What is "Scorolite Opal"? Is It Quartz? Is It Scapolite?

"Scorolite Opal" - Or Quartz?

Someone asked the question "What is Scorolite Opal?" today on Etsy's forums.  And there were many responses from some of the fabulous and informed Etsy jewelry sellers.  So what is it?

The bottom line is:  there is no such gemstone as "Scorolite Opal".  It is possibly glass, or coated quartz, or light-colored (and poor quality) Amethyst, which is purple quartz, or some other quartz such as "Lavender Moon Quartz".

There is no mention of this stone anywhere---not on mindat.org (except for a discussion regarding "fakes, frauds and marketing ploys"), not on the GIA's website,  nowhere outside of Etsy.  Not even on Ebay!!

More "Scorolite Opal"

If you google "Scorolite Opal", the search results are all for shops on Etsy, or for sellers who have websites but also shops on Etsy.  Once again, it's a "stone" that is marketed primarily TO Etsy sellers from gem wholesalers, some located in the US and some in India.

When I searched on Etsy for strands of this stone sold by suppliers, at least one result was simply Opalite being sold as "Scorolite Opal".  Opalite is glass, not any sort of a gemstone, totally man-made.  There were 8 results total.  Some of these stones are more clear and glowing, some are nearly opaque, some seem to have a moonstone-like "adularescence" within the stone, some are more blue...they are all different.

Of course, the best way to discover what a stone really is, is to have the stone tested by a gemologist.  In fact, I found the following information regarding this stone online:

"Another Fake: “Scorolite”

Although the term “scorolite” is sometimes used as a synonym for “scorodite”
lately one can find many mentions of “scorolite” on the Internet as a
“relatively new gemstone”. There it is described as “purple/greyish”, and sometimes even “colour change” or “tenebrescent”.

Now , genuine scorodite is occasionally faceted as a gemstone, but very rarely since it is too soft for anything but collectors of rare gemstones, and very few facetable crystals exist. Those that do are prized by collectors because of their beautiful green-blue colour. 

Curious about what exactly this material was, your editor purchased some “scorolite” beads (actually advertised as “scorodite”) on ebay.The specific gravity of the material was much too light for scorodite. 

I then sent it to KerryDay of KGD Minerals in Ottawa, who performed EDS on a sample. Conclusion: the "scorolite/scorodite” was actually just quartz,var. amethyst — and not particularly nice amethyst at that."

Scorodite - Beautiful Blue!

This article (above) refers to Scorodite.  This is from 2009---six years ago!  There is a gem called "Scorodite" which is a natural mineral.  Scorodite is an incredibly beautiful mineral found in ranges of intense blues, and is nothing like this Scorolite stone.

When I first read about this "Scorolite Opal" and looked at pictures of it, my first thought was that it was maybe purple Scapolite.  Maybe a typo somewhere along the way led from Scapolite to Scorolite...?  However, Scapolite is a genuine gemstone (purple, similar looking to amethyst), and is NOT any sort of Opal.  

Some of these "Scorolite" stones look quite pretty.  Some look a LOT like purple Scapolite, or like pale Amethyst, or even translucent chalcedony quartz. They would probably be a nice, fun addition to a  jewelry collection.  But it's NOT any sort of Opal gemstone, it's not a "new, rare" gemstone,  and is most likely quartz, whether natural or coated, or perhaps man-made.




Possibly Lavender Moon Quartz? 

There is a gemstone, a variety of quartz, called "Lavender Moon Quartz".  It is just beautiful, and has a translucent soft lavender glow.  It looks a little like moonstone, it has an opalescent glow, and a little like translucent chalcedony.  But it's none of those---it's a variety of quartz all its own.

I noticed some of this so-called Scorolite Opal jewelry on Etsy that has more of this lavender "glow".  I am guessing that some of this "Scorolite" is actually the beautiful Lavender Moon Quartz.  Some other "Scorolite" appears to be amethyst (it doesn't possess this glow) or some other type of quartz, some maybe scapolite, and some are obviously Opalite.

Here is a picture of genuine Lavender Moon Quartz, which is available at Rio Grande Jewelry  (highly reputable gemstone and precious metals supplier):

Lavender Moon Quartz

That picture doesn't really capture the beauty and luminous glow of this stone.  I googled images of Lavender Moon Quartz and I see that some very high-end designers (Yurman, for example) have used Lavender Moon Quartz in their jewelry.  It's SO beautiful, and it's a natural gemstone!