Specifications
Beschreibung
Description
This Confetti Sunstone rough is sold by the gram: warm peach-to-orange feldspar scattered with tiny reflective platelets that flash like glitter when the stone is turned in the light. Chunks in the batch run from cream and tan through orange, copper and earthy brown, and arrive natural and unpolished, ready for cabbing, tumbling or carving.
Locality and geology: This material comes from Madagascar, an island built largely on ancient crystalline basement rock that hosts many of the feldspar varieties used in lapidary work, including moonstone, labradorite and sunstone-type feldspar.
Mineral science: Sunstone is a plagioclase feldspar, sold here under the trade name confetti sunstone. Thin platelets of a reflective mineral, often hematite, sit inside the feldspar, and light bouncing off them creates the sparkle known as aventurescence. At about 6 on the Mohs scale, it shapes and takes a polish well on standard lapidary equipment.
Cleaning and care: Rinse the rough in warm water with a soft brush to lift dust before you work it, and store it apart from harder stones such as quartz so freshly polished faces are not scratched.