Fire Agate (with rare PURPLE flash and ''spray'' inclusion!)

Item Description

This is one of the most unique and beautiful examples of the famous Fire Agate gemes from the Aguascalientes state of Mexico that we've had to offer in teh auctions. These wonderful and distinctive stones are the best and most well-known Fire Agates in teh world. Agate by definition is a form of Chalcedony or microcrystalline Quartz which traditionally forms in layers in a remarkable variety of colors and textures. The most familiar styles of Agate is Banded Agate which has multicolored layers, but one of the rarest forms is Fire Agate, which 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, but what's truly special about the material 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 "Freeform Cabochon" is a beautiful example of this well known material, showing flashes of green, gold and orange when rotated in the light, but there are two sublte aspect that really make it stand out. If you look closely under strong lighting, you can see this gem features the rarely seen and highly desirable purple / lavender hue, considered to be the rarest color seen in the material, but the most interesting aspect for me is that there is a "spray"-like inclusion that is unlike anything I can remember seeing in any other Fire Agate I've seen before! Great quality overall, and the rare purple flash and "spray" inclusion, make it fantasit stone for any collector.