Wonderful Jewel.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7720, 24 January 1905, Page 3

Wonderful Jewel.

NEW qEH VAM'MI) AT £l,7o(),0(1(1 PER TON. A wonderful new gbm, known after its discoverer (Professor Kun/.), ns kunzite, is on view at the Quest Gallery, New Horn! Street, \V. London. The colour of kunzile is a peculiar peach pink, an extraordinary variety of shades being intermingled in each specimen. Resides its artistic qualities, the new gem is also of great scientific interest on account of its wonderful properties of fluorescence. I pon exposure to the act ion of X rays, or radium bromide, it becomes phosphorescent, and remains so for a considerable time aftwi-jiuovat. After exposure to X rays, it will, if placed in the dark", photograph itself upon a piece of sensitised paper. A member of the jewellery lirm of Messrs Johnson, Walker and Tolhurst, says that at present, kunzite is only found in San l)ie K o Country, California. It is a variety of the mineral known as spodumene, which occurs asl semi-transparent ash-grev crystals. Only very rarely is it transparent and suitable for gem purposes. If a ton of the new g*Mus, averaging five carats were obtainable, they would cost .something like £4,751j--000, whereas if a ton of diamond's of average quality were obtainable, they would cost about £190,000,000. Good specimens of kunzite, averaging five carats, can, however, be obtained for from £5 to £7 10s.