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Black Fire Agate / 10MM Faceted
Fire agate, a variety of chalcedony,
is a semi-precious natural gemstone found only in certain areas of
northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Approximately 24-36
million years ago these areas were subjected to massive volcanic
activity during the Tertiary Period. The fire agates were formed during
this period of volcanism when hot water, saturated with silics and iron oxide, repeatedly filled cracks and bubbles in the surrounding rock.
Fire agates have beautiful iridescent rainbow colors, similar to opal with a measurement of hardness on the mohs scale
of between 6.5 and 7 which prevent issues of fading, cracking and
scratching. The vibrant iridescent rainbow colors found within fire
agates, created by the schiller effect as found in mother-of-pearl, is caused by the alternating silica and
iron oxide layers which diffract and allow light to pass and form
interference of colors known as fire. There is no actual object inside
the stone, this special effect arises from light interference within the
microstructure layering of the gem.
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