Gemstones - Andalusite

Andalusite is an attractive gemstone which was discovered in Andalucia, Southern Spain. Hence the name Andalusite. It shares pleochroic characteristic as Alexandrite, but unlike Alexandrite, Andalusite is quite hard. The hardness on the Moh's scale is 7.5. Because it shares the color changing ability as Alexandrite you would expect to see it in jewelry? You're wrong because it is very rare, and most people, including the professionals in the jewelry industry have never heard of it, let alone seen it.

Andalusite was originally discovered in Andalucia, but it is also found in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Siberia, the UK, Australia and the USA.

Many Andalusites display different colors within the same stone. This is due to its pleochroism. Typical Andalusite colors are green, brown, red, greenish-brown, brownish-green. Its pleochroic colors are red, green and yellow. Just like Alexandrites, the color of an Andalusite can be affected by the direction of the cut.

Photographs of Andalusites are very disappointing and deceptive because the actual stone is a pleasant greenish brown to red. The deception is caused by the flash of the camera.

Andalusites that contains carbonaceous inclusions in a cruciform arrangement is known as Chiastolite. These are cut and polished for use as amulets in many countries, because of the symbolism of the cross.