Types of green stones

There is nothing dearer to the human eye than the riot of greenery surrounding it. The tenderness of spring leaves, the richness of summer many grasses, the fading colors of autumn and the severity of a coniferous forest covered with a snow blanket leave no one indifferent. Therefore, stones with a green color are perceived by people as bringing peace, creating harmony and ensuring comfort and safety.

Products made from green minerals are most attractive to people, as the color is pleasing to the eyes and calmly perceived by the nervous system without causing irritation. A person wearing a piece of jewelry with a green pebble is perceived by others as rich and generous, akin to Mother Earth. Also, the green color of the stones has a calming effect on the cardiovascular system and relieves psychological stress.

There are precious, semi-precious and semi-precious stones.

The most famous of the green gemstones Emerald, the outdated name of which is "smaragd". This is the name of the stone because of its inherent radiance. The characteristic feature of the emerald is its transparency and depth of tone. The most valuable stones have an even saturated color.

Green diamond in nature it is extremely rare. Its unique color is due to natural radioactivity. The most famous natural green diamond is located in Dresden. The pear-shaped crystal has an apple-green color.

Among sapphires, so named for the blue color, there are specimens painted in green tones. This shade gives the transparent stone iron without admixture of titanium. Sapphire is an aluminum oxide with admixtures of titanium, iron, chromium and vanadium.

Noble beryl, a relative of the emerald, is apple-green. A transparent crystal has a glassy luster and belongs to fragile minerals with imperfect cleavage.

Aquamarine bluish-green or green-blue color resembles sea water. The long hexagonal prisms of aquamarine have a strong glass luster and are filled with various inclusions that can give the effect of a cat's eye, a star or be in the form of snowflakes. Due to the tenderness of the aquamarine color, they began to be attributed to precious stones only at the end of the 18th century with the advent of the Rococo style. And the discovery of a new brilliant cut made it possible to reveal all the beauty of the icy stone.

Chrysoberyl or Chrysopalus is a beryllium aluminate with admixtures of iron, chromium and titanium. The mineral is quite rare. Its transparent varieties, despite their rarity, do not belong to the category of expensive stones, which does not prevent them from being beautiful and durable. The most valuable specimens with a pronounced internal iridescent effect are cut in the form of a cat's eye cabochon. And original large crystals are of great value among collectors.

Alexandrite famous for its double color. The color of the mineral ranges from dark blue-green to green with an olive tint. This color is typical for the stone during daylight hours, and with the onset of dusk, alexandrite acquires various shades of red-violet. This effect is achieved due to the peculiarities of the crystal lattice.

In Russia, alexandrite is considered a "widow's stone". It is not recommended to wear any one piece of jewelry with it; it must be paired with a second piece with the same stone. For example, earrings and a ring. After the death of Alexander II, it became fashionable to wear jewelry with alexandrite surrounded by two diamonds, symbolizing two significant deeds in the life of the emperor.

Demantoid, a type of andradaite from the garnet series, is similar in appearance to diamond, only green in color. Impurities of chromium and iron are responsible for the color of the mineral, and titanium compounds give the stone a yellow-green tint. The mineral is very rare, with the play of light in the facets it surpasses even a diamond.

Specimens are especially appreciated interspersed with byssolite, called "ponytail", which give the stone additional beauty and uniqueness. Such a feature can boast of stones mined in the Ural deposits.

Bright green tsavorite, first discovered in the late 70s of the last century in northeastern Tanzania, belongs to a rare type of pomegranate. Tsavorite owes its color to vanadium, and emerald green stone is obtained from an admixture of chromium.

Greenish variety of topaz - one of the rarest stones. The color of a transparent stone is provided by a defect (vacancy of atoms) in the structure. Bi-colored crystals with zones of blue and yellow after processing turn beautiful green and are highly valued.

Green transparent brightly colored noble spinel also belongs to the category of precious stones.Octahedral crystals have a very high hardness and are used as jewelry.

Also, precious stones include transparent corundum crystals, the green variety of which was called "oriental emerald" in the old days.

In the world classification, the concept of semi-precious stones is absent, but in Russia this is the name for minerals, which, depending on their quality, can be attributed to non-precious or semi-precious stones.

