At the mine, more than 63 different types of gems and minerals can be found including emeralds, amethyst, sapphire, aquamarine, topaz, garnet, as well as the stone Hiddenite, which is a stone only found in this local area.
What is hiddenite worth?
The average cost of hiddenite gems is $100.00 per carat, but the value of the stone can vary widely according to the cut, clarity, color, and carat of the stone. The most highly desirable colors are deep greens, and the lighter green-yellow varieties are valued less than the darker green varieties.
How do you identify a hiddenite gem?
Hiddenite varies in color from an almost imperceptible and almost clear light-green to yellow-green and at its darkest, deep bottle (emerald) green. It is yellow-green, green-yellow or emerald-green in color. Hiddenite is pleochroic, which means that it displays different colors when seen at different angles.
Where is the gemstone hiddenite from?
Hiddenite was discovered in Alexander County, North Carolina, USA and named after William Earl Hidden, owner of a mine in North Carolina near where it was discovered. The nearby town of White Plains was renamed Hiddenite after the beautiful green mineral.
Is hiddenite an emerald?
Hiddenite is a pale-to-emerald green variety of spodumene that is sometimes used as a gemstone. The first specimens of the hiddenite variety of spodumene were recovered about 1879 near the tiny settlement of White Plains, west of Stony Point, Alexander County, North Carolina.
What is the largest emerald ever found?
The world’s biggest ever emerald, weighing 1.1kg and worth an estimated £2m, has been discovered in a mine in Zambia. The 5,655 carats gem was found by mining company Gemfields at Kagem, the world’s largest emerald mine, on October 2, 2020. It has been named Inkalamu, which means lion in the local Bemba language.
Who found hiddenite?
The small town of Hiddenite is named for William Earl Hidden, who mined North America’s first emerald and hiddenite on the Adams property in the 1880s, said geologist Ed Speer.
Is hiddenite the same as kunzite?
However, its two distinctly colored transparent varieties, Kunzite (pink) and Hiddenite (green) are very aesthetic and valued as gemstones. Hiddenite is much rarer than Kunzite, and can is highly valued, especially the deeper green color forms.
What color is hiddenite?
Hiddenite is an attractive gem mineral, but is rare and for the most part known only to collectors. The green color varies from a yellowish to a bluish green and can even approach the beauty of an emerald green. Hiddenite is one of two gemstone varieties of spodumene. The other variety is pink and is called kunzite.
