GEMSTONES

Alexandrite Chrysoberyl is the world’s finest color-changing gemstone and is used as a standard against any other color-changing gemstone. The color changing feature is caused by the traces of chromium when exposed to different florescent and incandescent light. Alexandrite is an incredibly hard stone and is able to exhibit various phenomena of light change and color ranging from purples, pinks, reds to blues to greens and various tones of these colors.

Historically, Alexandrite was found in Russia thus named after the Russian Tsar, Alexander II in the Ural Mountains. More recently, Alexandrite was sourced from Brazil, Burma, Tanzania, India and Madagascar. Today we are able to offer you our prized ethically sourced Alexandrite Chrysoberyl from Zimbabwe.

Amethyst has been prized through the centuries and is a member of the violet variety of the quartz family.  The name comes from the Greek word Amethystos meaning ‘not drunk’, a reference to the belief that it could prevent drunkenness.  Amethyst comes in a wide variety of hues from light pink to deepest purple.

Rose de France (Pink Amethyst)

Amethyst that is found in pink to lilac colors is referred to as Rose de France.

The name Aquamarine is derived from the Latin words ‘Aqua’ meaning water, and ‘Marina’ meaning ‘of the sea’. Aquamarine is the second most desired blue stone after Sapphire. The colors of aquamarine are within a narrow range of blue, very slightly greenish blue, greenish blue, very strongly greenish blue, or green blue, all the tones of the sea. The most valuable color is considered to be the moderately strong, medium-dark blue to slightly greenish blue.

Mositunya Gems is able to supply Aquamarine in all colors available. Aquamarines of the intense blue type found in Mozambique and Zambia. Our aquamarine is from Zambia and Zimbabwe where there are pegmatites which produce light greenish blue to blue crystals.

Chrysoberyl has a wavelike form known as the chatoyant variety of chrysoberyl. This special effect is caused by light reflecting from fine needle like inclusions in the gemstone thus giving the name ‘cat’s-eye’. This stone is cut as a cabochon to capture this display of light best. Cat’s-Eye Chrysoberyl has gained its reputation due to its excellent hardness and durability combined with the sharpest cat’s-eye effect.

We offer cat’s-eye chrysoberyl in a variety of body color from yellow to yellowish green through grayish green, brown, and brownish yellow, to semi-transparent golden yellow to greenish yellows and honey colored cat’s-eye chrysoberyl.

Another member of the Quartz family that has become popular is Citrine. Citrine is a transparent, yellow variety of Quartz, with colors that range from pale to golden yellow, honey or almost brown, and may contain rainbow or sparkle inclusions. The name comes from the French word citron, meaning lemon.

Emeralds are amongst the world finest precious gemstones and the world’s number one green gemstone.  Society has always been drawn to the vivid color often using the reference to describe the lushest landscapes and richest greens, for example Ireland is described as the Emerald Isle.  Historians estimate that Egyptians mined Emeralds as far back as 3500 BC.

We supply ethically sourced emeralds among the world’s finest.  Zambian Emeralds and Sandawana Emeralds are distinct in color.  Emeralds are considered to have the finest color of green of any colored stone that exists.  Our Zambian emeralds are slightly darker and more bluish than Colombian emeralds with much higher clarity.  Sandawana Emeralds from Zimbabwe are a bright, intense green.

Emeralds are a variety of beryl, a stone that includes aquamarine as well as other beryl.

Fluorite has become a more sought-after gemstone, although historically better known as a collectors’ stone.  While it has a low hardness the broad color range makes it an appealing gemstone.  Fluorite comes in an attractive transparent-to-translucent stone that can be green, blue, brown, yellow, orange, pink, purple, violet or colorless.

Mositunya Gems offers you a variety of Fluorite colors, as well as Color change Fluorite for your collection.

Garnets are a group of closely related mineral species with common characteristics.  Garnets all belong to a cubic crystal system with similar crystal structures but different chemical composition.

