Sphalerite (cut by Robert Heath)

Item Description

Sphalerite is a fairly common sulfide minerals, but a large percentage of the material is very dark and opaque. With that said, there are places in the world that produce colorful gem quality examples of Sphalerite, including the Las Manforas Mine in Spain, which is some of the best color Sphalerite in the world. You might see this material labeled as coming from "Picos de Europa" or "Santander". For reference, Santander is an archaic name for Cantabria, and shouldn't be used anymore, and The term "Picos de Europa" is in reference to a mountain range which sits in four separate Autonomous Communities: Asturias, Cantabria and Castile and Leun, and is a vague locality. It would be similar as labeling a Rhodochrosite from the Sweet Home Mine as coming from the "Rocky Mountains". The Las Manforas Mine should always be used in reference to these amazing gems. This locality has given the world some of the finest gem grade Sphalerite, in various colors and in great quantity for a time. Sphalerite is beloved by collectors due to the fact that it has some of the highest dispersion among all non-precious gems. Gem Sphalerite has a refractive index of 2.37 which is just below Diamond, and allows for brilliant refraction of light in well-cut stones, creating small rainbow like interior reflections. This stone is a custom-faceted piece and will probably end up being a great bargain for one of you lucky bidders. The color of the stone is a saturated yellow-orange hue (with golden highlights), but when you view it under halogen lighting or in sunlight, you can see the bright shimmering splitting of white light into its constituent colors in prisms and rainbows inside the stone. It's only very slightly included, which is important for Sphalerite but inclusions are almost always present in this material. The finest gems from Spain are among the cleanest and brightest Sphalerites stones extant. The cut on the stone is called a "Modified Mumble" cut, and was faceted by Robert Heath. Make sure to take advantage of this opportunity to own a bright, beautiful rare collector stone from this classic locality.