PIETERSITE was discovered in
1962 by Sid Pieters while prospecting some farm land in Namibia,
Africa. The first pieces he found were covered in white limestone and were
quite heavy. His curiosity got the better of him and he took some home, cut it
open and, I imagine, did that quick intake of breath we all do when viewing a
particularly chatoyant piece of Pietersite. He registered his find in the
mineral records of Britain, his discovery was published in 1964 and named after
him....Pietersite.
Pietersite will always have brecciated, fibrous
bands of blue, gold and/or red tiger eye type fibers in quartz. The fibrous
structure in Pietersite has been folded, stressed, even fractured and/or broken
apart via the earth's geological processes. The fibrous materials have then
been reformed and naturally re-cemented together by the quartz. Stones that go
through this process, create a finished product with multiple colors, hues and
superb chatoyancy.
While Pietersite has the lovely chatoyance of
tiger eye, it is not found in continuously structured bands or fibers - more in
swirls, swathes, linear and fibrous segments. Thus the structure of the
chatoyancy in Pietersite may appear chaotic, and can flow in many directions
side-by-side.
Colors include various blues, golds and reds, that
may appear together or alone. Blue is the rarest
color, followed by red.
The blues range from a baby blue to a dark midnight hue. Golds can be light to
very deep and rich, sometimes having a reddish hue. All color variation will
have a superb and striking chatoyancy, the bright and subtly changing shimmer
of color that moves along the surface of a gemstone as it is viewed from
varying angles. (compliments of Wikipedia)
