What is Lepidolite?
Lepidolite is a rare lithium-bearing member of the mica group of minerals. Typically, it is found in shades of purple, lilac-gray, pink, or red. While less common, it can also be found in colorless or yellow varieties. Due to its softness, it is often unsuitable for jewelry that experiences significant wear, such as rings or bracelets. However, when impregnated with quartz, it can become more durable. The mineral aventurine derives its shiny appearance and color from lepidolite within quartz.
When cut into cabochons, lepidolite usually exhibits a vitreous (glass-like) to pearly luster. The mica flakes often show up, producing small flashes of light.
Our Small Purchase of This Beautiful Purple Stone
We were fortunate to acquire a small quantity of old-stock Mexican Lepidolite cutting rough from Durango, Mexico. The material appeared to be of good quality, displaying a beautiful, dark purple interior color and a white exterior. It is harder and darker than much of the material we have previously encountered, and we anticipate it will aid in the creation of beautiful jewelry.
Upon cutting several slabs, we observed a number of healed fractures. Unfortunately, the majority of these fractures did not withstand our flex test, making it unlikely that any of the white lines visible in the slabs will appear in the finished cabochons.
Despite the presence of fractures, the slabs yielded a nice, dark purple coloration internally and broke into large enough pieces to create quality cabochons. We are hopeful that we can cut sufficient cabochons to produce several pendants and pairs of earrings from the slabs we have processed thus far.
