Rarity

Cherry Blossom Stone® is only known from Peru. 

Availability

We don’t know how big the reserve of this stone is. So far it is readily available. We sell Cherry Blossom Stone® as rough rock, as carved decor products, as preselected jewelry-grade material (slabs), as cabochons and in our jewelry.  

Color

Cherry Blossom Stone® is white (yellowish) with pinkish spots.

Jewelry-grade color:

Jewelry-grade material should not show black impurities and very little yellowish coloration. The pink spots should cover at least 30% of the cabochon surface. 

Impurities

Black impurities are common in Cherry Blossom Stone®. material showing such impurities should not be considered for jewelry.

The white matrix often shows a yellowish tone. it is very rare to find top-quality jewelry-grade material that does not show any yellowish tone in the white matrix. However, jewelry-grade material should show very little yellowish matrix. The whiter the matrix is, the higher the quality of the cabochon. 

Jewelry-grade material makes up only 5-10 % of the rough rock coming from the mine. 

Polishable

Cherry Blossom Stone® can be polished to glass-finish by experienced gemcutters, like the ones from Gemrock. 

Cutting Quality

Advantages:

Cherry Blossom Stone® does not tend to break or chip. Experienced cutters therefore can obtain very sharp unchipped edges between the backside and bezel as well as between the bezel and dome.

Top-cutting-quality is characterized by:

• a polished backside
• a sharp unchipped edge between the backside and the bezel
• a very straight and even highly polished bezel
• a sharp unchipped edge between the bezel and the dome
• a well-shaped dome, not showing any deformation
• Top-quality polish

Beware of false information on the internet about “Cinnabrite”

On the internet, it is widely known and sold as “Cinnabrite” (or “Cinabrite”). However, “cinnabrite” is a fantasy name. It may have been derived from the scientific name “Cinnabarite” referring to pinkish-red cinnabar. Some people think that Cherry Blossom Stone® is composed of cinnabar and quartz, but that is incorrect. The name Cinnabrite should be avoided, as it leads to the wrong perception of the stone containing the toxic Cinnabar. This goes so far as to attribute the terms “dragon blood” and “merchant stone” to this stone. Given the fact that those are historical terms related to the toxic Cinnabar which is not contained in this stone, those references should not be made.

Another misconception is that “Cinnabrite” would contain “pink epidote”. However, real Epidote does not occur in pink.

Chemical analysis made by us should be able to put an end to the ongoing wrongful labeling of the stone: 

• The Peruvian Cherry Blossom Stone resembles in its appearance a Namibian stone called “cherry Blossom”, which also contains Thulite.
• There is no “pink” Epidote and no Cinnabar in this stone.
• The pink dots are in fact “Thulite” (Clinozoisite)
• It is the first time that Thulite was reported for Peru.
• Part of the white matrix consists of Meionite, which is part of the scapolite group of minerals (marialite-meionite series).
• The second part of the white matrix is Wairakite, a mineral from the zeolite group (analciem-wairakite series)

Pricing

Adequate pricing must take into account the cost factors to obtain top-quality cabochons:

• Acquisition of top-grade stone with strong color in the mine.
• Selection of material without impurities and discarding more than 90 percent of the rough rock as unsuitable for jewelry.
• A usual material loss of approximately 90 % of the selected material during the cutting and shaping process.
• The level of experience required by a cutter to produce a flawlessly shaped and highly polished cabochon from such a soft material.

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