Sunstone, or aventurescent feldspar, is found all over the world, but the best-known deposits in the U.S. are found in Oregon. Oregon Sunstone is unique in that it exhibits the schiller effect due to inclusions of copper, while it occurs in sunstone from other locales due to hematite inclusions.

Oregon sunstone fancy faceted. Rough is sourced from Butte.

First Sightings

It is believed that Native Americans made the first discovery of sunstone in the area. According to legend, a wounded warrior shed his blood upon the stones, transferring his power to the gems and staining them with his blood in brilliant, glowing shades of red. His ancestors revered the sacred stone, and were known to bury it with their departed in small pouches.

Oregon Sunstone faceted by our cutters - Spectrum Mines

Sunstone actually occurs in a range that vary from colorless to tones of yellow and orange in addition to red. The shade exhibited is determined by the amount of copper present and the size of the copper platelets in the stone. The copper creates a pink or reddish hue, but rare stones can be found in deep blues and greens.

Color can even vary within individual stones. While some gems exhibit a gradient of color that varies from subtle to sharp (like the third example shown above), others are pleochroic, shifting colors depending upon the direction of orientation.

If you are interested in looking at some of our sunstones for sale, we have a large variety of choices in an array of colors.