Jasper

I-K

Iolite, Jade, Jasper, Kunzite, Kyanite

Iolite

Also known as Cordierite. From one direction, iolite can appear sapphire-like blue and from another, it can appear as clear as water. Furthermore, from the top view down, it can appear light golden or honey-yellow in color. 'Dichroite' is another synonym for iolite in reference to its pleochroic ability; 'dichroite' is a Greek word which loosely translates as 'two-colored rock'. Iolite is also known as 'the Viking stone' because according to Norse legend, Vikings used iolite as a polarizing filter to help them find the sun on cloudy days. It is believed that the Vikings discovered iolite deposits throughout Norway and Greenland. Gem-quality iolite can vary in color from sapphire blue to violet-like blue and from light-blue to yellowish-gray. Its strong pleochroic properties can often be used to help identify and distinguish iolite amongst other similar colored gemstones. Iolite can sometimes be mistaken for sapphire and tanzanite, but it is softer than sapphire, and harder than tanzanite.

Jade

Nephrite, Jade, Jadeite.
Originates in Burma, Guatemala, Central America, Jaipur and California.
Varieties come in black, green, orange, yellow, emerald green, lilac, dark green, white, brown, pink, red and blue. With a dimpled surface when polished, it was called the "loin stone" or kidney stone by the Conquistadors. Much beloved of many Chinese Empresses and Emperors, it has a unique depth and clarity and can be made into beautiful and ornate carvings.

Jasper is usually considered a chalcedony, but some scientists classify jasper as a separate type because of its distinctive grainy structure. Jasper is a dense substance, up to twenty percent of which can be made of foreign materials. Due to these trace impurities, jasper is rarely uniform. In some cases, jasper may even grow together with agate or opal. Some of the most notable deposits are sourced from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Russia, Uruguay, Venezuela and the United States of America, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
The many varieties are named by collectors to differentiate between them:
Agate jasper: Yellow, brown or green blended, grown together with agate.
Brecciated jasper: Jasper in fragments, naturally bonded in a gray material.
Egyptian jasper: Strongly yellow and red jasper.
Banded jasper: Jasper with layered structures with wide bands.
Basanite: Fine-grained black jasper.
Blood jasper: Trade name sometimes used for bloodstone.
Hornstone: A very fine grained, gray to brown-red jasper.
Scenic or Picture jasper: Jasper with patterns resembling a picture or landscape.
Biggs jasper: From Oregon, one of today's most common jasper sources.
Bruneau jasper: From Bruneau Canyon, Idaho, it is prized for its blue "skies".
Moukaite: Pink to light red jasper, typically cloudy.
Plasma: Dark green bloodstone-like, with white or yellow spots.
Silex: Yellow and brown-red spotted or striped jasper.
Orbicular jasper: Jasper with orbital concentric rings.
Bumblebee jasper: Yellow jasper from Indonesia.
Zebra jasper: Dark brown jasper with zebra-like streaks of banding.
Moss jasper: Jasper with dense hornblende (complex inosilicate series of minerals) inclusions resembling moss.

Kunzite

Kunzite is a pink to lilac colored gemstone, a variety of spodumene with the color coming from minor to trace amounts of manganese. Some (but not all) kunzite used for gemstones has been heated to enhance its color. It is also frequently irradiated to enhance the color.
Kunzite was discovered in 1902, and was named after George Frederick Kunz, Tiffany & Co's chief jewellerer at the time, and a noted mineralogist.
It has been found in Brazil, USA, Canada, Mexico, Sweden,
Western Australia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Kyanite

Gorgeous royal blues in a semi- transparent sweeping cloudy and striated formations. Orange kyanite was recently discovered in Tanzania. Large teal crystals have also recently been found in Kenya's Umba Valley. Nepal is now widely regarded as one of the finest kyanite sources. Nepalese kyanite is said to rival the blue color of fine Ceylon and Madagascar sapphire.