Natural stones vary. Your strand will match these photos in colour and size range, not bead for bead. Photographed under daylight-balanced light with no colour correction.
Sunstone 9x15mm Faceted Pyramid
Specifications
| SKU | GS425 |
|---|---|
| Stone | Sunstone |
| Shape | Pyramid |
| Bead size | 9x15mm |
| Cut | Faceted |
| Color | — |
| Weight | On request |
| Hardness (Mohs) | 6 to 6.5 |
| Origin | Cut in Jaipur, India |
| Availability | In stock |
Sunstone is a member of feldspar group of minerals, and often referred to as schiller. Due to its orange to reddish color and spangled appearance, which is reminiscent of the sun, its name is sunstone. The gemstone is not very durable or hard, so it is slightly softer than quartz hence the best suited jewelry for earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and pendants. Also, traditionally sunstone gem is linked to a good luck, wealth, and fortune.
What it makes
Pyramids are used for pendants, spike necklaces, earrings. Measured base by height, e.g. 9x15mm; usually drilled drilled across the base. More about pyramids.
Coppery glints caught in feldspar
On the strand, sunstone shows warm apricot and rust with islands of metallic sparkle. Tilt it and the glitter comes in patches, not all at once. Those bright points come from tiny flat platelets of hematite or copper that grew inside the feldspar. It reads like late light across a field. Makers reach for it when a piece needs warmth with texture, or a quiet flash that appears and disappears as the wearer moves.
In crystal tradition, sunstone has been linked with the warmth and power of the sun. People have long believed it brings energy, vitality, joy, and a steady sense of personal power. The glittering inclusions suggested stored sunlight to many, so it was kept for joy and personal power. Medieval sources in Iceland describe a mineral called a sunstone used to locate the sun in overcast skies, and church inventories in the 14th and 15th centuries in Iceland and Germany also mention sunstones. Today, it is kept, in crystal circles, for joy and personal power, as tradition holds.
Beliefs about stones are tradition, not advice. Read the full story.
Feldspar with aventurescence, a glittery copper-red sparkle from tiny flat platelets of hematite or copper. Bead-grade sunstone is oligoclase or orthoclase feldspar from Tamil Nadu, India, and Tanzania; Oregon is a different price tier. Mohs 6 to 6.5, two cleavage directions.
Earrings and necklaces; cleavage makes it chip. Warm soapy water only; no ultrasonic or steam.
Full stone guide
