Colours: Light Blue to Violet, Grey, Brown, Black.
Hardness: 7 - 7 1/2
Iolite is the gemstone trade name for the mineral Cordierite. Cordierite occurs
in metamorphic rocks and granite. It is found in relatively few locations but
an abundant source is mined in Connecticut and also throughout the Northwest
Territories of the United States. One of the charms of this mineral when faceted
into the gem Iolite is that it appears to change colours from violet to grey,
depending on the angle from which it is viewed.
Iolite derives its name from the Greek Ion, meaning violet.
