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Harriet Kelsall
26th April 2010 15:52

Andalusite - an interesting choice for an engagement ring

 

I recently bought a beautiful stone from our favourite stone dealer. It is an Andalusite. The particular stone that I bought is a lovely oval about 7x5mm and is is a stunning olive green colour shot with flashes or orange when held at certain angles. It has a sort of iridescent effect. This sounds like an odd combination of colours but because of the fine quality of the cut - it works wonderfully. It is as though the olive green runs along the lengh of the stone and then the ends glow as they catch the light with this strong firey orange - like shot taffeta. These earthy firey tones actually work perfectly together.

Andalusite isn't a stone that you hear about very much and it isn't one we have used before so I thought I would write a little blog about it.

Andalusite is an aluminium nesosilicate mineral. As the name suggests, the first clear version of this was found in the region of southern Spain called Analucia in 1789. The piece that I have here, though, was actually mined in Brazil. It is also now often mined in Sri Lanka where a layman may confuse it with the much more valuable Alexandrite.

Andalusite is a pleochroic stone which means that it appears different colours when viewed from different angles. This is a bit like tanzanite (although actually tanzanite is trichroic because it has 3 colours appearing within it - blue, violet and burgundy depending on the piece of material).

On the Moh's scale of hardness, it is 7-7.5 so it is actually quite durable similar to tourmaline in durability. So I think this will be a great choice for an unusual engagement ring for somebody who loves autumn colours. Andalusite is a regional metamorphic minderal formed when low pressure and high temperatures combine.

Andalusite

I am still debating how to set this fascinating and beautiful stone but I am currently strongly favouring setting it in rose gold because the red tones will echo the orangey fire whilst also complimenting the olive green colour. Perhaps set off with a small green diamond in each shoulder. Decisions decisions.

See you soon,

Harriet

Harriet Kelsall
 

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  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, North Barn, Fairclough Hall Farm, Halls Green, Weston, Hertfordshire, SG4 7DP, England
    Phone: +44 (0)1462 790565 Fax: +44 (0)1462 790140 enquiries@hkjewellery.co.uk
  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, 6/7 Green Street, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 3JU, England.
    Phone: +44 (0)1223 461333 Fax: +44 (0)1223 365269 cambridge@hkjewellery.co.uk

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