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CHRYSOPRASE, a Green variety of Chalcedony
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VARIETY INFORMATION:
- VARIETY OF: Crypto-crystalline
Quartz
, SiO2
- USES: Gemstone and ornamental stone.
- COLOR: various shades of Green
- HARDNESS: 7
- CLEAVAGE: none
- CRYSTAL SYSTEM: none visible (actual crystals are microscopic)
- For natural Chrysoprase mineral specimens see our For Sale or Sold lists
Chrysoprase is a green variety of
chalcedony (cryptocrystalline quartz).
It is usually an apple-green, but can vary to a dark green. If the specimen
contained flecks of red, it would be called Bloodstone.
Chrysoprase (sometimes called simply "prase", especially for darker specimens) is a fine-grained quartz whose crystals are
too small to see. The color is due to the presence of nickel.
Chrysoprase is the traditional birthstone for May, and is associated with the
values of fertility and secrecy.
Chrysoprase is only one of several
chalcedony (cryptocrystalline quartz) varieties.
The primary varieties are as follows:
- Agate is a banded variety
(sometimes with translucent bands)
- Bloodstone is
green with red speckles
- Carnelian is yellow
to orange
- Chrysoprase is
green
- Flint is generally black
with a fibrous microscopic structure
- Jasper is any colorful
chalcedony
- Onyx is black, white, or
alternating black and white
- Sard is yellow to brown
- Sardonyx is banded,
alternating sard and (usually white) onyx
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