Story of Sphen

SPHEN/TITANITE

Type: Titanite

Mohs hardness scale: 5–5.5

Color: brown, green, gray, yellow, orange, colorless

 

 

ORIGIN AND PROVENANCE

The name “sphene” comes from the Greek word *sphenos*, meaning “wedge.” This is the shape in which sphene occurs in nature.

Another name for it is titanite, which is derived from the element titanium that it contains.

Sphene belongs to the titanite group of minerals and is the only mineral in this group that occurs as a gemstone.

It is a calcium titanium silicate.

The first specimen of titanite was discovered in Bavaria in 1795.

COLOR

Sphene is most commonly found in shades of brown, black, and yellow. Pink, deep red, and orange-colored sphene are extremely rare.

Sphene is trichroic, meaning it exhibits three different colors when viewed from different angles: light yellow, brownish-yellow, and orange-brown.

After the discovery of mines in Madagascar yielding beautiful sphene, this mineral began to be faceted and crafted into jewelry.

The most valuable sphen is chromium-bearing sphen, which has a bright emerald-green color and comes from mines in the state of Baja California, Mexico. If it is clear and larger than one carat, it is a very rare find. The most beautiful and largest green sphen comes from mines in India.

Sphen usually also has many inclusions that are visible to the naked eye, but this does not detract from the fact that it has the highest dispersion in the world of gemstones, meaning it has the ability to split light into its spectral colors.

ORIGIN

Madagascar, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Brazil (yellow sphene), India

USES

Since sphene is not very well known to the general public and its hardness makes it unsuitable for everyday wear, it is not widely used in the jewelry industry; as a result, it has historically been more of a collector’s item. However, when sphene is well-cut,

its facets reflect much more light than diamonds, giving it a higher luster and a stronger sparkle. Although it may appear slightly hazy, its luster is remarkable and unusual.

Its primary use is in the extraction of titanium.