----L. Allen Brown, Gemologist (GIA 1991), All That Glitters
Spent two weeks touring all over Turkey: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Antalya, Pamukkale and Izmir. Visited as many jewelry stores as possible and
seeking out mineral specimens and all forms of gemstone related items. (Some of the gems that Turkey produces includes: gem material including:
Color Change Diaspore (also called – Zultanite, Czarite, Ottomanite and Turkizite – trademarked names); Jet; Chalcedony; Chrysoprase; Lavender Jade;
Fire Opal; Amethyst; Pink Tourmaline)
Total disappointment in general. When I did see what could have been "Turkish Color Changing Diaspore", it was being called Zultanite, which I
believe would be an infringement on the trademarked name, as it must come from that one company who has the trademark in order to be called
Zultanite. The color wasn’t right either for this gemstone. I have been dealing with the Turkish Diaspore since about 1993 when Guven first
contacted me about this new material he was attempting to bring to market – this was a call out of the blue and left on my answering machine.
I believe it finally hit the trade at the GJX Show in Tucson in 93 or 94, and unknowingly, I had met Stephen Kotlowski at that booth that year.
He was doing the initial cutting for Guven and Guven had signed up for a booth that year. Ten years later, Stephen would become my very good friend
in the trade and major cutter of my fine colored gemstone rough, and would also help tweak an Ultratec that I purchased in 2004.
(I was not initially impressed with the Diaspore back at that time, as the pieces I recall were larger than desired and had a weak color change,
and the price was costly; it wasn’t until years later when I was offered material from Turkey which was SUPER and I drove the 3.5 hours to visit
with Stephen for the day and we would discuss where to cut the rough and though we had different opinions at times, would come up with what we
thought was best – one of those crystals was 1000grams. Haven’t seen anything like that in size since) I think Color Changing Diaspore is my
favorite gemstone, because like Alexandrite, it is tri-chroic, and when cutting it, a slight angle change, rotation to avoid the cleavage issues
or when working with a twinned crystal, the final result of the body color and color change is usually different from faceted gem to gem; and the
cutting design can make a difference too.
Digressing as usual here, but when I saw gemstones/jewelry with the signs "Zultanite" in the stores in Turkey, this material couldn’t have been
Zultanite/Diaspore. Many large pieces, a very odd color, they didn’t use fluorescent or incandescent lights for the color change as would be
expected, but they used colored lights (filters), which of course, added that color to the gemstone as well as the surroundings. Besides not
believing what they said was Zultanite, one store had a case of blue gemstones set – the color blue was all the same, and there were various sizes
and shapes. I didn’t ask what it was, but due to the very low prices (some at $70) it must have been a synthetic of some sort or even just glass.
This same store that was also telling those visitors on tours something strange – to quote one of the attendees: "The girl at the shop told me that
Sapphire found in Tanzania is Tanzanite. But Sapphires found elsewhere are just regular Sapphires".
Another indication that the Zultanite shown in some stores was something other than Zultanite/Diaspore, was that large pieces were set into
Sterling Silver and very simple pieces of jewelry at that! You don’t put a costly gemstone like a large Tanzanite, Sapphire or similar into a
simple Sterling Silver piece. (Have seen 40ct Diaspores selling for over $400k retail; Stephen was not only my cutter for Diaspore and other
fine quality colored gemstones, but also for one of the other major players in faceting this species, cutting a piece that was just under 100ct
if I recall – this was later set into a necklace with diamonds and sold I believe in the UK for in the ballpark of $1M) – this is now decades ago.
So don’t know what is going on in Turkey with Zultanite/Diaspore, but from what I have seen, the public, tourists, customers, etc. are making
purchases of what they believe is a particular gemstone and getting something else…. Was asked how they can do that – well, how many people are
going to send in their gemstone or jewelry to a lab such as GIA or AGL, for Gem ID at a cost of hundreds of dollars? That typically doesn’t happen,
so any store or business selling something is pretty sure that the item will never be checked – and many stores provide their own appraisals too,
which is essentially letting the fox guard the chicken coop!
Another Zultanite Story - A friend had gone to Mexico within the last year and told me she saw tables full of ‘silver’ that had ‘Zultanites’ as
the center gems; again, larger pieces, of a honey like color (believe she said that she didn’t care for the color) – and these were typically
selling for under $100.
In Tucson this year (2026), I saw one dealer who had a tray that was marked "Synthetic Zultanite" – I can tell you that it wasn’t Synthetic
Zultanite because there is currently no such material being grown and again the color was wrong, being a dark amber color and I don’t believe
it had a color change. I didn’t ask pricing and didn’t try to get info as I had no interest in the material, but the story behind it or what I
could have been told, would have been interesting. Next year, should I attend my 40th Tucson, if I see this again I will be asking questions!
Still have a nice collection in inventory of the Diaspore that Stephen had cut, as well as a few pieces cut by "Wolfie" – both multi-award
winning cutters. Diaspore rough is still stashed away here for future cutting, and when I recently showed a few of the cut stones to visitors
to the ATG Office (whom I had met in Turkey), I even surprised myself, as I turned off the lights in the office for the first time, and used
various lights to show the color change, and though I had previously made notes of the colors of each individually faceted gemstone in inventory,
the color change was far more evident in the dark with no other extraneous lighting in the area. Even the dual LED light (warm LED and cool LED),
did a marvelous job and those viewing the gems were definitely impressed, as was I….
I’m posting photos here of what was seen in various jewelry stores in Turkey with signs indicating this was ‘supposedly’ "Zultanite".
Update - I received some information from someone I have known for quite some time and has been doing intensive studies of
Lab Grown Sapphire and attempting to obtain some unique colors as well as attempting to understand exactly what is necessary to consistently
obtain the same color each time a crystal is grown under the same conditions and with the same starting elements. He had the following to say
regarding what the material was that I had seen in Turkey in stores, what my friend had seen in Mexico and perhaps what I had see as Synthetic
Zultanite in Tucson: "it's all glass doped with Ce, Pr, and Nd. GIA wrote an article about it".
The article may be located in Gems & Gemology Magazine, Winter 2016, under Gem News International. You can view the article which we have cut and pasted to create
one image for display.
G&G Article - Doped Glass Incorrectly Called Zultanite
| Below you will see photos taken in various jewelry stores in Turkey, which all had signs indicating the gemstones were Zultanite, but as discussed above, it is anything but genuine Zultanite (Diaspore). |
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| Below are some examples of Genuine Zultanite (Color Changing Turkish Diaspore) with 3 of these being faceted
by Stephen Kotlowski, one of the two cutters All That Glitters utilized for the cutting of our Diaspore rough. There are VERY large
examples of this material and the pricing reflects the rarity of this size and the craftsmanship of the specialty cutters.
(Note that we didn't sell or have any of these pieces in our inventory in the past. Our highest pricing for this material would be up to $3000/ct - even with our Multi-Award Winning Cutters used.) |
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| More Info About Color Changing Turkish Diaspore, also trademarked as:
Zultanite, Csarite, Ottomanite and Turkizite?? Here are some screen grabs of information found online... |
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To View Wonderful Examples of Color Changing Turkish Diaspore, Visit the All That Glitters Diaspore Page where every one of these gemstones
were faceted by Multi-Award Winning Cutters: Stephen Kotlowski (Flat Faceting) or Chris (Wolfie) Wolfsberg (Hand Carving/Grooving):
Color Changing Turkish Diaspore (Zultanite)
