The name comes from “Achates River” on the Mediterranean island of Sicily. Theophrastus named it when he came across, while it was a Greek colony before it was conquered by the Romans.
We know agate has been used as long as man has made jewelry. Agate has been discovered with the artifacts of Neolithic people, and was used as healing amulets and ornamentation dating back to Babylon. Its medicinal uses continued through the ancient Greek and Egyptian civilizations, and spread throughout Africa and the Middle East into Russia. Even in the Middle Ages, it was customary to tie an agate to the two horns of an ox to positively influence the harvest. Sardonyx, a variety of agate, is one of the twelve gems embedded in the foundations of the walls of Holy City Jerusalem. In the Bible, the second book of Moses mentions agate as one of the gems incorporated into the breastplate of High Priest Aaron. Also, agate was once attributed the ability to make things invisible.
Some interesting facts about Agates:
- The largest and heaviest agate found so far weighs over 60,000 kilograms. This enormous gemstone is 2.70 meters high, 5 meters across and nearly 5 meters thick. It was discovered in China in 2009 and made the Guinness Book of World Records.
- Agate carving dates back to 3500 years ago. An agate seal was unearthed in Pylos, western Greece dated to 1450 BC and called the Pylos Combat Agate was so detailed that experts believe it could only be carved using a magnifying glass.
Agates come in a wide variety of natural colors, brown, red, lilac, pink, yellow as well as black, gray and white.
Let’s mention some properties of agate:
- Mineral: Microcrystalline quartz
- Chemistry: SiO2
- Refractive index: 1.53 - 1.54
- Specific gravity: 2.60 - 2.64
- Mohs Hardness: 6.5 - 7
Agate is the mystical birthstone for September and the zodiac birthstone for Gemini. It is also an alternative 12th wedding anniversary gemstone.
How to care and clean this stunning jewelry.
- Use warm soapy water and a soft brush to clean your stone very easily. Agate is quartz and its hardness and durability, so keep these in mind:
- Don’t use any other objects that are harder than agate for scrubbing or cleaning.
- Do not use any household chemicals when caring or cleaning your agate gemstone or gemstone jewelry pieces as with most gemstones.
- Avoid any prolonged exposure to extreme heat as it may cause permanent damage to the gemstone.
- Agate should be stored inside a fabric lined box or wrapped in a soft cloth.
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The word “amber” comes from the Arabic “anbar”, meaning “fragrant substance”. The Greeks called amber “electron”, or “made by the sun,” because of amber’s ability to generate a static charge, and this is why we call it electricity. Amber has always been linked to the sun, also because of its golden color and light weight. Because of it’s association with the sun, amber was regarded as a guiding magical light in the afterlife. It is found in ancient burial sites, such as in Egypt. Also it floats in saltwater so some people call it “Seastone.” Amber has been with humanity a long time; Amber amulets and beads have been found in Stone Age archaeological sites, being traded far and wide in the ancient world. Amber smells good when you rub it. Although an oil made from burned amber was used in scents in ancient times, it isn’t used in perfume today.
Today’s scientists value amber too, but why? Here are some interesting facts about Amber:
- Amber often contains natural imperfections and fissures as well as prehistoric inclusions, such as seeds, leaves, feathers, and even insects.
- It provides a three-dimensional window into prehistoric ecosystems through the myriad animal and plant inclusions it contains.
- The oldest amber dates to the Upper Carboniferous Period, approximately 320 million years ago.
- 1,000 extinct animal species, as well as various types of plant matter have been identified in amber.
- Amber containing larger animals like scorpions, snails, frogs, and lizards can be very valuable, especially if the animal “inclusions” are preserved intact.
- The story of the movie “Jurassic Park” centered around the cloning of dinosaurs from DNA found in dinosaur blood sucked up by prehistoric mosquitoes that were subsequently preserved in amber. Although the movie is fiction, scientists extracted DNA from insects enclosed in 120 million years old amber.
Amber comes in a huge range of colors including blue, brown, golden, green, orange, red, white and yellow. Let’s mention some properties of amber:
- Organic, not mineral: Fossilized resin
- Chemistry: C10H16O
- Refractive index: 1.5 – 1.6
- Specific gravity: 1.06 – 1.10
- Mohs Hardness: 2.0 - 2.5
- Melting point of 250 - 300 °C
While amber isn’t a birthstone, it is associated with the astrological sign of Taurus. Let’s talk about how to care and clean this amazing jewelry
You will receive many compliments when wearing amber, but it needs to be cleaned frequently so that it continues to shine.
Never use an ultrasonic jewelry machine or a steam cleaner. They can damage the polish and cause significant damage to the stone.
Use slightly warm water and mild soap, and use your fingers to wash it off, then dry it with a flannel cloth.
Use a drop of olive oil and a soft cloth to polish and shine the amber.
Clean and polish your stone before storing it and make sure to store it separately from your other jewelry, or wrap in a soft cloth.
You need avoid many things about amber:
- If perfume and sprays get onto the surface of amber, it can lose its shine forever.
- Keep it away from direct sunlight as much as possible.
- Extreme temperature can damage your stone.
- And avoid cooking and cleaning while wearing amber.
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