GET EDUCATED BEFORE YOU BUY YOUR NEXT GEM!
BUYING AND INVESTING IN OREGON SUNSTONE
By Ales Patrick Krivanek, Ravenstein Gem Co. and SAINT CLAIRE Finest Gems, May 2014
This guide was created for everyone interested in purchasing Oregon Sunstone for Jewelry, Collection or Investment purposes. Please read the entire guide carefully as it will give you some very important pieces of information and the most comprehensive price guide ever created. Thank you for reading! (and exuse mistakes in my English as I am not a native English speaker…)
WHAT IS OREGON SUNSTONE?
Oregon Sunstone is a fully to semi-transparent colored variety of Labradorite Fedspar of the Plagioclase family. It is the most valued type of all Labradorites. This gem is found in wide variety of colors from Pastel Gold, Pink, Orange, Red through Green, Teal, Blue, some with unusual color mixes like Watermelon, Bi-Color and Multi-Color (“Mystique”). Oregon Sunstone is currently mined only at two mining regions in South-East Oregon high deserts. Oregon Sunstone is extremely rare. Fully transparent, top gemmy quality of colored and/or copper schiller Sunstone is not found anywhere else in the world. Value of this amazing gem ranges from 8 US dollars per carat all the way through 4,500 US dollars per carat.
HISTORY
As your might already know the Oregon Sunstone is currently the hottest gem on US market and its popularity and value has been sky rocketing since 2011. Oregon is the worlds’ only location where a genuine copper bearing Sunstone is found! Don’t be fooled by dealers selling Tanzanian, Indian or Sri Lankan translucent, rusty looking Sunstones, these stones have nothing in common with real Oregon Sunstone, except for its name. Market value of Indian translucent Sunstone is close to nothing.
Recent popularity growth of Oregon Sunstone was caused by fairly recent find at Eagle Butte region, namely PANA mine and Sunstone Butte mine. Sunstones found at this new and truly exciting location exceeded everyone’s expectations. Some of the most valued colors of Oregon Sunstone were found here, many of them never seen before in such color purity and saturation. The bad news is that Dave, owner of Sunstone Butte stopped selling rough to all dealers including myself in February 2014, right after I purchased last two kilos of material from him. The reason is simple, even though I purchased over 30 percent of highest quality gem rough from him during first 3 years, Dave made an exclusive deal with Gem Buying Network and every single piece of rough mined at this new location is now sold to this powerful buyer. This deal was good for one year and Ive heard from local people that another big buyer is ready to take over the entire mine production output. Everyone assumes that this yet unknown buyer might be a powerful Chinese company currently supplying gems to the Chinese market. China is currently the largest gem buying market, surpassing USA both in buying power and amount of imported gemstones. Very unfortunately Americans no longer hold the first place in gemstone buying. At this moment, Chinese are buying all natural gems (both rough and cut) they can find, driving prices of many gems sky high. Tourmaline rough which cost 10 dollars per gram in 2005 cost 300 per gram now because of Chinese “appetite” for these and many other colored gems. Same situation can be seen left and right, all over the gem market. So if you have money to invest in Oregon Sunstone or any other popular colored gemstone while prices from me and some other dealers are still reasonably low, do it now before prices reach astronomic levels and only the richest of us will be able to afford genuine natural gems.
The truth is that there was never a better time to invest in natural, high quality gems. And I’m proud to say that during my 35 years in gem trade, I’ve been dealing strictly with natural and absolutely untreated gemstones, unlike vast majority of my competitors. And I do my best to keep prices down simply by traveling the world, buying rough directly from miners, and all gems I offer are precision hand cut in Europe by my own group of highly skilled gem cutters. No middlemen involved, no additional overhead expenses increasing price of my gems.
PANA and Sunstone Butte are not the only mines producing the highest quality Oregon Sunstone. Worth mentioning is one of first mines operating in Oregon high desert, the Dust Devil mine owned by Don Bufford and two of his friends, Terry and Mike. This mine is still producing quality gems after 25 years in business and some of the best and largest pure red sunstones were found at this famous location. High quality Red Sunstones from Dust Devil reached retail price over 2000 US dollars per carat recently and still growing!
Other mines in region worth mentioning is Double Eagle owned by John Aldridge and Spectrum mine (previously worked by Tiffany Co.) owned by Chris Rose. These mines are producing mixture of clears, fine schillers, pinks, beautiful reds, watermelons, bi-color Sunstones and rarely pastel greens, teals and even color change stones.
