Rhodonite

Rhodonite forms in or near manganese-bearing ore bodies. Sverdlovsk (Urals, Russia) yields fine massive pink to rose material; British Columbia, Canada, yields similar material, some with black dendritic patterns. Broken Hill (New South Wales, Australia) and Honshu (Japan) produce rare facetable crystals. Other sources include Värmland (Sweden), Daghazeta (Tanzania), the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Cornwall (UK). The type locality is in the Harz, Germany.

Rhodonite's refractive index is about 1.711–1.752 (shadow edge near 1.73 in massive material) and its specific gravity 3.57–3.76. Bustamite, sometimes mislabelled as rhodonite, is paler and has distinctly lower refractive indices; pyroxmangite looks similar but differs in birefringence. Mindat notes that much material called rhodonite may actually be other rhodonite-group species and needs chemical analysis. Beads sold as "synthetic rhodonite" are of unclear nature and may simply be imitations.

Do not clean rhodonite with steam or ultrasonic cleaners; use a soft brush, mild detergent and warm water. Because of its cleavage and relatively low hardness, store it separately from other stones and use protective settings to avoid scratches and blows.

Rhodonite was named in 1819 by Christoph Friedrich Jasche from the Greek rhodon, "rose", for its color. Fine Russian rhodonite was used for carvings such as a Fabergé parrot now at the St. Petersburg Mining Institute, and rhodonite is the official state gemstone of Massachusetts.