Friday, May 29, 2009

Bloodstone

Bloodstone is a variety of chalcedony which is cryptocrystalline quartz. It is green plasma containing red spots of jasper, which look like spots of blood giving the stone its descriptive name. The green colour is due to the presence of masses of chlorite, and the red spots are inclusions of red coloured jasper. It is usually cut en cabochon, or into beads, but most often used as a sealstone, and is popular in gents' signet rings. It is often quite coarse and therefore is closely related to jasper, another group of quartz.
It is also called heliotrope although this name is hardly ever used nowadays.
The name bloodstone is sometimes misleadingly used for haematite.

Sources
The best bloodstone is obtained from India, other sources include USA, Brazil, and Australia.

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