Some 150 miles north of Plush region lays another well known locality, the Ponderosa mine. This mine has the largest production output per cubic meter of earth! Nevertheless the average size of individual stones is smaller, and amount of true green or rich teal gems is considerably lower compared to Sunstone Butte or PANA mine. Gems from this mine are widely used to produce beads, beautiful cabochons and jewelry sized faceted stones.
Oregon Sunstone was one of the least popular gem ever since it was discovered, and it never made it big until just recently. What really “killed” the Oregon Sunstone market in the past was marketing campaign of red and green “Andesine” introduced by JTV. This Andesine was first marketed as a very rare, natural material found in Himalayan Mountains. Faceted gems gained nationwide popularity fast and sold at very high carat prices. After few years the truth surfaced and left most buyers shocked. These supposingly rare Andesines were actually Oregon or Mexican cheap colorless Sunstone treated with two stage diffusion (artificial coloring process) and heat. The Andesine market crashed overnight and sales or real Oregon Sunstone took a dive with it. A fake gem destroyed reputation of a valued, genuine gemstone… !
TYPES and VALUES
Now to the actual values of Oregon Sunstone. First of all let me explain about the confusion now spreading about what is schiller and what is copper bearing sunstone. Schiller is optical reflection effect produced by millions of microscopic copper crystals encapsulated in many Oregon Sunstones regardless of base color. The most valued Schiller is slight to medium, shiny type, which reflects light strongly but does not interfere with color or brilliancy of the gem. Overly strong schillers are less desired and super strong “muddy, silky” schillers actually lower value of the gem considerably. So always look for Schiller Sunstone exhibiting medium to light schiller which appears only under certain angles and does not cover up brilliancy of the gem. Stay away from silky, muddy schiller unless the finished stone weight over 15ct, such gems are rare and prized by collectors.
Copper bearing gem has nothing to do with presence of schiller! Copper bearing stone has traces of copper on molecular level and copper usually acts as the coloring agent. I’m sure that I’m not far from the truth if I say that ALL Oregon Sunstones are copper bearing. All these gems were created in copper rich environment and vast majority of these gems are actually colored by copper (similar to famous and extremely valued Paraiba Tourmaline). If there was “too much” copper present during the Oregon Sunstone crystal growth, the copper actually crystallized inside each gem creating the already mentioned schiller effect.
Because there are many different color types and color combinations, with or without schiller, the range of Oregon Sunstone values vary greatly. From 8 dollars per carat all the way through 4,500 dollars per carat. Color type and color purity is the most important aspect affecting the value. Other factors are clarity, carat weight and quality of cutting. Since I have all reasonably big gems precision hand cut in Europe, quality of cutting I offer is exquisite and I frequently get compliments on vast range of designs and overall quality of our cuts.
So before you buy, look at the gem carefully (including photos or videos, if you are not able to inspect your new Sunstone in person) and read the entire detailed description! Personally, I add detailed color description simply because each monitor is showing colors in different way and sometimes people complaint that what they purchased look somewhat different from what they receive. I do not manipulate with colors after I take the digital image except for one step image “clean up”. My videos are not enhanced in any way or form. So compare the still image with video to get a good idea of how the gem looks like. If you like what you see, read the detailed color description as well, simply to confirm your observation.
SCHILLER or NO SCHILLER?
The amount of schiller in each Oregon Sunstone can vary greatly. From no schiller at all to a very strong schiller which is virtually covering the entire stone so you cannot even see the light return from faceted surface. There are several types of schiller which I will not discuss in any detail. I will rather explain about where, and how much schiller can increase or rather decrease value of Oregon Sunstone. Ideal and most valued schiller will appear only under certain angles and will refflect light in beautiful copper red color. Typically low to medium schillers are more valued than strong schillers. Very slight schillers play no significant role in apraising the stone but colored Sunstone (for example Red, Green, Teal, Imperial, etc..) is always more valued without schiller (or a very slight schiller) than with schiller. There is only one interesting exception to this rule, and that is with Green or Teal, richly colored Sunstones, typically found only in PANA mine. Slight to medium schiller actually adds value, so Teal and/or blue Schiller Sunstone has higher value than Teal Sunstone without Schiller.
