Faceted Oregon Sunstone Grading System (Feldspar)

It is important to note that this basic "Faceted Sunstone Grading system" is based on my Oregon Sunstone Grading - by Jeff R. Graham - copyright 2007

I have had a lot of jewelers who are obviously not faceters tell me that they need a system to grade cut Sunstone's with because they really do not know what or how to describe commercially cut Sunstone's. Basically people are not familiar with the grades and types of Sunstone available.

Frankly in the past this confusion has been caused because there has never been up until now a well thought out and coherent "Faceted Oregon Sunstone Grading System". This confusion and lack of standards one of the main reasons I am creating this grading system.

Because many people are unsure of how to grade and buy Sunstone's they hesitate to deal in Oregon Sunstone with out a way to reliably describe and grade Sunstone.

As many of you maybe aware I am hesitant to set up a letter grading system because I feel that color, as well as taste in color(s) is an individual thing and varies from people to people as well as culture to culture. I think in general that color should be accounted for in the pricing depending on the individual stone and the location(s) or cultures involved.

That being said a basic category grading system is needed... What I have done, with some help, is create a grading system that really does not grade color per say. What this system does is grade the type of Sunstone, color(s), and schiller. This system is designed to make it easy for anyone to sort and grade Sunstone. Because the system is simple and straight forward... It is reliable and easy to communicate the grades and descriptions to other people. Which is really the point here.

Please note that this grading system is mainly for classifying cut commercial Sunstone's from the Oregon mining region. This system does not apply to Andesine or Feldspars from other mining areas such as India or Africa. This grading system especially does not apply to high quality custom faceted unusual and rare Sunstone.

Also this system is not grading the clarity or cut of the faceted Suntone in question. For clarity grading of all colored stones I use my Common Sense Gemstone Grading - by Jeff R. Graham copyright 2008

Note: Schiller in Sunstone is not a clarity issue or flaw, it is simply part of the beauty of Sunstone. So when I grade the clarity of Sunstone I only grade a Sunstone down in clarity if there is an actual crack, flaw, bubble, et...

This grading system is designed to be a simple way to describe commercially faceted Sunstone's and it is meant as a general guide. By using this system anyone will be able to identify the basics in a faceted Sunstone and describe the cut stone to the customers as well as to another dealer or miner.

For example a Sunstone maybe graded using this system as "AAAA" Color, clarity IF, or "A" schiller clarity VVS... Depending on the stone being graded of course.

Note: As I have said but it bears repeating... There are rare and unusual Sunstone's from the Oregon mining region. These types of Sunstone are not the norm and not in this basic grading system, except for to be designated as " Collector Sunstone".

Faceted Oregon Sunstone Grading System - jeff@faceters.com ©2009
Grades / Types	Description
Colorless	Pale to clear, very little to no body color.
Yellow	Champagne (yellow with green tint) to strong yellow, yellow/gold.
"A" Schiller	Visible schiller. Usually a light pink or peach color tone in the "A" schiller.
"A" Schiller with Color	Visible schiller with light color. Usually a light pink or peach color tone in the "A" schiller. Also the stone displays very light red and/or green color tone(s).
"AA" Schiller	Bright easily visible schiller from 2 or more angles, nice pink or peach color tone(s).
"AA" Schiller with Color	Bright easily visible schiller from 2 or more angles, nice pink or peach color tones. Also the stone displays light red and/or green color tone(s).
"AAA" Schiller	Strong bright flashy schiller from 2 or more angles, strong pink or peach color tone(s).
"AAA" Schiller with Color	Strong bright flashy schiller from 2 or more angles, strong pink or peach color tone. Also the stone displays medium red and/or green color tone(s).
"AAAA" Schiller	Intense bright flashy schiller from 2 or more angles, intense pink or peach color tone(s).
"AAAA" Schiller with Color	Intense bright flashy schiller from 2 or more angles, intense pink or peach color tones. Also the stone displays bright intense red and/or green color tone(s).
"A" Color (little to no Schiller)	Red, Green, Bi-Color, Dichroic, Tri-Color. Light visible color tone, may be zoned and coppery. May have minimal schiller that does not interfere with light refraction such as speckle, feather or bar schiller that enhances the beauty of the stone.
"AA" Color (little to no Schiller)	Red, Green, Bi-Color, Dichroic Tri-Color. Medium color and saturation and some zoning, May have minimal schiller that does not interfere with light refraction such as speckle, feather or bar schiller that enhances the beauty of the stone.
"AAA" Color (little to no Schiller)	Red, Green, Bi-Color, Dichroic, Tri-Color. Good strong color tone, good saturation, may have slight zoning. May have minimal schiller that does not interfere with light refraction such as speckle, feather or bar schiller that enhances the beauty of the stone.
"AAAA" Color (little to no Schiller)	Red, Green, Bi-Color Dichroic, Tri- Color. Deep rich color and saturation through out the stone. May have minimal schiller that does not interfere with light refraction such as speckle, feather or bar schiller that enhances the beauty of the stone.
Collector	Rare intense color and exceptional beauty. See Note

Faceted Oregon Sunstone Grading System
Information compiled and Copyrighted by Jeff R. Graham.
www.faceters.com
Information sources - Double Eagle Mining, Dust Devil Mining, as well as several other miners and trade people.

These Mines are using this grading system:

Double Eagle Mining
Dust Devil Mining
Out Back Mining

What is Schiller?
Schiller is particles of suspended copper that forms within the Sunstone crystals. Schiller comes in many forms in Sunstone. From heavy saturated deposits with in a crystal to a single wire strand.

Common terms used to describe the look of Schiller are: Plate(s), banded, barred, feather, veil, wires, speckle (tiny dots), clouds, sheets et...

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E-mail to inquire or order: jeff@faceters.com