Origin: Madagascar

Colors

Colorless, yellow, green, gray, brown, blue, rose red, black. Often zoned. Color correlates with Fe content: green and yellow due to low Fe; brown and black due to high Fe.

Crystallography

Monoclinic. Crystals often wedge shaped, well formed, flattened, prismatic; also massive, compact.

Dispersion

0.051 (strong)

Enhancements

Heating

Etymology

From the Greek sphenos for “wedge,” in allusion to sphene’s characteristic wedge-shaped crystals. Titanite refers to its titanium content.

Formula

CaTiSiO5.

Fracture

Conchoidal

Hardness

5-5.5

Heat Sensitivity

Yes

Inclusions

Feathers, crystals, needles, fingerprints, zoning.