Kunzite

Kunzite is the pink to light violet variety of the mineral spodumene. Its color comes from small amounts of manganese, and its shades range from pale pink to lilac, like the stones in the photo.

It was recognized as a separate variety around 1902 and named after George Frederick Kunz, the chief jeweler at Tiffany & Co. at the time. Not everyone gets a gemstone named after them.

Kunzite has an interesting property called pleochroism: its color changes with the angle you look at it from. From one direction it is violet, from another almost colorless. That is why cutters orient it carefully, so the strongest color faces the viewer. Its two cleavage directions do not make their job any easier.

Now for the warning: kunzite can fade in sunlight. It is not a stone for the kitchen windowsill, and it is best worn in the evening and kept in the dark. If you wanted a pink stone that does not mind the light, rose quartz is waiting for you on another page.

And a fact from the modern world: spodumene is a commercially important source of lithium, which is used in batteries and mobile phones. So in a way, this stone's cousins are in your pocket right now.