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How to Shop for Kunzite

The most valuable kunzite has a very strong, saturated bright pink color, perfect sparkling cut with no windows, excellent clarity and is over 20 carat.

Lowest Value: This is a polished and tumbled "nugget" of kunzite.  It's color is not special, it has very poor clarity and it has not been cut or crafted.  The only thing about it that may make it special for a collection is its very substantial size.	Moderate Value: This kunzite cabochon is cut and polished nicely - though the dome is so high that jewelry setting may be awkward.  The color is fair and the clarity is imperfect -many inclusions are visible from the top of the stone.  Inclusions are not necessarily unattractive, but they do affect value negatively.	High Value:  This is what most of the kunzite you see in fine jewelry looks like.  It's color is a definite pink, though somewhat pale.  The clarity is good but when we look close we can see a few white whisps inside, characteristic of kunzite.  The cut is also good, but nothing exceptional.	Highest Value:  Here is a kunzite you don't see very often.  What makes this kunzite exceptional is its color: it is extremely saturated.  The cut is also excellent (See how much it sparkles!) It is also quite large.  A kunzite like this will probably cost in the thousands.

 

Color

Colorless: This kunzite is so pale it is essentially colorless.  These kunzites, though not commonly found on the market are considered less valuable.	Light Pink: This is the most common color found in kunzite gemstones on the market.	Strong Pink:  Highly saturated pink, especially with a peach tinge is the most coveted and expensive color or kunzite.	Golden:  Kunzite also comes in yellow and green tones.  These are sometimes refered to by their mineral name "spodumene" or hiddonite.  They are most valuable when saturated in color and are unusual to find.

Clarity

Opaque: These kunzite beads are so heavily included, we cannot really see through them at all.  Kunzite of this clarity is not as rare, nor would most people say, as attractive.  You would pay more for these than you would, say, amethyst beads of similar clarity, but nowhere near the price of a transparent kunzite gem.	Poor Clarity: This golden kunzite or "spodumene" cabochon is transparent enough that we can see into the stone and it hold the light inside nicely.  The clarity is still, however, quite poor: we see large long whispy inclusions dominating the interior of the stone.	Light inclusions:  This pink kunzite cabochon is mostly clear.  The many inclusions prominant at the top of the dome detract from the gemstone's value, however they are not altogher unattractive.	Perfect Clarity:  Perfect clarity is very hard to find in kunzite gemstones.  And it is usually better to take a stone with excellent color and a few hardly visible internal whisps than a pale stone with absolutely no flaw.  But if you can find both in 1 stone, you will have an exceptionally rare and valuable stone

 

Cut

The cut is a very important factor of kunzite gemstones.  First of all, kunzites are very difficult to cut: they are brittle and have many "cleavage planes" which basically means that if they are knocked the wrong way, they will crack straight through.  In addition to cutting being difficult, it also significantly effects the color of the kunzite gem.  This happens in 2 ways:

1. Kunzites are pleochroic, which means that there are 2 colors in the stone, and the color displayed depends on which way the stone is facing.  The two colors are commonly a pale pink and a strong pink, or a purplish color and a pinkish color.  The task of the gem cutter is to make sure that the most attractive of the colors is showing when we look into the stone from the top.  In this way, the stone's beauty shows the best when set in jewelry.

2. The saturation of color depends on the depth of the cut.  Kunzite is one of many gemstones whose color is stronger the deeper or "thicker" it is.  Since saturated color is the most important characteristic of a kunzite gemstone, they must be cut as deep as possible (within the bounds of being able to set in jewelry).  For this reason, it is common to find kunzites with fancy cuts, such as portuguese cuts, with many tiny facets on a very large stone.

Window! Poor Cut: The big light spot in the middle of this gem is because it has been poorly cut.  Ideally that space would have been filled with sparkle.  Instead, there is a "window" where we can see straight through to the other side.  This is common in many gems and is usually done to avoid cutting off too much material from the stone -therefore giving it a higher carat weight.	Slight Window: This cut is better, but you can still see the window in the middle.  Notice how, not only the sparkle is missing from that dull spot, but also the color.  The sides of the stone start out nice and pink, but fade toward the center of the stone.  This is also a factor of the pleochroism, but a better cutting job would have kept more of the color and the sparkle.	Good cut  This is a very nicely cut portuguese oval.  The many small diamond kite shaped facetes give the feeling of a perpetual wave of light when you move the stone around.  This type of cut does a very good job of maximizing the color in the stone, as you can see.	Exceptional Cut:  This kunzite has been artistically and unusually cut with concave facets in an original pattern. This is difficult to do and very special to have, so there is a premiu added to stones that are cut like this.

 

Fake Kunzite: Imitations, treatments and Synthetics

The greatest threat to buying authentic kunzite seems to be in the name.  Sometimes gems are called "kunziter  _____" .  This is a deceptive practice.  If you see this, just translate "kunzite" to "pink" and assume the actual material is the last one in the name (See Below). 

"Created kunzite" does not exist, though there are sellers out there selling material that is not kunzite and calling it "lab created kunzite." 

Natural Kunzite IS heat treated sometimes to improve its color.  Stones that are a dull or ugly brown or green, when exposed to very high temperatures, will become pink.

 

"Kunzite Quartz Glass": Aka, pink glass.	"Created" Kunzite: Probably man made corundum.	Heat Treated Natural Kunzite:  A very nice color, artificially achieved, but the stone is kunzite and it is earth-mined.	"Kunzite Quartz":  Aka, man made, lab created pink quartz (natural quartz this color is not so clear -see  rose quartz.

 

Kunzite Jewelry

Rough Kunzite: Sometimes artisan jewelers find ways to set rough peices of kunzite (that have not been faceted or polished).  This is often done with wire-wrapping and is most common for pendants.	Cabochon: Kunzite gemstones with imperfect clarity are often cut into cabochons -dome shapes with a flat back.  This cut shows the kunzite for its color and glowing, substantial size.	Beads:  Kunzite beads are not very common and are usually pricey compared to other gemstone beads.  When used in jewelry, they should only be made into necklaces and earrings, not bracelets that will risk knocking the stones around and chipping them.	Faceted:  The highest grade, most valuable kunzite gemstones are always faceted.  Faceting makes the most of the sparkle and color potential that the gem offers.  Faceted stones are also vulnerable, sometimes more so and are really best for pendants or earrings.  Rings are also popular, but should only use extremely protective settings.

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