The jasper stone is a type of chalcedony that contains impurities like iron oxide and clay. It is opaque and mostly red, green, yellow, brown in color, and rarely blue. Jasper is considered a stone of grounding and stability.
Jasper properties: Endless varieties in color and patterns
The name, jasper, comes from Greek, meaning ‘spotted stone’. A variety of chalcedony, jasper has a hardness on the Mohs scale of 6.5 to 7.0. This means that it polishes brilliantly and maintains its luster despite use.
The stone is impure quartz with microcrystals of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Up to 20% of the stone can be impurities. Iron oxides cause the common red color.
Because of the wide variety of colors and patterns and the excellent polish, jasper is valued for jewelry. And because it is so common, except for a few rare varieties, the stones are inexpensive.
Jasper color
What color is jasper? It is mostly red, green, yellow, brown in color, and rarely blue. The color of the stone is determined by the mineral composition of the area in which it formed. Manganese, for example, produces a blue color.
For more information to click here :- smoky quartz
Jasper and the microcrystalline quartz family
Jasper is closely related to several other minerals: chalcedony, chrysoprase, nephrite, carnelian, and agate. All of these are also microcrystalline quartz minerals.
Normal quartz crystals are large as in clear quartz, smoky quartz, rose quartz, and amethyst. The microcrystalline structure produces microscopic crystals. This makes stones like jasper opaque while the large crystals can be water clear.
There are differences in the percentage of impurities. The greater the amount of impurities, such as the iron oxides or silicates, the denser the stone is. Agates can be almost transparent. Chalcedony is translucent. But jasper is always opaque.
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