Sugilite

Sugilite comes in a very wide range of purples and texture. The
high end material is translucent gel and may be faceted. It exists
in brilliant purple to pale pink. It may be solid color or with a
variety of matrixes. It can be a very beautiful cab. It works well
with lapis and turquoise. A google search will produce many sites
showing the end results. Lee Epperson

Hi Dee Dee,

The reason you did not find much on the web is that your spelling is
not correct. It is spelled “sugilite”. I found many hits doing a
google search. A couple of them weRe:

http://www.theimage.com/gemstone/sugilite/sugilite.html
http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/silicate/sugilite/sugilite.htm

Hope this helps.
Dale

Dede Asked for info on Sujilite(sp). I am pleased to be able to
provide some info to the Orchid community. My jewelry experience
doesn’t match that of our regular contributors, BUT, Since this is
one of my favorite stones and I have a bunch of it, I can share some
info. First, it is real. It is Manganese Silicate with an H. 3D6.5,
and a density of 2.74, just a bit higher than turquoise. It is found
primarily in the Manganese mines, (Wessels) in South Africa’s
Kalahari desert. As a by-product of their mining operation it has
been only a sideline business for them and the supply has really
begun to shrivel. When you are lucky you will find Richterite with
the sugilite. The bluish-whitish coloring will be from the
richterite. Massive and tough, this material is a favorite for
inlay, carving and cabbing. I treat it pretty much as I do jasper,
but some compare it with jadeite. Chrome oxide for final polish is
probably best choice. My favorite use is for inlay work with lapis,
coral, varisite, opal and turquoise. Sugilite in generally in the
same class and price as fine Lapis, although the Sugilite “gel” will
sell for many times the price of even the best midnight blue lapis.
The Smithsonian has a faceted gem weighing more than 25 carats. Try
some of your sugilite with some pink coral; absolutely beautiful,
add some white-based fire opal you have something very special.
Watch out for: some synthetic/imatation material has appeared and
I’ve read that some folks are stabilizing the poor quality stuff, as
with lower grade turquoise, and some have tried dyeing jasper to
look like sugilite. If you would like additional info, please
contact me off-line; I am always happy to talk about this stuff.
Also, if you need more material, I have a full range of colors. Hope
this helps… Harv Turner in sunny Santa Barbara; see you in Tucson