Sphene or No Sphene?

[FarmMom]

So last night Tony and Michelle presented a loose sphene, 1.25 carats and 6x8mm.

I don't know, but something in my head said this is not correct.

So I went to my gem case and pulled out the two sphenes I have. One was 1.35 and the other 1.45. I double checked the carat weight.....

Sure enough, it was correct but the SIZE was MUCH SMALLER than their 8x6 stones. One was a 6mm round and the other a 6x7mm emerald cut.

Now keep in mind, the carat weight is BIGGER than SLC, yet NEITHER measured close to 8x6, NOR were they exceptionally DEEP cuts.

So either the SLC stone is VERY poorly cut to be long and FLAT, or they are INCORRECTLY listing their stone.

And we go back to "why I won't buy loose gemstones from SLC" . . .

[MaeWest1953]

FarmMom....

Now that I have time to catch up, I wanted to say that I watched that show and I had never heard of Sphene before
Yet they made it appear that they were they only station that has it and sold it
Since you are a savvy Stone collector I have been meaning to ask you if the stone is really that hard to find

So yay, after reading your post I am learning once again that neither one of them is stating correct stats about what they were presenting

[Bella]

Hi Mae! I have seen Sphene on JTV and on the Gem Shopping Network. Quality Sphene price per carat is pretty high. Clean stones over five carats are a real find and command a high price. Most of the Sphene I have seen are 3 carats or less.

[Spinoza]

Never heard of a Sphene so I had to do some research out of curiosity! Apparently Sphene is another name for Titanite. Pretty gem available in a multitude of colors. And interestingly, some Titanite has been found to be metamict (radioactive) due to the degradation of the crystal structure within. I’m assuming (oooh, that’s a dangerous word!) the gems that are sold to the public are checked for that or perhaps the radiation is so minute it’s harmless.

[FarmMom]

Sphene is a tricky stone to work with, it's very brittle and can shatter when faceting and polishing. Certain colors are more rare and desirable than others, but darker colors are worth less since they show less fire.

It's commonly included, but clean stones with lots of fire (clean makes stones more firey) do fetch a solid price. I have a perfectly clean 12.5 carat stone saved on my watchlist going for $4500, but usually good (not top) quality stones sell for about $100/carat. Pretty low considering it's less common than tanzanite and much harder to cut. But it's not very well known and let's be honest . . . the colors are not exactly what most find to be 'pretty".