For your gem needs see our Recommended Suppliers. Grape Jelly Purple, is how the color of this gem is described. In spite of the popularity of that food in the US, the gem isn t very popular among consumers. Even sophisticated gem shoppers ignore this beautiful gem.
Most sugilite sales are in Asia, very few in North America.
Sugilite was named for its discoverer, Professor Ken-ichi Sugi, a Japanese petrologist. He first discovered tiny crystals of the mineral in 1944. The location of this first discovery was the Iwagi Islet in Southwestern Japan. The original Japanese materials were just tiny, yellow crystals with no gem value. In 1955 some dark pink crystals were found in India s Central Province that were also identified as Sugilite.