Some Glittering Green for St. Patrick's Day!

Hey everyone! Wow, it has been a really long time since I've blogged. I hope you are all doing well. I thought St. Patrick's Day would be the perfect time to share some green crystals and gemstones with you guys. One of the new interests I've gotten into during this long winter has been crystals/stones/rocks. I've always loved jewelry, but up until recently I was not aware of the many different varieties of stones out there. Now it feels like there is an endless amount.

I have found myself drawn to green stones more than any color, and after a point I realized I had a collection of them. There are so many different colors of green that show up in gemstones and crystals.  

I have done my best to research what I have, because sometimes I don't even think the sellers know what they are selling. I don't mean they're intentionally selling fakes, but that they might be clueless as to what they have. I say that because I've ended up with a few stones that I think were better than advertised. But you guys tell me if you think I have something other than what I think I have. For the most part, I'm pretty confident in what I have.

So, here we go!

This dark green necklace was actually listed as Bloodstone. From the photo online, that was believable enough. But you'll notice here that there are none of the little red "blood" spots on the stones. 

And when I held this up to the light I got another surprise. Moss Agate! You can see how this stone got that name. I love it, probably more than I would have loved the Bloodstone. Isn't this cool? It's like there are little pieces of moss growing in there.

This other section of the necklace is a little different. I see a sort of arrow shape in it.

This is Green Solar Quartz. I'm still on the fence over these crystals being dyed. All the Green Solar Quartz I've seen online is this vibrant, and it may have also been dyed. From what I have read, this is Agatized Quartz that has been cut from stalactites. 

Just look how pretty the sun is shining through it!

They're like mermaid scales.

This pretty stone is Green Amazonite. It's hard to capture the sheen of this in a photo, but it's something you can see as you turn this pendant from side to side. The color is so refreshing. It reminds me of green milk glass. 

This beauty is a rough piece of Chrysoprase with a Peridot on top. It looks like a little figure of a person or maybe an insect if you added some legs.

I love the details on this one ~ The designs on the silver, the facets on the Peridot, and the uniqueness of the Chrysoprase. It reminds me of a cloud-filled sky.

The white stone in the middle here is a Scolecite and the little stones above it are Kunzite. As for the light and dark green oval pendants, they're stones that I bought many years ago. I can't even remember what they were supposed to be, I just liked them. Any idea of what they could be? 

Here's another view of that beautiful Kunzite. There's something almost Opal-like going on there.

This stone is a Malachite and it's one of the stones that I have a hard time believing is real. Although, I went through that with a few of these. It turns out that there are a lot of hard to believe natural creations. In the case of Malachite, I read that the fake ones have harsher black markings. I also read that a real Malachite should be cold to the touch and heavy, otherwise it could be plastic. And this one is cold and heavy. I think I have a real one. It's just such a wild stone! Look up Malachite and you'll see all kinds of amazing designs. This one reminds me of either a fingerprint or a woodgrain pattern. 

And check out the back! 

The larger green stone here is Prehnite and the smaller one at top was listed as a Citrine. That isn't the color I would normally think of for Citrine, but it turns out that they come in different colors. I looked up yellow green Citrine and saw photos of what I have here.

These Prehnite stones remind me of Amber, because it looks like all kinds of things could be trapped in there. 

I'm not sure what that shape is on the right side of it. It almost looks like a little piece of bone. Or maybe a tiny piece of stone? 

The yellow/green stone below is green opal. I got this as part of a set from a woman who was selling stones in their rough form. This is not a color I would have ever associated with opals. 

This beauty is a Fuchsite. I love the amount of mica in it. Actually, Fuchsite is also known as "Chome Mica" so I guess we should be seeing a lot of sparkle. This one is  fun to turn back and forth in the sunlight. 

Something I just learned about Fuchsite is that under a strong UV light, it turns a fluorescent lime green. I was curious after learning that and did some googling. Check out what UV light can do to some crystals: Fluorescent Minerals

I wonder how many of the stones I've shown here would give such a glow under UV light? 

This is another pendant where the seller didn't list every stone included. And the description of the main stone didn't even give me the full picture! I think the little bit of green on here is Feldspar of some kind, maybe an Amazonite.

But the white part is actually a Rainbow Quartz! So how perfect is that for a St. Patrick's Day post? This was just listed as a White Quartz, but if you look closely you will see a little bit of rainbow. It was difficult to turn this back and forth while looking for that and taking a picture, but I managed to capture a bit of it. You see that little glimmer of pink and yellow? That would be the rainbow. Sometimes I can see a little purple and green too.

The black stones on this pendant are Black Tourmaline. The person who sold this had a lot of Black Tourmaline but this was the only piece with an additional colorful stone at the bottom. The seller never listed what the green stone was, but it looks a lot like the Amazonite I saw in a book. 

This view shows the light coming through the mysterious green stone. Do you guys think this is Amazonite too? The color and the stripes are what's giving me that idea.

I bet a few of you will know about Moldavite. I could write an entire blog post about just this. A big part of what makes Moldavite special is that it was formed by a meteorite impact about 15 million years ago. This is one of those times where I just think it would be easier to post a link, rather than get into explaining what I've learned about how this was specifically formed. Directing you to that link makes more sense than me writing several paragraphs here. 

This is worth a read: Moldavite Wiki Page 

There is plenty of interesting information to read about the science behind this material and how it was formed.

Moldavite like the piece I have is basically like a shattered piece of glass. So I think mine was probably one of the pieces formed across a Central European field as the material spread out flat and shattered. Some pieces look more dark, thick, or solid. From what I've read, those kind of pieces formed mid-air and cooled before falling to earth. I'm pretty sure this is the oldest thing I own!

Again, there is a lot to say about Moldavite and I might revisit that topic later. You might also see more about crystals in general some time down the line. But this is a nice start and a way to share all the new green beauty in my life. 💚

I look forward to touching base with everyone again. Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day and if there are any crystal lovers or rock collectors out there, it would be fun to compare notes! ☘