Stay away from overly strong schiller types, those typically cover up surface of the gem completely, no matter from which angle you look. The least desirable schillers are those not refflecting in light. They typically look muddy to silky and they diminish or take away the beauty of any Sunstone. Exception from the rule are large Sunstones above 15ct. Even with sleepy or muddy, non-reflective schiller, these pieces are sought after by knowledgeable collectors.
ESTIMATED VALUE
Now the the actual colors and values. During past 3 years I spent hundreds of hours developing the most sophisticated colored Oregon Sunstone price guide based on type of color, clarity, weight and quality of cut reflecting the actual retail and wholesale market value. Obviously I cannot list this extensive price guide right here but below are the most important retail and some wholesale values of each major Sunstone type. Smaller stones are typically less expensive, larger stones will be substantially more expensive. Scope of this guide is to show you which colors are valued and which are less valued or not desired. With or without schiller.
The most common and least valued is what miners call “clear” Sunstone, also called Gold Sunstone or Golden Sunstone(TM). Color of these sunstones is usually very pale yellow, some near colorless, some gold-yellow and straw. Faceted gems in 0,5 to 1,5 carat are very plentiful and their value is around 28 dollars per carat high retail and around 7 to 12 dollars low wholesale. Regardless of its low price, these gems look magnificent in low cost silver jewelry and you can make money on setting these into calibrated settings and re-selling at local market. Gems in 2,0 to 5,0 carat weight are most popular for jewelry and retail cost rises to about 40 dollars per carat. Gems above 8,0ct are increasingly rare and are used both in jewelry and gem collecting. Sometimes you find pieces over 12 carats. Those are quite rare and prices per carat can reach 70 to 90 dollars, especially in unusual and exotic cuts. Any stone over 20 ct is very rare and can be used as investment or in high-end jewelry. Retail price reaches 105 dollars per carat. Rule of thumb, buy the best quality piece at lowest price possible and beware of fakes which are so numerous all over internet market places. What you usually buy instead of Oregon Golden Sunstone is less expensive variety from Mexico.
Next one up on value chart is standard Schiller Sunstone. All standard Schiller Sunstones have light gold to yellow base with presence of schiller. Read detailed description of schiller above. Again, smaller gems in 0,5-1,5ct are plentiful and their value lies around 35 USD/Ct. Gems in 2 to 5ct are both more popular and valuable and they look absolutely magnificent in both silver and gold jewelry, owing its unique appearance to copper schiller and its reflections and flashes. Value of these can reach up to 130 USD per carat per Ct high retail. Gems around 8-10ct are quite rare and gems above 20ct are great for investing, collection, as well as unique jewelry. Value of best schiller sunstones in sizes over 20ct can reach 270 per carat range as of summer 2016. Low wholesale for standard jewelry sized Schiller Sunstones should not go under 38 USD per carat.
Another variety is Pink Sunstone, with or without schiller. The pink can be pale all the way thru rich pink with rose red flashes. Richer the color, more valued the Sunstone is. Smaller gems up to 1,5ct have high retail in 80 to 180/Ct range. Gems from 2 to 5ct cost up to 240 per carat. Gems above 10ct are increasingly rare, and pieces above 20ct are extremely rare. Prices of best, largest pieces are currently reaching 340 USD per finished carat for flawless, perfectly faceted pieces.
Next one up are light pastel colors, usually Gold-Green Sunstone, Gold-Reddish and Gold-Teal Sunstone. Value of smallest stones in 0.5 to 1.9 range are reaching 150 USD/Ct levels. Gems in 2 to 5ct can reach 250/Ct. Gems above 5ct are already quite valued and 10-20ct gems have high retail value reaching 300/Ct. Any gem above 20ct is very rare in these color shades with price tags up to 380/Ct.
Orange Sunstone is more valued than pastel Sunstone of any color type. Richer the color, more valued the gem. Small gems up to 1,9ct retail for 290-360/Ct, gems in 2-5ct range retail for 360-450 USD/Ct and gems over 10ct in good Orange color are highly valued. Sometimes you see stones over 20ct, those are museum pieces retailing up to 680/Ct.
Imperial Sunstone got its name after color of Imperial Topaz from Ouro Preto in Brazil and has similar value to Orange gems but if the Pink-Orange base color has good red fire at both ends, it is substantially more valued than Orange. Gems up to 1,9Ct can reach up to 360/Ct, 2-5ct stones between 240-480/Ct. Gems between 10 and 20ct are extremely rare, especially those showing red fire at ends or sides, and high retail can reach up to 590/Ct. Any good quality gem above 20ct can fetch up 700/Ct. I had only two pieces ever in such range, these are actually quite rare.