Chrysolite, one of the 7 historical stones, has the same centuries-old history as the emerald. One of the ancient names for the stone is "evening emerald", since its green glow is most noticeable in the light of candles. Chrysolites were used to decorate the clothes of the high priest, there are references to him in the Bible, and John the Theologian in the "Apocalypse" says that the mineral adorns the seventh foundation of Heavenly Jerusalem.

Hawaii, which is also one of the precious varieties of olivine, a native of the volcanic lavas of the Hawaiian Islands, unlike chrysolite, it has a pale green color and is not known as widely as its relative. Olivine itself is too brittle and is more commonly found in the form of sand. Its distribution is so great that it is found even in the composition of the lunar soil.

Uvarovite and grossular are green varieties of pomegranate. Emerald green uvarovite, named after the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Count S.S.Uvarov, is highly valued by collectors for its beauty and rarity. Brush plates of fine crystals are used in jewelry. In the people, uvarovite is called the Ural emerald due to the similarity of color with a precious stone.

Grossular so named for its resemblance to the fruits of the green gooseberry. The color of the crystals ranges from colorless, golden yellow, brown to green. The bright green version of the grossular is called tsavorite, after the area where it was first discovered. Natural grossular is cloudy, and the transparency and shine characteristic of high-quality specimens are achieved by processing.

Onion green prasiolite often used as a cheap substitute for expensive crystals, resembling beryl, tourmaline and peridot in appearance. Natural stone has a light color and is quite rare. The saturation of the color indicates that the mineral was obtained by heating and irradiating amethyst.

Some varieties of tourmaline are green:

• verdelite has a moderate green color;
• watermelon is distinguished by a two-color red-green color.

High quality transparent crystals can be classified as gemstones. Their faceted variations are used for jewelry. Lower quality crystals are used as ornamental stones.

Chromiopside is an emerald-colored stone. It is a very fragile and capricious in processing mineral, which is the rarest and most valuable type of diopside. Only small crystals can be cut, larger stones are used as ornamental.

Dioptase is a transparent through and through green mineral, which is quite rare. In jewelry it is used as raw crystal inserts for exclusive jewelry. It is difficult to handle as it is very fragile. Most often, dioptase crystals can be found in private collections and museums, as they look very attractive outwardly.

Chrysoprase refers to semi-precious and semi-precious stones. Its light green color can range from apple to grassy to bluish green. There are three categories of chrysoprase jewelry.

• Top grade, used as a gemstone, it is transparent to a depth of 50 mm. Its evenly colored plates in an intense emerald color may have small inclusions in depth.
• First grade visible to a depth of no more than 20 mm and has a lighter uniform color. However, there may be whitish and opaque areas.
• Second grade refers to ornamental stones. The bluish-green color of the mineral can alternate with whitish and yellow-green stripes, alternating between transparent and cloudy layers, forming an uneven pattern.

Discovered in the Czech Republic moldavite refers to quartz. Judging by the structure, the stone is a transparent natural glass and has a bottle-green color. It is assumed that the stone is of foreign origin or was the result of a meteorite hitting the ground.

Most often, you can find ornamental types of stones. These are cloudy or completely opaque minerals used to make various items - from jewelry to monuments.

The most famous among ornamental stones is a green gem from the Urals - malachite. The stone, consisting of copper oxide, carbon dioxide and water, has been the basis for copper mining since the times of Ancient Egypt, but later people appreciated the velvety beauty of dense varieties of stones, which give beautiful patterns on the cut, consisting of rings formed during the formation of layers of the mineral. Since the end of the 18th century, when copper deposits were discovered in the Urals, malachite began to be used as an ornamental stone for facing various surfaces, as well as for making decorative and household items.

Serpentine, or serpentine It is named so because of its characteristic color: on the surface of the stone, whose color varies from yellow-green to dark, almost black, stains are visible from the dissemination of other minerals of different colors, reminiscent of snake scales. An evenly colored, sometimes translucent version of the coil is called noble serpentine and is used as a raw material for the manufacture of various crafts.

Jasper - a semi-precious ornamental mineral of sedimentary origin. This rock received its name (translated from the Greek "speckled stone") because of the many different colors interspersed with an uneven color. Monochromatic jasper stones are very rare in nature. Green jasper can have trade names such as:

• plasma - dark greens with small grainy blotches;
• prase - green drain quartz, ornamental stone.

