These are specimens of pulled titanium sapphire, an unusual variety of sapphire grown for use in lasers with a padparascha-like orange-pink color (also called Ti:Sapphire or just Ti:Sapph). These stones are too bubbly or included to facet clean stones but make beautiful specimens as-is, or could be faceted with bubbles. They come in a range of sizes, shapes and colors.
This is a very unusual variety of sapphire, colored solely by titanium. This is never found in nature or even in cheap flame fusion sapphire because it requires extreme chemical purity--even a hint of iron mixed in will result in a deep blue color and magnesium will remove the color entirely. When it is made just right, however, the result is a bright, sort of padparascha-like pink color which shifts between a starburst pink and a more pink-orange depending on the lighting. We were able to get some leftover offcuts from a laser crystal grower--these were not produced for the gem trade but they make for incredible gems.
The color of these pieces varies because the rind has a darker slightly orange-red color which fades into a Starburst-pink color in the center. This gives a nice range of options.
