What Is Unakite?


Unakite is a pink and green metamorphic rock composed of pink orthoclase, green epidote, and colorless to milky quartz. These colors have helped Unakite become a popular lapidary material.

Unakite forms when granite is altered by hydrothermal fluids, and plagioclase in the granite is transformed into epidote. Unakite is used as a construction material, an architectural stone, a lapidary rough, and a gem material.

unakite cabochons
Unakite Cabochons: Two cabochons cut from unakite. The one on the left consists of approximately equal amounts of green epidote and pink orthoclase feldspar. It measures about 30 x 19 millimeters and is cut from a material with a very coarse grain size. The cabochon on the right consists mainly of epidote and has a much finer grain size. It measures about 39 x 30 millimeters in size.

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