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Locations: Brazil, China, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Tanzania  Colors Found: Yellowish to orange  Family:  Scapolite  Hardness:  5.50 - 6.00  Refractive Index:  1.54 - 6.00  Relative Density:  2.56 - 2.77

Coming in colorless, pink, purple, blue, yellow and silver hues, Scapolite was discovered in 1913 in the Mogok Stone Tract of upper Myanmar (Burma). Scapolite comes from the Greek words “scapos”, meaning rod and “lithos”, meaning stone. It gets its name from the stick or rod-like appearance of its crystals. Scapolite is also known as Wernerite for the German explorer and mineralogist Abraham Gottlob Werner (1750–1817).



While Scapolite has no specific legends and lore, its Cat’s Eye variety has been attributed with some metaphysical attributes. Wearing a Cat's Eye is believed by some to make one wealthy, healthy, strongly determined, knowledgeable as well as providing protection from enemies. It is also believed to help one gain insight and psychic powers.



As Scapolite is a mixture of minerals, with varying specific gravity and refractive indexes, it can easily be confused with Amethyst, Citrine, Chrysoberyl and Golden Beryl. However, Scapolite can be differentiated from these other gems by the use of a long-wave ultraviolet (UV) light. Scapolite fluoresces with a yellowish to orange color, while Quartz and Beryl do not display such fluorescence.

Scapolite minerals are silicates of aluminum with calcium and sodium. Scapolite is usually found as prismatic crystals in metamorphic rocks and only very occasionally in igneous rocks.

While facet grade Scapolite can be transparent with a fine color, less transparent crystals are often polished as cabochons to exhibit exquisite Cat's Eyes.

Although very attractive, Scapolite is not a well known gemstone, mainly due to its extreme scarcity. Definitely one for collectors, this gem only makes a few rare appearances on GemsTV.