I bought a little spectrolite and I experimented cutting it some.
Would it be too soft for use in a ring? Also the irridecence only
appears at a certain angle. Can anyone give me any ideas on how to
orient it so the light hits the stone correctly for the viewer of the
object being worn. Any other would be appreciated. It
looks pretty awesome at certain angles yet I can imagine completing
and whole piece of jewelry only to find out that it only looks good
in my shop. Out in the real world it may resemble a piece of dried
mud set in silver.
Thank you great Orchidians. NET
I LOVE spectrolite! As far as getting the great colors to flash to
the max–I take the stone out in the sunlight and turn it at various
angles and see what happens. Then mark in on the back with an ink
marker with an arrow or something to let you know this end up sort of
thing. Double check the color again with a mirror outdoors. Indoors
you won’t see the same intensity of color. Make your piece, then
temporarily place the stone in the setting and check the color again
outdoors. Then, if possible, you can slightly adjust the jewelry
piece–say a pin or a pendant–by slightly turning it at a different
angle, check the color then add the bail or pin stem and presto!
Sometimes, I have turned pieces upside down to get the best color–it
all depends on the design. Now, setting the stone can be tricky because
spectolite can fracture. I have had pieces that set fine and then a
week later notice that there is a hairline crack down the middle of
the stone. It seems that after a week or so if they down fracture then
they will be fine. I guess it is the pressure of the bezel around the
stone that sometimes “upsets” the spectolite. Also, dropping the
piece won’t help either! It is kinda soft and its the way the material
is formed ( in planes, it has a formal name, but I forget it right
now) that makes it so temperamental. But, when that color is there, it
is gorgeous! Have fun!
p.s. I have a piece with spectrolite at this website posted above
I have successfully oriented spectrolite by sitting with a fairly
bright light behind my head, shining straight forward, past one ear. I
then hold the spectrolite directly in front of my eyes maybe 12 to 18
inches in front of me and change the angle of the stone until I get
a full flash. At this point, I am looking at what should be the top of
the stone.
Lee Einer
Some of my associates coat the underside of a soft stone like
spectrolite with epoxy to cut down on crumble or cracking if the
stone is compressed or otherwise stressed during setting. Dee