Kunzite
spodumene
Pink spodumene, identified in 1902 and named for Tiffany's gemmologist George Frederick Kunz, who found it in the pegmatites of San Diego County. It cleaves in two directions at once and fades if you leave it in the light, making it the most temperamental gemstone in common circulation. People carry it for love, self-love and grief.
Seen · you don't have this one yet
Frequently irradiated to deepen the pink, and the irradiated colour fades faster than the natural one. Some material is heat-treated. Neither treatment is detectable without lab work.
Mineral facts
Hardness
6.5-7 Mohs
Formula
LiAl(SiO3)2
Family
silicate
Where it comes from
Afghanistan (Nuristan), Pakistan, Brazil (Minas Gerais), USA (Pala, California), Madagascar, Myanmar
What it is
Pink spodumene, identified in 1902 and named for Tiffany's gemmologist George Frederick Kunz, who found it in the pegmatites of San Diego County. It cleaves in two directions at once and fades if you leave it in the light, making it the most temperamental gemstone in common circulation. Lovely, and structurally on the edge of giving up.
What it is confused with
rose-quartz, morganite, pink-topaz, amethyst, dyed-quartz, pink-glass
Transparent to translucent pale pink-lilac in flattened, elongated prismatic crystals with strong lengthwise striations. The decisive feature is pleochroism: look down the long axis of the crystal and the pink deepens dramatically, look across it and the colour nearly vanishes. Two perfect cleavages meeting at about 87 degrees produce flat mirror-like internal planes and stepped breaks. Vitreous luster, and the crystal often looks etched or fluted along its length.
Commonly faked · check before you buy
How to tell
Strong pleochroism, deep pink down the axis, pale across it, plus two flat cleavage directions at ~87°. Rose quartz is hazy, has no cleavage and no pleochroism. Kunzite scratches glass but chips instantly on an edge.
Frequently irradiated to deepen the pink, and the irradiated colour fades faster than the natural one. Some material is heat-treated. Neither treatment is detectable without lab work.
What it means for you
The Moon is at 1° Scorpio today. Kunzite is a silicate, 6.5-7 on the Mohs scale, and it is the stone traditionally carried when the problem is proximity rather than intensity.
You know what this one would do for you. You just don't have it.
Kunzite for every sign
Aries
It fades in daylight, permanently.
It fades in daylight, permanently. The trade sometimes calls it an evening stone for that reason. Two perfect cleavages meeting at 87 degrees make it one of the easiest things in the shop to shatter, and it was named in 1902, so its entire tradition fits inside a century.
Taurus
Lovely, and structurally on the edge of giving up.
Pink spodumene, identified in 1902 and named for Tiffany's gemmologist George Frederick Kunz. Two perfect cleavages at 87 degrees make it one of the most easily shattered stones in circulation, and its colour fades permanently in daylight. Lovely, and structurally on the edge of giving up.
Gemini
Down the axis it is pink, across it nearly colourless.
Identified in 1902 and named for Tiffany's gemmologist. Look down the long axis and the pink deepens, look across it and the colour nearly disappears, which is pleochroism and separates it from rose quartz instantly. It fades permanently in daylight, so the trade calls it an evening stone.
Cancer
The trade calls it an evening stone for good reason.
Store it in the dark. Kunzite fades in daylight permanently, which is why the trade calls it an evening stone, and two perfect cleavages meeting at about 87 degrees mean a knock on the wrong edge takes the whole crystal apart. Never put it in an ultrasonic.
Leo
The trade calls it an evening stone for a reason.
Leave it in the light and the pink goes permanently, which is why the trade calls it an evening stone. Two perfect cleavages meeting at about 87 degrees make it one of the easiest things in the shop to shatter. Named in 1902 for Tiffany's gemmologist, who found it in San Diego County.
Virgo
It fades in daylight. Dealers call it an evening stone.
Two perfect cleavages meet at about 87 degrees, so it shatters when you knock an edge, and the pink fades permanently in daylight. Dealers call it an evening stone for that reason. Look down the long axis and the colour deepens, look across and it nearly vanishes.
Libra
The same stone gives two answers depending where you stand.
Pink spodumene, named in 1902 for Tiffany's gemmologist. Look down the long axis and the pink deepens hard, look across it and the colour nearly vanishes, so the same stone gives two answers depending on where you stand. It cleaves in two directions and fades in daylight.
Scorpio
The trade calls it an evening stone for a reason.
Pink spodumene, identified in 1902 and named for the Tiffany gemmologist who described it. It cleaves perfectly in two directions at once and the colour fades permanently in daylight, which is why the trade calls it an evening stone. Much of the deep pink was irradiated, and irradiated colour goes first.
Sagittarius
The trade calls it an evening stone because the colour fades.
Pink spodumene, identified in 1902 in the San Diego County pegmatites and named for Tiffany's gemmologist. It cleaves in two directions at once and the colour permanently fades in light, which is why the trade calls it an evening stone. Structurally on the edge of giving up.
Capricorn
Structurally on the edge of giving up. Still worth having.
Pink spodumene, identified in 1902 and named for the gemmologist Tiffany kept on staff. It cleaves in two directions at once, and the colour fades permanently in daylight, which is why the trade calls it an evening stone. Structurally it is on the edge of giving up.
Aquarius
It fades permanently in daylight.
Look down the long axis and the pink deepens dramatically. Look across it and the colour nearly disappears, which is pleochroism and the fastest identification available. It fades permanently in daylight, which is why the trade calls it an evening stone.
Pisces
It fades in daylight and does not come back.
It fades in daylight and does not come back, which is why the trade calls it an evening stone. Two perfect cleavage directions crossing inside one crystal make it about as structurally committed as a stone can be without giving up. Discovered in 1902 and named for a Tiffany gemmologist.
Correspondences
What tradition attaches to this stone. Folklore, not chemistry.
Element
water
Planet
Venus
Chakra
heart
Signs
taurus, leo, scorpio, libra
What tradition says
In crystal lore, kunzite is associated with the heart, with tenderness and with emotional release; because the stone was only discovered in 1902, its tradition is entirely twentieth-century.
Care
- Water is fine. Dry it afterwards.
- Keep it out of direct sun. The colour goes and does not come back.
- The colour genuinely and permanently fades with sunlight — kunzite is sometimes called an evening stone for this reason. Store in the dark. Its perfect cleavage makes it one of the most easily shattered stones in the trade; never ultrasonic, never knock it.
Common questions
What does kunzite mean?
Kunzite is carried for love, self-love and grief. Pink spodumene, identified in 1902 and named for Tiffany's gemmologist George Frederick Kunz, who found it in the pegmatites of San Diego County.. Tradition links it to the heart chakra.
Is kunzite real or fake?
Frequently irradiated to deepen the pink, and the irradiated colour fades faster than the natural one. Some material is heat-treated.. Strong pleochroism, deep pink down the axis, pale across it, plus two flat cleavage directions at ~87°. Rose quartz is hazy, has no cleavage and no pleochroism.. Frequently irradiated to deepen the pink, and the irradiated colour fades faster than the natural one.
Can kunzite go in water?
A short rinse is fine for kunzite, then dry it. Keep it out of direct sun, because the colour fades and does not come back.
Uncommon · pale pink, lilac-pink, violet-pink, near colourless
Where this leads
This stone belongs to
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FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND REFLECTION. NOT MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FINANCIAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. How this works