Mineral News How to care for your minerals and gemstones: Light Sensitivity Many, many minerals will fade in light, change color in light or worse suffer a severe physical reaction to light that may not be able to be reversed. In most minerals the reaction is slow but you should never store your minerals or gemstones near a bright window or on the window sill. If you have one you really want for a window sill please inquire and I will be happy to let you know its light sensitivity. One particular favorite is amethyst. Amethyst will fade in strong sunlight. But usually it is a very slow fall off in color so you can safely wear amethyst jewelry outside. However you would not want to put your favorite amethyst specimen in the south window. Others that will fade are some fluorite, some topaz and some citrine. Some minerals have a severe reaction to light such as vivianite and proustite. Vivianite will go from colorless to the deep blue green then black almost instantly. It appears that once it makes its initial color shift it stabilizes. (I have also heard it is not the light but the oxygen that causes this). Proustite and the other ruby silvers will quickly go from cherry red to steel gray, a patina which is quite hard to remove. Then some minerals like some barites and hackmanite have the charming habit of turning a most pleasing color when exposed to sunlight then reverting back again once brought indoors. You can work this magic indefinitely. Just be careful where you store your minerals and if you have a question about a particular sample just ask. etsy/listing/157086427/gemmy-green-apatite-crystal-in-calcite?ref=shop_home_active
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 14:54:40 +0000
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