So you are at the office and you notice that someone is wearing a beautiful light pink stone necklace. It isn't Rose Quartz, pink glass, or pink diamond. It's opaque and lustrous.  You ask, "what is that pretty pink stone"? Perhaps it is made from one of the three semiprecious pink stones I'm about to talk about.

The color pink has traditionally been related to the feminine gender. No wonder so many people say it’s their favorite color! These are not the standard precious or nearly precious gemstones that are pink like Rose Quartz or Tourmaline. But if you are an earthy pink-lover person, you need to know about these 3 semiprecious pink stones that can be paired up with your light pink dress or jacket.

I have three lesser known semiprecious stones that I use in my jewelry that will perk up that pink blouse while expressing your love of nature! They are: Rhodochrosite, Rhodonite, and Peruvian Pink Opal. Rhodochrosite and Rhodonite are primarily made with the mineral manganese. Peruvian Pink Opal is primarily silica and water.

Rhodochrosite means rose colored in Greek and comes usually with tiny stripes of light and lighter pink in a zig-zag pattern. The pink is usually a pearly luster. They entered the jewelry scene in the 1940’s. They have also been called Manganesespar, or Raspberryspa.

Here is a picture of a Rhodochrosite Necklace I have already made. 

Here is a picture of some Rhodochrosite beads I'm planning to use soon:

Rhodonite looks a lot like Rhodochrosite, but it has black inclusions. It is also called Manganese Gravel, which sounds ugly, but these are very nice pink stones that are a bit redder than Rhodochrosite. They also have a pearly luster and have even been used as subway tiles.

Here are some Rhodonite earrings I have already made:

Here is a picture of some Rhodonite beads I have:

Peruvian Pink Opal, also called Pink Andean Opal or Pink Peru Opal, is the strongest stone in the Opal family. Peruvian Opal is a sedimentary rock formed at low temperature from an igneous rock with high silica content and it doesn’t have the fire of the white and black opals. It is a lustrous pink color with fine lines and occasional inclusions and voids. A guy from www.geology.com calls the color ballerina pink in this video: https://youtu.be/P5KrqPlktvY

Here's a picture of some Peruvian Pink Opal Earrings I have:

Here is a picture of some Peruvian Pink Opal I just got: 

Note: Tourmaline comes in a nice light pink color too, but I’ll save that stone for another day. You can stop reading here, if you are bored by details, but me, I'm a bit of a nerd, so I'll compare and contrast the three for their sources, care of, metaphysical properties and their physical properties below.

Sources:

• Rhodochrosite is mined in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, and the US.
• Rhodonite is mined in New South Wales (Australia), Finland, Japan, Canada, Madagascar, Mexico, Russia, (the Urals), Sweden, South Africa, Tanzania, and New Jersey.
• As the name suggests, Peruvian Pink Opal is mined in the Andes Mountains.

Care of 

• Rhodochrosite:
  
  • Its low Moh’s hardness of 4 is fairly brittle. Care should be taken to keep the stone from striking anything hard as it can fracture, losing a chunk of itself.
• Rhodonite:
  
  • Its Moh’s hardness of 5.5 – 6.5 is still fairly brittle. Care should be taken to keep the stone from striking anything hard as it can fracture into tabular pieces.
• Peruvian Pink Opal:
  
  • Although it is the strongest of the Opal family, its Moh’s hardness of 5.5 – 6 is still fairly brittle. Care should be taken to keep the stone from striking anything hard as it can fracture, losing a chunk of itself.

Metaphysical Properties:

• Rhodochrosite:
  
  • According to the Crystal Bible by Judy Hall, "Rhodochrosite represents selfless love and compassion. It expands consciousness and integrates the spiritual with material energies. This stone imparts a dynamic and positive attitude. Rhodochrosite is an excellent stone for the heart and relationships, especially for people who feel unloved. It is the stone par excellence for healing sexual abuse.”
• Rhodonite:
  
  • According to the Crystal Bible by Judy Hall, "Rhodonite is an emotional balancer that nurtures love and encourages the brotherhood of humanity. It has the ability to show both sides of an issue. This stone stimulates, clears, and activates the heart and the heart chakra. It grounds energy, balances yin-yang, and aids in achieving one’s highest potential.”
• Peruvian Pink Opal:
  
  • According to https://www.opalauctions.com/learn/a-z-of-opals/peruvian-opal-information: “This stone has the power of relaxation, tradition tells us that it can take away any tension from communications and will allow ideas to flow generously. It is an excellent stone for calming the mind and considered useful for a good nights sleep.”

Physical Properties

Rhodochrosite: Per the Gemstones of the World 5th Edition by Walter Schumann: "

• Color: rose-red to yellowish, striped
• Color of streak: white
• Mohs' hardness: 4
• Density: 3.45 – 3.7
• Cleavage: Perfect
• Fracture::Uneven, conchoidal
• Crystal system: (Trigonal) rhomohedra, usually compact aggregate
• Chemical composition: Mn (Co3) Manganese Carbonate
• Transparency:Transparent to Opaque
• Refractive index: 1.600-1.820
• Double refraction: -0.208 to -0.220
• Dispersion: 0.015 (0.010-0.020)
• Pleochroism: absent in aggregate
• Absorption Spectrum: (551, 449, 415)
• Fluorescence: weak red

Rhodonite: Per the Gemstones of the World 5th Edition by Walter Schumann: "

• Color: Dark red, flesh red, black dendritic inclusions
• Color of streak: white
• Mohs' hardness: 5.5 – 6.5
• Density: 3.4 – 3.74
• Cleavage: Perfect
• Fracture::Uneven, conchoidal, tough
• Crystal system: (Triclinic) platy, columnar, usually compact aggregate
• Chemical composition: (CaMg) (Mn2+,Fe2+)4 [Si5O15] Manganese silicate
• Transparency:Transparent to Opaque
• Refractive index: 1.716-1.752
• Double refraction: +0.010 to +0.014
• Dispersion: none
• Pleochroism: Definite; yellow-red, rose-red, red-yellow in transparent
• Absorption Spectrum: 548, 503, 455, (412) (408)
• Fluorescence: none

Peruvian Pink Opal Chemical Composition: per: https://www.opalauctions.com/learn/a-z-of-opals/peruvian-opal-information

• Formula: SiO2 • n (H2O)
• Specific Gravity: 2.10 g / cc
• Water Content: 3.20%
• Fracture: Conchoidal
• Moh’s Scale: 5.5-6

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