Sphene

One of the world's newest and rarest gems, Sphene has a rather unusual ability to take a beam of light and break it into all of the spectral colors. This has the effect of making the stone appear to change color depending on which angle you are looking at it from. Occasionally pink, black or brown, most Sphene is predominantly green or yellowish-green, with just about every other color of the rainbow mixed in somewhere.

Sphene makes gorgeously brilliant, fiery gems. Named after the Greek word for wedge, because of its typical wedge shaped crystal habit, Sphene is also alternatively called titanite for its titanium content. Sphene's magnificent fire and unique color shades make it ideal for earrings and pendants that catch the light and show its sparkling qualities.

Sphene is formed from Calcium Titanium Silicate (CaTiSiO5) with a Refractive Index of 1.84-2.11 and a Specific Gravity of 3.3-3.6. Measuring 5-5.5 on the Moh's Scale of Hardness, Sphene is relatively brittle and care should be taken when set in rings or other items of jewelry likely to receive rough treatment.

Sphene is found in a variety of locations worldwide including: Mexico, Brazil, Canada, USA, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Switzerland, Italy, Pakistan and Russia.

Extreme dispersion or fire of colors is the principal quality that determines value in Sphene. Look for many beautiful colors coming out of the otherwise green stone.

The body color, degree of inclusions and cutting style may enhance or obscure this feature. If well polished the luster can approach or equal that of diamond, but the gem is difficult to polish well. The high bifrefringence usually makes some doubling of facet images visible within the stone giving it a degree of internal "fuzziness" similar to that often seen in zircon. Clean stones larger than a few carats are extremely rare.