Pendant – Round – Kunzite

Kunzite is a purple/pink variety of the mineral Spodumene. Kunzite was discovered in 1903 by George F. Kunz and subsequently named after him. The mineral gets is colour from manganese ions locked into the crystal structure. Kunzite possesses a strong pleochroism, which means that it shows different colours and intensities of colour when viewed from different angles. If looked at from the top, a Kunzite crystal shows way more colour compared to when it’s viewed from the sides. Kunzite can occur in gigantic crystals, because they form in the last stages of solidification of magma. The crystals can be up to 12 meters or almost 40 feet! Kunzite is often irradiated, which causes the manganese ions to get a different charge and show more colour. This can be reversed by heating or too much sun, which causes the stone to become pale. Kunzite is difficult to work into cut stones, because the crystals have two perfect cleavage directions.