Chalcedony ("Blue Holly Agate") (rare material)

Item Description

According to mindat.org, Chalcedony is "traditionally defined as a fibrous cryptocrystalline variety of Quartz, more recently, it has been shown that much Chalcedony is a mixture of Quartz and Moganite, another silica mineral". This piece is one of the best quality Chalcedony specimens I have seen from Malawi. It reminds me a bit of the blue Chalcedony specimens that came out of Blinkpan, Namibia a few years ago. The color is a lovely blue hue with a slight amout of lavender. Typically this material is reserved for the lapidary trade, but this piece is better than most pieces I've seen for the simple use of gem rough, making it highly desirable for collectors, especially with such amazingly good translucency and bright color. If you collect Quartz and its many varieities, do NOT pass up this impressive and certainly hard to find specimen of what is sometimes called "Blue Holly Agate" in the gem trade. This piece is better in my mind that the material from Sweet Home, Oregon as it is nearly pure Chalcedony without any of the detracting brown host rock matrix.