| Since these phenomenal gems are fairly rare, | | | | 4-ray and 6-ray, though 12-ray stars have been |
| they naturally attract the attention of collectors. | | | | seen. |
| In some cases all or most of the gems belonging | | | | Color is also vital in a star sapphire rings |
| to a particular variety display the phenomenon, in | | | | gemstone. Ideally the color should be identical to a |
| the way that most moonstone exhibit | | | | non-star sample of the gem, but the presence of |
| adularesence. But in other cases the optical effect | | | | rutile in the stone tends to weaken the color. So |
| is found only often in a specific kind of gem, and | | | | in the best case there is enough rutile to create a |
| it is the rare cases that are of special interest to | | | | distinct star while minimizing the effect on the |
| collectors. | | | | color.synthetic star sapphires were first produced |
| The value of a star gemstone relies on the | | | | in the latter 1940's by Linde, a division of Union |
| lucidity and distinctness of the star. Often the star | | | | Carbide. They're now produced in Japan by |
| must be evaluated using a single source light such | | | | Nakazumi Earth Crystals. The manmade gems |
| as a penlight ; it is mostly very difficult to see the | | | | have a tendency to have perfect color and star |
| star under diffused light. Moving the light forwards | | | | so vivid and straight that it would appear painted |
| and backwards should cause the star to move | | | | on the stone. |
| across the stone's surface. The rays of the star | | | | When you find your gemstone have a pic taken |
| should be uniformly distributed and the rays should | | | | by anAtlanta photographer |
| be relatively straight. The most typical stars are | | | | . |