Friedelite

Item Description

With the hundreds of species found at Franklin and Sterling Hill, there are only a few that are worthy to yield cut stones. A few that come to mind are Willemite, Zincite and Friedelite. Most species from Franklin are either too tiny, too devoid of color or too freaking rare to even consider cutting into gems. Friedelite is a cool phyllosilicate and this area is probably the only place in the world to yield gemmy enough crystals for faceting. This stone has a very pleasing characteristic reddish-orange hue and a somewhat hazy appearance. This is definitely in the rare category, and with such an attractive color combined with the fact that the stone is well over a carat in weight, it's a superb stone for collectors.