Orange-Red Sunstone and Pink-Orange Red Sunstone are both beautiful and valued. Smaller gems in 0,5-1,9Ct have high retail between 160 to 380/Ct depending mainly on color saturation and presence/Type of schiller. Paler gems are less expensive. Gems between 2 and 5ct are most popular for high-end jewelry and their value lies between 220 and 490/Ct. Any gem above 10ct is extremely rare and gems above 20ct belong to museum or your bank safe as everlasting investment with prices reaching 800 USD per finished carat.
Red Pink Sunstone is next up in value. The stone must be more red than pink with good saturation and pure red flash. Small gems in 0,5 to 1,9Ct have value between 180 to 440 per carat. Gems between 2 and 5ct have high retail between 220 and 550 USD/Ct. Any gem above 10ct is very rare. gems above 20ct are considered top investment and they typically reach 850/Ct high retail price. Low wholesale (also called volume wholesale) should not be less than 160/Ct for standard jewelry sized gems.
“Padparadscha” Sunstone is named after Padparadscha Sapphire which is the most valued color of Sapphire ever discovered. Padparadscha is the most beautiful, perfectly balanced Orange-Pink color which is sought after by most knowledgeable buyers. Sunstone in this color is highly valuable and even small gems up to 1,9ct have retail value up to 490/Ct. Medium sized gems up to 5ct are reaching 640/Ct and larger gems, above 10ct can be appraised up to 790/Ct. Best and largest pieces belong to museums and their value lies at 1,050/Ct.
Brickwall Red Sunstone and Salmon Red Sunstone. Both of these colors have similar value. Gems up to 1,9ct cost between 360 and 520 per finished carat. Medium, jewelry sized gems between 2 and 5ct cost between 460 and 670/Ct. Larger than 5ct gems are very rare and their value is up to 860USD per carat. Gems above 10ct are extremely rare and many buyers are buying these for investment purposes. Value of best and largest pieces lies at 1,200 USD per Carat.
There is only one type of Red color more valued than the Salmon Red or Brickwall red. It is the famous and sought after Neon Red Sunstone, also called AAAA Red Sunstone by many Oregon miners. Even small gems up to 1,9Ct are very valued and high retail prices start at 700-1,000 per Carat. Stones between 2 and 5ct are highly valued and high retail lies between 850 and 1,300 USD per Ct. Larger than 8ct pieces are extremely rare and gems over 15ct are seldom seen on the market with high retail reaching 1900 USD per finished carat. I’ve seen Oregon Sunstone miners at 2014 Tucson Gem Show selling large Neon Red Sunstones in up to 3500 US dollars per finished carat. It is only matter of time before retail prices reach this level even on smaller 2-5ct gems.
Now we are getting into top priced Oregon Sunstones. One of those is Green Dichroic Sunstone. Only a very small amount of all sunstones have this extremely attractive and valued color. Vast majority of rich Green Dichroic Sunstones actually comes from the newly discovered PANA mine, mentioned above in this Guide. The fact that all these gems are strongly dichroic only adds beauty and value. These gems show good base green color (from pastel green through Mint Green all the way to super expensive and super valued rich Chrome Green or nearly Emerald Green), with dichroic shift into pink, red or orange!. Even smallest stones have value between 340 to 1,450/Ct where color saturation and brightness of color dictates the actual value. Stones between 2 and 5ct are very rare and value lies between 450 to 1,800 USD/Ct. Larger than 5ct gems are very unique and gems above 10ct are museum grade and one of a kind. Only few gems above 10ct exist on the market and high retail value lies in 2,800 USD per Carat.
Blue-Green Sunstone and Teal Sunstone. These are the most expensive and most valued Oregon Sunstones ever discovered. Vast majority of richly saturated pieces come from the recently discovered PANA mine and Sunstone Butte mine (read detailed info above). Small gems in 0,5 to 1,9ct have typical high retail in 450 to 2,400 USD per Ct. Medium sized stones up to 5ct sell in 690 to 2,950 per carat and gems above 10ct are super rare with only handful of pieces actually available. These “top of the top” Sunstones retail for up to 4,500 per carat as of mid. 2016. Current market predictions show that Oregon Sunstone will continue to grow in value for next 3-5 years until Red, “Padparadscha”, Green, Teal, “Mystique” and Blue-Green stones reach retail prices between 3,500 and 10,000 US dollars per finished carat. I’m sure that the increasingly powerful Chinese and Indian market will speed up this trend and who knows how high the prices might actually go!
