Named for the Greek word for violet, Iolite is a beautiful, affordable blue gemstone. Jewelry designers consider Iolite to be a good choice as an alternative to blue sapphire for many fine jewelry designs.
Iolite is found in Sri Lanka, India, Brazil, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. It is a trichroic gem, meaning that a single gemstone appears in three colors; colorless, light-blue and dark violet-blue, depending on the angle from which it is viewed.
Because lolite is a fairly rough gem and measures high on the Mohs scale of hardness, it is well suited to a variety of settings. Beautiful as earrings, in necklaces, and a good choice for both men's and ladies rings, Iolite is a gemstone that does not require special care.
Iolite first gained popularity as a gemstone in the American market because it was often chosen to be the blue gem in rainbow jewelry. It's rich, dark blue made it an excellent choice for this purpose.
Iolite is found in Sri Lanka, India, Brazil, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. It is a trichroic gem, meaning that a single gemstone appears in three colors; colorless, light-blue and dark violet-blue, depending on the angle from which it is viewed.
Because lolite is a fairly rough gem and measures high on the Mohs scale of hardness, it is well suited to a variety of settings. Beautiful as earrings, in necklaces, and a good choice for both men's and ladies rings, Iolite is a gemstone that does not require special care.
Iolite first gained popularity as a gemstone in the American market because it was often chosen to be the blue gem in rainbow jewelry. It's rich, dark blue made it an excellent choice for this purpose.