Aventurine & Carnelian

A great number of the pieces I’ve created recently include orange aventurine. If you know a little about stones (like me!) you might think aventurine should be greenish. Like so many stones, however, the precise properties depend on chemistry; aventurine can be green but can also be brown, blue, yellow, and orange. It all depends on what specific minerals make up the aventurine.

Aventurine is a variety of chalcedony. Chalcedony actually has many varieties, including agate and carnelian. You probably noticed that much of my recent work includes carnelian, as well! Carnelian has been used decoratively for thousands of years. In Roman times, many signet or seal rings were carved out of carnelian, because hot wax does not stick to it.