Now to the fancy and highly unusual, the Purple-Lavender Sunstone. Only few gems have this highly unusual and rare color. Not that Oregon Sunstone would be found in Purple or Lavender color. Rather, the careful cutting of strongly dichroic gems will result in this rare type of color. Purple and Lavender colored Sunstones are typically dichroic so they have secondary flashes of Green, Red or Pink. Small gems up to 1,9ct retail for 320-850/Ct. Medim sized gems up to 5ct retail for up to 1,050/Ct and largest, investment pieces fetch up to 1,050-1,500 per finished carat.
Next in fancy and unusual is Dichroic Two Color Sunstone. These Sunstones exhibit two different colors with different color on each crystal axis. If such rough crystal is properly oriented before faceting the finished gem will show both distinctively different color at the same time with flashes in range of secondary colors. Typical Two Color Dichroic Sunstone have Green and Red or Green and Pink colors, but these can range from Teal to Green-Blue on one end of spectrum all the way to Pink-Orange, Orange, Yellow-Pink, etc. Richer and more difened colors command higher prices. But beware, once the saturation crosses the “Very Deep” threshold, the stone is actually becoming less expensive per finished carat. Nevertheless, very deep to blackish, super saturated Dichroic Sunstones are actually very rare and even though they are not suitable for jewelry, they are sought after by knowledgeable collectors. Small, good quality Dichroic Two Colored Sunstones retail for 250 to 490 per carat. Medium, jewelry sized gems for 310 to 620 per carat and larger gems up to 10ct for 380 to 770 per carat. Larger than 10ct gems are very rare and prices can reach up to 850 USD per carat.
Watermelon Sunstone and Bi-Color Sunstone create a special category under rare and unusual Oregon Sunstones. Both rough and cut gems exhibit a truly beautiful Watermelon effect with Red core surrounded with Green (sometimes so called “Reversed Watermelon” can be found with green core and red on the outside). Bi-Color Sunstones are usually found in Green to Red split, Teal to Pink split, etc.. The color division in Sunstone is never sharp like in Tourmalines or Sapphires. Nevertheless you clearly see one color at one end and another color at opposite end of the gemstone. Truly richly saturated Sunstones showing vivid red and rich green are typically found at Sunstone Butte mine. Lighter saturated stones can be found at nearly all mines including Dust Devil, Spectrum and Double Eagle. Small gems retail for 200 to 600 USD per Ct, gems in 2-5ct range retail for 280 to 750 USD per carat. Larger than 10ct are extremely rare and they are few known pieces above 30ct in good watermelon colors. Such gems have retail value reaching 1,200 USD per carat.
Last and most unusual Oregon Sunstone is so called natural “Mystique” Multi-Color Sunstone. This is actually type of sunstone which is both multi-colored AND dichroic or trichroic at the same time! Most medium to rich saturated “Mystique” Sunstones actually come from the Sunstone Butte mine. Other mines produce this type of Sunstone very, very seldom and only in pastel to medium saturated colors. Value of these super unusual Sunstones is therefore quite high and climbing fast. The main reason for such increase in popularity is its very unique, almost unreal look. These gem typically show more than 3 distinctively different colors at the same time with flashes of many other secondary color shades. Type of each color and its intensity is gradually changing based on angle of few. So if you rotate such gem in your hand, it will start changing colors, one is blending into another. A truly amazing effect not seen in ANY other gemstone on face of this earth! Smaller “Mystique” Sunstones retail for 510 to 1480 per carat for small gems up to 1,9ct. Gems between 2 and 5ct can sell up to 1850/Ct and larger gems sell between 1050 and 2500 per carat. These prices are definitely not final. Multi Colored “Mystique” Oregon Sunstones gain in value rapidly and I expect the value surpass best Green, even Teal gemstones. But good luck finding those. The only place producing truly high quality pieces is the Sunstone Butte mine and owner of this mine is no longer selling to dealers! So those few pieces offered in the past are quickly disappearing from retail market. If you are looking for one of a kind, truly unique gem, your search is over.
NOTES
High Retail Price is retail price at the very end of the sales chain. Gem at this price is typically set into piece of high-end jewelry at well known luxury store.
Low Wholesale Price is the lowest wholesale price for high volume purchase, for example when purchasing 100 gems of similar material in similar weight category and similar cutting style.
