Fire Agate

Item Description

This is an attractive piece of Fire Agate, from the premier area in the world for the material. Most people are probably familiar with Fire Agate specimens from Aguascalientes, as it is the finest quality Fire Agate ever found. Agate is a form of 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. But 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 red, gold, green and, occasionally, blue-violet, 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 piece is a great example of this well known material, polished on the display side to better show the rich golden and orange tones when the piece rotated in the light. The botryoidal forms and high polish on the surface are both excellent.