{"id":266,"date":"2009-09-04T19:05:40","date_gmt":"2009-09-05T02:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lavajewelry.userblogs.ganoksin.coms\/2009\/09\/04\/gemstone-series-andalusite\/"},"modified":"2009-09-04T19:05:40","modified_gmt":"2009-09-05T02:05:40","slug":"gemstone-series-andalusite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/lavajewelry\/2009\/09\/04\/gemstone-series-andalusite\/","title":{"rendered":"Gemstone Series: Andalusite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andalusite<\/a> is an aluminum silicate mineral (Al2SiO3). Two minerals with the same composition but different structure (polymorphs) as andalusite are kyanite<\/a> and sillimanite. Andalusite is one of my personal favorite gemstones because it is generally brown in color (there aren’t too many brown gemstones and I love to wear brown!) and it exhibits a property called pleochroism – it appears different colors from different directions. Andalusite can appear orange, green, or brown (all colors that I love to wear!), depending on what direction you view it from.<\/p>\n

The transparent variety of andalusite<\/a> that I use in my jewelry is somewhat uncommon. The opaque variety is more common, and it is often known as cross stone or chiastolite. When viewed down the c-axis, it displays a cross. This stone can be quite striking when cut en cabochon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Andalusite has a hardness of about 7 1\/2 on Moh’s hardness scale, but it is fairly brittle (easy to break). Andalusite is a metamorphic mineral, which occurs in schists, gneisses, and placers. Deposits are found in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia, Spain (Andalusia), Sri Lanka, and the US (Schumann, Gemstones of the World).<\/p>\n

There is a dark green variety of andalusite called viridine, which contains iron and manganese.<\/p>\n

Google image results<\/a> for andalusite.
\nAndalusite entries on webmineral<\/a> and mineral galleries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

$\"Andalusite$ <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"