layer of opal on boulder. How the back looks?

 

[lyndra]

The back looks exactly the same but not curved, it shows the same colour change

 

[lyndra]

Here''s the photo

 

[lyndra]

and from the side..

I''ve just had a friend suggest it could be Iolite but I have no idea

 

[flowerladytoo]

That stone reminds me a lot of a ring my late brother had, many years ago. The stone was Lapis. I could be wrong (probably am), but that was my first thought when I saw this.
That is a really beautiful and interesting stone!

Hope someone can positively identify it for you!

 

[ma re]

Date: 11/18/2008 5:37:34 AM
Author: lyndra
and from the side..

I''ve just had a friend suggest it could be Iolite but I have no idea

That''s an interesting idea, not impossible at all I''d say. It would explain the colors, but that blue is a bit unusual shade for an iolite IMO. Is there any way you could check if it''s singly or doubly refractive (like trying to look through it and observing if images show double egdes)? That would eliminate a few things, but for exact identification you need an expert to check it out in person.

 

[lyndra]

Date: 11/18/2008 5:57:44 AM
Author: ma re

Date: 11/18/2008 5:37:34 AM

Author: lyndra

and from the side..


I''ve just had a friend suggest it could be Iolite but I have no idea

That''s an interesting idea, not impossible at all I''d say. It would explain the colors, but that blue is a bit unusual shade for an iolite IMO. Is there any way you could check if it''s singly or doubly refractive (like trying to look through it and observing if images show double egdes)? That would eliminate a few things, but for exact identification you need an expert to check it out in person.

it''s not really clear enough to see through, you can see shadow but that''s it, a clear shadow with only one edge can be seen through it when held up to the light with a finger about 10 cm away from it.

I will get it taken to a jeweler at some point but at the moment I''m just trying to satisfy my curiosity because I don''t know what it is and it''s annoying me

 

[ma re]

Found some interesting sites that seem to confirm (unoficially) it''s an iolite:

http://reesjeweller.co.uk/iolite.html

http://gemcompendium.blogspot.com/2008/08/iolite.html

 

[chrono]

Cool stone! Ar first I guessed an opal too until I saw the back, which did not look like any opal I''ve ever seen. Interesting that it could be an iolite.

 

[T L]

That screams out opal to me. I''ve seen ones like that which go from blue to brown in the boulder variety.

 

[ma re]

Date: 11/18/2008 8:58:41 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover
That screams out opal to me. I''ve seen ones like that which go from blue to brown in the boulder variety.

But with them, the brown part is boulder, and the part that exhibits change of colour is the opal layer on top of it i.e. brown part of opal can''t change in any other color unless there''s a layer of opal covering it, in which case you can''t see brown boulder through it in the first place. Observe the video: http://www.opalsdownunder.com.au/details.php?ID=20102340

Not to mention you can''t see anything through boulder - you can try though

 

[T L]

True, perhaps it''s not exactly a boulder opal, but a black opal, or some kind of crystal opal. I wonder what happens to the colors in opal if they also dry out after a long period of time?

 

[Lady_Disdain]

It seems, to me, like fire agate, although I haven''t seen any with that sort of blue.

 

[The Joker]

Very nice pendant.
From the pictures, I am guessing it''s a very dark black crystal Opal with a royal blue play of color.

Joker....

 

[JaxBradGG]

that is an opal for sure. Not a normal play of color but if it is natural than it is pretty cool(i say "if" because that one picture showing play of color looks similar to what synthetics show called snake-skin or columnar play of color). I think it is safe to say it IS NOT iolite and based on the pics Opal/ Syn Opal. I lean toward Natural because of the size and the cut.

 

[LD]

At first I thought it was an Opal as well but the labradorescence displayed by the brown part of the gemstone headed me off in a different direction ..............

I'm pretty sure it's Labradorite. Compare your pendant to these:-

http://www.boothandbooth.co.uk/acatalog/Labradorite_Pendants.html Look at Dionne

Please excuse this link but I was searching for photos to show you and this one looks pretty close:

http://www.gems.tv/Gemopedia/labradorite.htm

 

[JaxBradGG]

it could be labrodorite...i am being thrown off by that 2nd pic where it shows the color in "patches". Without seeing it in person it is tough to say. Labradorite will have a broad color flash that is mostly blue, but also has other colors so that is possible. Still looks like opal to me though.

 

[LD]

I've just found a load of Labradorite at Gemselect. Here's one that looks like yours:

http://www.gemselect.com/labradorite/labradorite-190941.php

and another

http://www.gemselect.com/labradorite/labradorite-188281.php

So pretty!

 

[Richard M.]

It's translucent black opal showing blue color play. It's almost certainly from Lightning Ridge, Australia. I've cut quite a few stones almost exactly like it. Many opals of that type have "mossy" dark inclusions of varying size that can be seen in strong transmitted light.

The stone in the image is the same general type. It isn't crystal because it's translucent, not transparent. The mossy wisps are are black common opal (no color play) in the translucent opal. Opals with brownish "potch color" are fairly common. They often appears gray or black when viewed face-up and only show brown in transmitted light.

Richard M.

 

[JaxBradGG]

Those are some good comparison picks! I agree. Opal for sure!

 

[T L]

Well, whatever Grandma''s stone is, it''s very pretty.

 

[coatimundi_org]

Very cool opal! I love the blue play of color.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 11/18/2008 4:52:43 PM
Author: coatimundi
Very cool opal! I love the blue play of color.

Ditto; I love the color too!!!

 

[lyndra]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate all your help on this, not knowing what this stone is has really become a pet peeve of mine and no matter how much googling I’ve done I haven’t been able to come up with any ideas! It is a lovely pendant it’s just baffling to figure out what it is!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

I''m with Richard M., looks like black opal, probably from Lightning Ridge, good quality but not fine.