Red Garnet

Red Garnet is found in Almandite and Pyrope species of the group and is the most common and widespread of gemstones and are found on most continents in metamorphic rocks.

Pink Beryl is commonly known as Morganite named to honor American Financier and gem enthusiast J.P. Morgan.  Most of the morganite is from pegmatite mines with the color caused by traces of manganese and forms in large crystals.  Morganite is more rare than aquamarine and is fondly referred to as the pink emerald.  Colors range include pink, rose, each and salmon.

Our ethically sourced Morganite is sourced from artisanal miners in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Red is the color of our most intense emotions – love, anger, passion and fury and is used to describe objects of desire and power like fast cars and red roses. Rubies are from the group of corundum and have strong historical significance and are mentioned in the Bible four times. The ancients associated the redness of the Ruby to the blood in our veins, believing that rubies held the power of life. In modern times Rubies are still associated with power and passion and are the most valuable of all colored stones. The red color is developed from the trace elements of chromium and the more saturation there is the deeper the color red.

We provide ethically sourced rubies from Mozambique, Malawi and East Africa.

The very word Sapphire evokes intense depth of blue colors with the most important influence on blue sapphire’s value is in its color. Sapphires come in a wide variety of hues, tones and various degrees of saturation of very light to very dark violetish blue to greenish blue. Most blue Sapphires are heat treated to improve their intensity of color and clarity in appearance. Aside from the blue color in sapphire it is also comes in every color of the rainbow such as yellow, orange, green, multi-colored and pinks.

Mositunya Gems is able to source and provide a variety of Sapphires for your designs.

Sphene is a sought-after gemstone with its very rare brilliant yellowish-green, green, orange or brown gemstone.  The high luster often refers to the stone as “titanite” due to its strong titanium content.  The origin of the word is from the Greek word “sphen”, which means a wedge which refer to the way the crystals are formed.  Sphene has a vibrant exhibit of fire with high dispersion comparable to diamonds.

Spinel is often confused with Ruby, yet it stands alone on its own merit.  Its characteristics are singly refractive and lacks pleochroism belonging to the cubic crystal system.  Spinel comes in a variety of colors due to different trace elements, e.g. Chromium produces red and pink hues, iron produces blues, and a mixture of chromium and iron makes gems purple or violet.  Red Spinel is more desirable, then cobalt and then pink and orange spinel.

We supply a wide range of responsibly mined Spinel sourced directly from Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Mositunya Gems is able to supply consistent supplies of Sugilite due to our regional sources in Southern Africa.  This supply is due to the prevalence of rare potassium sodium lithium iron manganese aluminum silicate mineral that only comes out of the deep manganese mines in Southern Africa. Sugilite ranges in colors from lilac, to a deep purple-magenta.

Tourmaline was first discovered in the Brazil in the 1500s when a Spanish Conquistador mistook the green tourmaline crystal for an emerald. The gem’s name was coined when found in in the gem gravels by the Dutch in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and named after the Sinhalese word for mixed gems: Touromalli.  Tourmaline’s have a dazzling range of colors from vivid yellows to deep blues the breadth and width of color range is unmatched with any other gemstone.  Tourmaline is found in every color of the rainbow and is famous know for it’s bi and tri-color in one single crystal.

Most of Tourmaline gem deposits originate from pegmatite making our Sub-Saharan region a steady consistent source of Tourmaline.  We offer a wide range of Tourmaline colors, responsibly mined green Tourmaline, Blue Tourmaline, Red and Pink Tourmaline.

Zircon has been popular for thousands of years.  A historical gemstone that is sometimes seen as a Diamond alternative.  The vibrant color diversity of Zircon is sometimes caused by radioactive traces of certain impurities. In the case of Zircon gemstones containing radioactive element traces they undergo a process called metamiction, in which their inner crystal structure becomes destroyed. These radioactive forms of Zircon must be heated to stabilize them for use as gems.