Gemstone Glossary

Hiddenite
Hiddenite is an attractive and rare gemstone. It has an unusual green color that is unlike either Peridot or Emerald. Hiddenite was discovered in 1800 in Hiddenite, a city in Alexander County, North Carolina. Both the city and the gem mineral were named after William Earl Hidden, a mineralogist and mining director from Newark, New Jersey who was mining in the area.


Hiddenite is actaully one of two varities of Spodumene. The other is Kunzite, a pink to lilac variety. Kunzite is the more common of the two and and is better known by most gemstone collectors. Kunzite has a lovely pink to lilac color that is unique in the gem kingdom. The green color of Hiddenite ranges from a yellowish to a bluish green. The gemstone is strongly pleochroic meaning that it can change color when viewed from different angles, thus a gem cutter must take care to orient the stone in the best position for the deepest color.

Hiddenite is formed from Lithium Aluminum Silicate (LiAlSi2O6). It ranks 6.5 on the Moh’s Scale of Hardness with a Refractive Index of 1.66. The crystals are vitreous and can be in either transparent or translucent forms. For many years, occurrence of Hiddenite was limited to only North Carolina, however new desposits were recently discovered in Madagascar and Brazil.

Hiddennite is used as both a collecting specimen and as a gemstone. Due to its cleavage, splintery fracture and strong pleochroism, Hiddenite requires skill and expertise to cut and facet. The top and bottom of the crystal reveal the deepest colors and knowledgeable gem cutters take advantage of this effect to produce the finest quality Hiddenite.