Natural gemstone pink Kunzite 6x11 fancy cut 3ct ku5

Spodumene
Spodumene - is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate and is a source of lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish or lilac kunzite (see below), yellowish-green or emerald-green hiddenite, prismatic crystals. Crystals form in the monoclinic system and are typically heavily striated parallel to the principal axis. Crystal faces are often etched and pitted with triangular markings. Spodumene is derived from the Greek spodumenos, meaning "burnt to ashes," owing to the opaque, ash-grey appearance of material refined for use in industry. Spodumene occurs in lithium rich granites and pegmatites. Transparent material has long been used as a gemstone with varieties kunzite and hiddenite noted for their strong pleochroism. Sources include Afghanistan, Australia, Brazil, Madagascar, Pakistan and USA (North Carolina, California).

Kunzite - Mohs hardness 6.5-7, Specific gravity 3.18, Refractive index 1.660–1.676. Kunzite is a pink to lilac colored gemstone, a variety of spodumene with the color coming from minor to trace amounts of manganese. Kunzite exhibits strong pleochroism, a characteristic that changes its pink color to darker pink and then violet depending on the angle of viewing. Some of kunzite used for gemstones has been heated to enhance its color. It is also frequently irradiated to enhance the color. Many kunzites fade when exposed to sunlight. It was discovered in 1902, and was named after George Frederick Kunz, Tiffany & Co's chief jeweler at the time, and a noted mineralogist. It has been found in Brazil, USA, Canada, CIS, Mexico, Sweden, Western Australia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Hiddenite - is a pale-to-emerald green variety of spodumene used as a gemstone. The first specimens of the hiddenite variety of spodumene were recovered about 1879 near the tiny settlement of White Plains, west of Stony Point, Alexander County, North Carolina. According to contemporary accounts, a young man named Lackey brought them to the attention of J.A.D. Stephenson, a local merchant who was also an ardent collector of minerals. Initially, the yellowish to greenish-yellow hiddenites were thought to be gemmy diopside. Stephenson brought the discovery to the attention of exploration geologist William Earl Hidden, who had been commissioned by Thomas Edison to search for any sources of platinum in North Carolina. Hidden sent samples of the odd green material to John Lawrence Smith, a prominent chemist and mineralogist of Louisville, Kentucky. Smith correctly identified the specimens as being a variety of spodumene, and named them “hiddenite” in honor of Hidden. The community in which the gemstones were first found would later be renamed "Hiddenite". During the hey-day of hiddenite mining in the 1880s and 1890s it was also known as “lithia emerald”. Hidden recognized the value of the emeralds and the potential of the new gemmy green spodumene. He acquired a tract of poor quality land, which was either the site of the initial discovery or near to it, for $1500. The Emerald and Hiddenite Mining Company was organized and excavations on the site quickly recovered loose hiddenites and emeralds in the red gravelly clay. At a depth of about 26 feet they struck bedrock and soon were recovering hiddenites from solid rock. Oddly, period newspaper accounts and statements by George Frederick Kunz (1892) indicate that mining on the site was never undertaken as a full time operation, but was only prosecuted a few weeks or months during the summer. Writing in 1892, Kunz described the hiddenite being recovered as “always transparent, ranges from colorless (rare) to a light yellow, into a yellowish green, then into a deep yellow emerald green. Sometimes an entire crystal has a uniform green color, but generally one end is yellow and the other green. Kunz noted that the finest crystal recovered prior to 1892 could have cut a gem of 5.5ct estimated weight. The size of most cut gems were small, with a 2ct hiddenite in the Augustus C. Hamlin collection being considered among the finest of the large stones. In addition to the North Carolina locality, Hiddenite has also been found in Brazil, China, and Madagascar. Green spodumene found in Afghanistan and Pakistan has excited modest amounts of controversy in the mineral and gemological communities with debate over whether or not it should be truly considered "hiddenite" as well as claims that the green coloration is induced by irradiation and is fugitive.