Unakite (polished/tumbled)

Typically mottled salmon-pink and pistachio-green. The pink areas are potassium feldspar, the green areas are epidote, and gray or translucent patches are quartz. Luster is generally dull to vitreous on an unpolished surface and waxy to glossy after tumbling. It is massive and granular rather than visibly crystalline, with no consistent cleavage as a whole rock. Approximate hardness is 6–7 on the Mohs scale; specific gravity is commonly about 2.7–3.3. The specimen shown has been shaped and polished, so its smooth reflective surface is human-produced.

Unakite forms when granite undergoes hydrothermal alteration, during which some feldspar is replaced by epidote while quartz remains or recrystallizes. It is generally Precambrian to Paleozoic in age depending on the deposit, though the rock itself may have formed during later alteration events. The name comes from the Unaka Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, USA.

Commonly sold as tumbled stones, cabochons, beads, carvings, ornaments, and lapidary material. It is also used for decorative stone and occasionally small interior-design objects. It has modest collector value and is not generally considered a high-value gemstone.

Unakite is distinctive because its green-and-pink color pattern reflects the coexistence of epidote and potassium feldspar. Although often marketed as a gemstone, it is technically a rock rather than a single mineral. Similar-looking green-and-pink stones may include altered granite, jasper, or serpentine-bearing rocks.

In the field, look for an interlocking, granular rock with irregular salmon-pink feldspar and olive- to pistachio-green epidote, often with gray quartz. A fresh broken surface should remain mottled rather than showing uniform color. A steel knife may scratch some feldspar-rich areas but should not easily scratch quartz-rich areas; a glass plate is generally scratched by the quartz-bearing rock. The image alone cannot prove the identification, and similar lapidary material can be confused with epidote-rich granite or dyed stone. Common sources include the Unaka Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, Virginia, Brazil, South Africa, and China.