Amazonite
Amazonite is a type of microcline feldspar that can be found in Colorado USA, Russia, Madagascar, India, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Brazil. It is named after the Amazon River but it is considered unlikely that Amazonite occurs in the Amazon region. [1]
Amazonite looks somewhat similar to some varieties of jade, and it's possible that historically there may have been some confusion between the two.
Amazonite does however have a long history, and objects carved from amazonite have been found that date from the time of ancient Egypt. [2]
Amazonite has a beautiful green color when polished, varying from yellow-green through to blue-green, occasionally with fine white streaks. It is rarely transparent, but for the reason of its attractive coloring it is fashioned into gemstones, although it breaks relatively easily and has a hardness of "only" 6-6.5 on the Mohs scale. [2] For this reason, it is most often fashioned into cabochons (domed on top and flat underneath), spheres, beads, cameos and tumbled stones, rather than faceted.
The chemical formula of amazonite is KAlSi3O8 - potassium aluminium silicate. [3] The origin of Amazonite's color was not known in the past. It was thought that the stone derived its color from copper occurring in the mineral; however, it is now thought that the color is the result of lead impurities and water. [1]
Amazonite displays the quality known as schiller - a visual effect caused by light reflecting off the different planes that exist within the mineral's crystalline structure. [4]
Amazonite is not very common and is often found together with other minerals. Folklore says that the stone brings hope, confidence and increased self-worth to the wearer or carrier. [5]
Amazonite Images
Amazonite
Amazonite together with Smoky Quartz (the Amazonite is the blue-green mineral).
Photo by Eric Hunt - released under Creative Commons 2.5 License
Sources Referenced:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazonite
[2] http://www.gemselect.com/gem-info/amazonite/amazonite-info.php
[3] http://www.firemountaingems.com/encyclobeadia/beading_resources.asp?docid=GMSTNPRPRTSMZNT
[4] http://www.rocksandminerals4u.com/amazonite.html
[5] http://www.bernardine.com/gemstones/amazonite.htm
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