Chalcedony – A Graceful Stone for Spring Jewelry!

Chalcedony is an excellent gemstone to use for graceful spring jewelry. Its delicate, silky light blue color reminds of early morning mountain sky. If you design handcrafts, try making matching chalcedony earrings and a bracelet. Use small beads with subtle silver spacers for style. Sell ​​them in a white or light blue box.

Romance

Chalcedony is ideal for the lady you love or to use on wedding jewelry. Some people even use chalcedony wedding rings. Set in white gold or silver, it creates just the right look.

What is chalcedony?

Its name is said to come from an ancient Greek town called Chalkedon, now in Turkey. It is a fine-grained variety of quartz with a waxy luster and microscopic compressed crystals. Because of this structure, chalcedony is usually semi-opaque – which creates a soft glow as the light diffuses through the stone, ideal for graceful jewelry.

The Romans made seals from chalcedony, and the stone has been carved into ornaments for thousands of years. And in the past its heavenly blue color explains why it had been called Mecca stone and St Stephen's stone.

Color

Chalcedony comes in every color, but for jewelry it's usually light milky blue with a hint of pink. Being porous, it's been dyed blue and pale minty-green for centuries – and today sometimes its color enhanced to emerald green and even tangerine and peachy pink.

Formation

Chalcedony is formed in volcanic rock cavities where silica-rich water flows through. Traces of iron oxide in the water create the pinkish and sometimes red color.

The gemstone can be seen in the Arizona Desert, where petrified trees have formed from chalcedony replacing the ancient forest. Native Americas there called the stone sacred as they believed it deserved stability to the tribe.

Properties

Chalcedony is a feminine stone, full of yin energy. Said to balance the emotions, bringing stamina, and promote kindness and charity. It is also believed to be good for love as it lowers anger, depression and melancholy. The gemstone also absorbs negative energy and promotes a feeling of enthusiasm. It is also believed to lower blood pressure with its anti-inflammatory properties and heal the lungs, so being good for smokers.

Years ago sailors wore it as a talisman, and it is the birthstone for those born under the star sign of Sagittarius.

History

Because there is so much chalcedony in many countries, it has been carved into arrowheads, tools, knives, cups and bowls for tens-of-thousands of years.

Source

The best chalcedony is mined in Chalcedony are from India and Madagascar, but it can also be found natural all over the US, plus in Burma, Brazil and Mexico.