All, I recently saw a cut stone on a site that was called
Bertionite, aka Tiffany Stone. I have some of that material and have
cut a number of stones but was always under the impression that it
was a massive opal material from some deep mines in Utah.
I have checked at Mineral Galleries on-line, and all of my
mineral/gemstone reference books but cannot find any on
this stone. Can anyone out there help out?
Cheers, Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL where simple elegance
IS fine jewelry!
Hard to say without a description, but given the name and provenance,
it sounds like you may be talking about bertrandite, aka beryllium
opal. Predominantly a pastel purple, with white, cream, and black
inclusions? That is the general appearance of the stuff.
If so, I am told that it is important to wear a particle filter mask
when you cab this, as it does contain beryllium and is toxic.
It’s actually Bertrandite and, since Tiffany objected strenuously and
litigiously to the use of their name, it is no longer OK to call it
Tiffany Stone. As to what it is, I’ve heard various explanations.
Bertrandite appears to be one of the ingredients but common opal
(opalite) and fluorite are others. I’m not a gemologist, however, so
maybe someone out there can clarify.
Last year (before it became popular and the price went up) I got some
cabs and it was referred to as brenzonite and it was from Utah. When
it became popular and the prices went up it began to be referred to
as Tiffany Stone.
A couple of years ago we had a field trip to Topaz Mountain and one
day we were allowed to collect at Brush-Wellman’s Beryllium mine. What
you describe is quite similar to what I collected there.
I had a sphere made of the purple material with swirling clouds of
white throughout, it is lovely. I also found much opalized materials
in colors from cream through green and into brown.
We were allowed to collect enough for our personal use, guess I got a
bucket full. While I was in Quartzsite I ran into a fellow field
tripper and was told that collecting there is no longer permitted.
This I do not know for sure at all.
The material at the site is crushed and processed. Yes it is
beautiful.
A big thanks to all respondents to Name That Stone!! I was nearly
overwhelmed with the provided. A special thanks to those
who corrected the name to Bertrandite and to Art Smith who found it on
Mineral Galleries. That provides the exact info I needed.
It is truly humbling to have all this power at our fingertips!
Thanks again and Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL
where simple elegance IS fine jewelry!