Another Sugilite Mystery - Black Sugilite?

I believe I am in agreement with you. Wish I knew what it was!

I don’t understand that. For example, if we just have the quartz with no turquoise when the quartz is the host rock, we don’t call that turquoise. Are they saying that there’s tiny bits of sugilite mixed in? That you can’t see well?

Could it be that sugilite is found where this particular host rock is, and then they call it sugilite anyway. Like I have a ring that turned out to prob be chalcosiderite, but the seller said it was turquoise. I read chalcosiderite used to be called turquoise back in the day.

I don’t understand either. I have no idea.

hold close,at the side,see if light goes through & what color

Okay, I think I can confirm now that it is not translucent! Thank you!

That confirms my suspicions. Could it be Jet?
A friend of mine has some beautiful Jet jewelry.

I’m sure it could be jet since I’m at a point that I don’t know what it is!

I don’t think jet is that shiny. What about obsidian?

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Agree with @islandmomma about jet; more often it’s onyx or something else in cabs with a highly reflective surface.

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I have some polished Jet that is very shiny. My friends jewelry from Jet is high gloss. Obsidian is usually somewhat translucent.

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Take it to a certified gemologist. That way if it’s not what you believed you were buying you would have recourse. If it is what you believed you were buying then hopefully you would be happy!:blush:

I think chicfarmer is zeroing in with onyx. Link

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Possibly obsidian, but I’m beginning to think most likely onyx. I’m seeing the seller has listed a lot of other onyx pieces and I think this one was most likely just accidentally mislabeled.

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This does not look like sugilite.
It does appear to be artisan made, (maybe NA, maybe not) and stamped with the maker’s initials.
My guess is black onyx.

Onyx is definitely a possibility. Doesn’t look like Jet. Jet is essentially dense coal, and way too soft to cut with that glassy surface and hardness.

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So I wrote back to the seller and told him that the jeweler and all my contacts in a forum and a group I’m in on facebook agree this doesn’t appear to be Sugilite or we would expect to see some shade of pink to purple in it and this is all black and that I suspect it is most likely onyx. I also told him that I still very much like it and for the price I paid, I’m happy to keep it. Here is the response he sent me, just causing me to question even more. Could the original artist have labeled it incorrectly? That doesn’t seem very likely to me.

“Interesting, when we bought it from the family who bought it from the artist the item was labeled, but we always use a Gemoro gemstone tester to verify everything because like you said shades of a stone and play of color can vary between pieces so I’m pretty sure the listing is correct but thanks a million for the info and I am glad you’re happy with it but if ever you get something you do not love 100% we offer free shipping back to us to all our valued customers so feel free to send anything back you buy that you don’t love.”

huh?

gemoro testers < click

sugilite has been found in a few parts of the world after it’s initial discovery in Japan.

the sugilite discovered in South Africa is the variety most cabbed with its black host rock manganese

source : https://www.mindat.org/min-3822.html

sugilite gallery : https://www.mindat.org/gm/3822

gem quality sugilite manganese cab :

gemoro gemstone tester used on this???

His response sounds like nervous excuse making. Let’s say he determined that sugilite has black host rock, as opposed to this being a misidentified cab of onyx. I just can’t believe a knowledgeable and honest seller would offer host rock as a gemstone, especially one known for its color.

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When I googled “Gemoro gem tester” the only hits I got were products designed to distinguish imitation from genuine diamonds. I can’t see how this would be of any use in testing sugilite. Am I missing something here?

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