Saturday's Gem - Banded Agate

Banded Agate is a more common rock and is part of the Chalcedony family, which falls under the bigger family of quarts.  It is a microcrystalline giving it a very smooth, waxy look and the shape is most often a botryiodal mass or mammillary (in basic terms a rounded lump.)  Just like other agates, banded agate is formed by precipitate (fluids that carry solids) rich in silicate percolating or flowing into a host rock’s cavity or cracks.  As the fluid is evaporated or is reabsorbed the sediment is left behind leaving layers of silicate rich rock behind that eventually will fill the cavity forming the agate nodule or geode (nodules are solid, geodes are hollow.) 

A great example of a Nodule found in Etsy Shop Etil at http://ow.ly/cyYYF

Banded Agate is usually found with bands of white, blue, gray and clear.  It is opaque to translucent and can look almost a little like the insides of a white jelly bean.  Because this stone is porous it is often dyed commercially and used in home decoration (geodes halves for book ends, novelty items, etc.) or jewelry.  While adding color to the piece can bring out the depth of bands and makes it "pop", the natural color is very pretty and dainty.

A wonderful tumbled Lace Agate that has been dyed pink found in ArtFire shop LotusBeads at http://ow.ly/cyXws

The bands of this stone can make shapes and will often lead to specialized names like: Iris Agate (the inside layer looks like an Iris flower) and Lace Agate (the banding is not straight but resembles lace.)  Agate is readily found in most areas of the USA, Brazil, Uruguay, Madagascar, China, India, and Mexico, but the Banded Agate is especially beautiful from the Mohave here in California. 

This wonderful piece of Banded Agate was found in Etsy shop RedTailedHawk at http://ow.ly/cyXHR

This agate makes very delicate and feminine looking jewelry and I especially love some of the piece I found on Etsy and ArtFire today: 

'Saturday's Gem - Banded Agate - From Rock to Beads' by ButterflyInTheAttic2

Banded Missouri Agate Quart... Mineralman $10.00	Unpolished Banded Black Skin... ReggieRocks $7.00	White Banded Agate Slice M2... WestAstheCrowF... $3.00	White Banded Agate (s-122) SonoranTreasur... $5.00
white banded agate cabochon Redtailedhawk $11.00	Moroccan Banded Agate Caboch... EARTHARTSILVER $14.50	One Pair of White Banded Aga... jewelinesales $24.00	White Banded Agate Oval Cabo... CabochonDesign... $8.00
BANDED AGATE Donut Gemstone ... BeadieandThing... $4.99	BANDED AGATE double sided P... TESGLASSARTNSU... $13.00	10 Tumbled Blue Lace Agate N... GiftbearerSupp... $10.75	Blue & White Banded Agate 18... DestashAvenue $5.00
Beautiful Banded Agate 18x13... LaveoBeads $4.99	4MM Cafe Latte Banded Agate ... DayBeads $4.99	Agate, Banded, White/Brown/B... BeadsAndHoney $7.95	Agate, Light Blue and Clear,... BeadsAndHoney $9.75

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Saturdays Gem - Banded Agate - Jewelry

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Saturdays Gem - Banded Agate - Jewelry -...

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Saturday's Gem - Alexandrite

Since June is coming to a close today I picked June’s birthstone, Alexandrite, as our gem and mineral for today.  Alexandrite is classified as a Chrysoberyl from the orthorhombic system that has many different shapes naturally; it can be tabular, prismatic, massive, and granular.  Its unique characteristic is that in natural light it will look dark green but in artificial light it will look red.  The better quality color change the piece of Alexandrite has the higher the monetary value.  It is transparent to translucent and can be faceted to make beautiful jewelry pieces.  It is most often found in Sri Lanka, Russia, Zimbabwe, and Brazil.  Chrysoberyl itself has been found in Connecticut but it is most likely not the gem quality Alexandrite but something that is more yellow or brown

Metaphysically Alexandrite is very special since it has the ability to change colors in the lighting.  During the day and while in its green color it can attract happiness and good fortune and during the night, in its red color, it attracts loving and sensual affections.

Here are some great Etsy picks:

Saturday's Gem - Onyx & Tophatter Auction Reminder!

Good Morning.  Just a quick reminder about the Team Venus Tophatter Auction that will be starting this morning around T - 6 hrs 30 m (lol just like saying it that way it starts around 9 am Pacific Time)  I hope you can at least stop by and check out all the amazing goodies they are offering at a very low starting bid at http://tophatter.com/auctions/3562  I already have my eye on about 10 different things!  Here is just a very brief snapshot of the 100+ items that are entered into the auction.

Our Gem for this beautiful Saturday is Onyx.  I used absolutely love black Onyx as a teen but never realized that it came in so many different colors.  Shades range from white – gray – black and cream colored - tan – brown.  Onyx is porous so it can take on dye easily and can be colored many variations.  It is most commonly seen in black. 

Onyx is a Chalcedony quartz and is a microcrystalline (meaning it has very tiny crystals) and is botryoidally or mammillary shaped.   Onyx is made from a silicate solution that slowly fills the spaces and cavities usually in low temperatures the gradual time gives it layers and the banded look.  It is often used in making carvings like cameos because of the layered colored can give most art pieces a striking look.

These beautiful Vintage Cameo Earrings can be purchased from Etsy Shop CamanoIslandVintage at  http://www.etsy.com/shop/CamanoIslandVintage

All Chalcedony (including Onyx) is smooth; sort of waxy looking, and very hard.  Because of these characteristics it makes it a great medium for carving as mentioned before, making cabochons, beads, and even larger items like boxes and bowls.

These are great examples of Raw Black Onyx and can be purchased from ETSY shop KKGemStones at http://www.etsy.com/shop/kkgemstones

Metaphysically Onyx was thought by the Ancient Egyptians to be able to divide lovers and disrupt the harmony within the relationship to point of splitting them up.  Onyx is a stone that is related to negative energies; it will cause a discord within oneself if used in abundance and keeping your own energies bottled up.  But on the other hand can be useful to get rid of bad relationships or to protect you from any people that are going to be problematic, so it is suggested to have a small figure or amulet for those purposes.  It is also said that once the Onyx is dyed it seals the cells and seals in the energy.

I love the look of onyx and any of the banded agates and chalcedony.  They always have their own hidden shapes often resembling other things.  It is fun to look at the patterns from a cross piece and find land or seascapes sometimes even silhouettes of animals and flowers in the beautiful bands.

Here are some wonderful collections of Onyx and items made from Onyx: