Unakite Jasper (new find)

Item Description

Unakite Jasper gets its name from the Unaka Mountain Range in North Carolina, where it was first discovered. The material really shouldn't carry the designation of "Jasper", as it is composed of green Epidote, pink Orthoclase Feldspar and white/grey Quartz, but there are a lot of stone in the gem trade that get slapped with a trade name that has nothing to do with the actual composition of the stone. I'm told that this material is also sometimes referred to as "Epidotized Granite", which to be fair doesn't sound as nice as Unakite Jasper. Additionally, sometimes these stones can contain trace amounts of other materials such as Magnetite or Zircon, but you rarely can see it with the naked eye. Recently there was a discovery of this beautiful material in Peru, and our good friend in Lima just happened to have some available for us. The stone is a rather large "Oval Cabochon" cut gem with a wonderful mixture of Epidote, Orthoclase and Quartz. A cool gem for any fan of unusual or "off the beaten path" kind of gems.