Iolite 0.90 Cts.

Iolite trichoic gemstone

In legends, ancient Viking navigators used thin slices of iolite as filters to help locate the sun on cloudy days. Whether or not the tales are true, iolite (mineralogists call it cordierite) can be fashioned into beautiful gems. Strongly pleochroic iolite has been incorrectly called “water sapphire,” as it can display a blue to violet hue in one direction and pale yellow to colorless in another.Iolite’s name is from the Greek word ios, meaning violet. Iolite is not typically treated. This is an attractive selling point for some consumers. Iolite’s strong pleochroism makes the gem tricky to cut for best color, when you turn iolite, you’ll see three distinct colors in three crystal directions.  This in turn continues to pose challenges to producers and buyers interested in promoting the attractive yet problematic gem to retailers as an affordable blue-gem alternative. Iolite falls at 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale, but given that it has distinct cleavage in one direction, its toughness is only fair. This makes iolite vulnerable to breakage when set in a ring or other setting exposed to rough daily wear. Iolite has yet to catch on with retailers as dramatically as tanzanite did in the 1970s and 1980s. Why not? Experts believe that jewelry designers and retailers have yet to see a consistent enough supply of iolite in uniform fine quality to feel confident in ordering a broad and deep selection of the material for their workshops and stores.