Fire Agate

Item Description

A nice representative Fire Agate stone from Arizona. Agate is a varietal term used for Chalcedony or microcrystalline Quartz which forms in layers in a remarkable variety of colors and textures. The most familiar Agate is the banded agate which has multicolored layers. One of the rarest forms of Agate - Fire Agate - has been available commercially only in the last 60 years. Fire Agate is a brown Agate which has a botryoidal or grape-like growth form. What is special about fire agate is that it contains layers of plate-like crystals of iron oxide (limonite) in various planes. The iridescent colors of result from interference between diffracted light rays traveling through and reflecting from these thin layers. High quality Fire Agates can be as impressive in their play of color as fine Black Opal, but Fire Agate is significantly more durable than Opal. Fire Agate is suitable for any kind of jewelry, including rings. This "Oval Cabochon" is a beautiful example of this well known material, showing flashes of green, gold and orange when rotated in the light. Additionally, there is one small spot in the gem that shows the rarely seen and highly desirable lavender hue, considered to be the rarest color seen in the material.