Heliotrope, or "blood jasper" - ornamental stone of dark green color with red spots and veins. The mineral belongs to the quartz group, but is completely opaque. Inserts from this stone are used in men's rings, in the manufacture of cameos.

Chrysopalus is a green variety of opal. The color of the stone is imparted by the impurity of nickel. Depending on the amount of impurity, chrysopal has different shades of apple green. Used to make inexpensive jewelry.

Amazonite Is a beautiful blue-green variety of feldspar. Due to the growth of quartz crystals in it, a peculiar pattern is formed on the cut, reminiscent of the letters of distant ancestors. Rare crystals of amazonite are highly prized by collectors, but in general, the stone is used for the manufacture of various handicrafts as an inexpensive ornamental mineral.

Nephritis has been known to man since ancient times, but he gained the greatest popularity in China, becoming his national symbol. All shades of green - from almost white to brown, are found in a rich palette of stones. There are also the rarest white, gray, bluish and red jade colors.The most valuable specimens of jade have a uniform, uniform color; stones with stripes, spots or clouds of streaks are much less valuable.

Jade outwardly similar to jade, but has a higher gem value. There are stones that have green from light to dark, gray-green, white. There are rare varieties of black, brown, blue, purple, pink and yellow jadeite. The most valuable grade of jadeite is called "imperial". It has a uniform dark green color of transparent or translucent crystals. Harder than jade, jadeite is used to make various ornaments and crafts for the home.

Variscite, The region named Variscia in Saxony, where it was first discovered at the end of the 19th century, can be confused with turquoise or chrysose. Variscite crystals consist of hydrous aluminum phosphate with admixtures of iron or arsenic. The color of the mineral ranges from yellowish green to green with a blue tint. Round-shaped variscite crystals form brushes, occasionally drusen, can occur in the form of stalactites. After processing, they are used as jewelry.

Many of the stones are considered magical and are used as charms, talismans and amulets. If you look at the signs of the zodiac, then:

• Aries green diamond, demantoid, uvarovite, emerald, turquoise, amazonite and lazurite of gray-green color are suitable;
• Taurus amazonite, serpentine are recommended;
• Gemini it is worth paying attention to alexandrite, beryl, malachite, jade, amazonite, chrysoprase and emerald;
• Cancer need emerald, tourmaline, beryl, chrysoberyl, aquamarine, chrysoprase, chrysolite, amazonite, jade and gedeite;
• a lion can choose diamond, chrysolite, tourmaline, alexandrite, jadeite, jade, emerald or malachite;
• Virgo advise to wear aventurine, jade, chrysolite, jasper, jadeite, emerald, sapphire, tourmaline, topaz, alexandrite, beryl, uvarovite and chrysoprase;
• scales may have jewelry with aquamarine, diamond, aventurine, malachite, green jasper, chrysolite, beryl, topaz and chrysoprase;
• Scorpio astrologers advise aquamarine, turquoise, serpentine, tourmaline, cat's eye, alexandrite, beryl, chrysoprase;
• Sagittarius turquoise, chrysolite, aquamarine, emerald, tourmaline are suitable;
• Capricorn need malachite, serpentine, heliotrope, chrysoprase, tourmaline, alexandrite and uvarovite;
• Aquarius you can use aquamarine, turquoise, jade, chrysoprase, chrysolite, amazonite, uvarovite, tourmaline;
• Pisces help aquamarine, aventurine, emerald, heliotrope, chrysolite, alexandrite, chrysoprase, beryl, tourmaline and uvarovite.

In order for the stones to retain their useful properties and not lose their attractive appearance, they need proper care.

Keep stones in places protected from direct sunlight, as some species tend to fade under the influence of the sun. Jewelry is best stored in jewelry boxes, upholstered with soft cloth to protect them from mechanical damage. And products with stones that have magical properties should be stored separately so that they do not affect each other with their energy.

When cleaning products from contamination, it is not recommended to use abrasive and chemical cleaning agents, as some minerals can interact with them. It is best to soak the item in a solution of baby soap for cleaning, rinse under running water and wipe with a soft, lint-free cloth.

For more information on the properties of emerald, see the video below.