Amazonite used in jewelry like Sundance

Amazonite
Uncommonly Beautiful Feldspar

What does it look like in a bracelet and how much does it cost to buy just the stones?

The ancients called amazonite the stone of courage. It has also been attributed with hope and confidence.

Amazonite is a beautiful green variety of microcline feldspar.


Abundance of Feldspars
In the earth’s crust the feldspars are the most abundant mineral by far. Microcline is the common potassium feldspar found in pegmatites. But the green variety of microcline feldspar is a rare occurrence. It is believed that the green color comes from traces of lead and OH-1

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Alkali or Plagioclase

Feldspars can be alkali or they can be plagioclase. Amazonite is the pure potassium end member of the alkali group. It crystallizes at relatively low temperatures.

Low Crystallization Temperature
At low crystallization temperatures the potassium feldspar, Amazonite, and the sodium feldspar, albite, separate into layers. This is seen as thin white bands of albite within the green crystal.

Schiller
One quality that makes this stone popular is schiller. Schiller is similar to iridescense. It comes from light reflecting off different planes within the crystal structure of the mineral. Light reflects differently in each of these minerals causing the effect of schiller.

A Description
Amazonite is popular in jewelry and decorative objects as well as specimens for mineral collectors. It is usually light green to blue green and is found in granite and pegmatites. It has a range of 5 to 6 on the Mohs Scale.

Location
Large prismatic crystals are found in the Pike’s peak area of Colorado, the ILmen mountains of Russia, they can also be found in Madagascar, and Brazil. The specimens from Colorado are sometimes found with smoky quartz, orthoclase, and albite. When this is the case the value of the specimens is much higher.


Amazonite Folklore, History, and Healing Properties
What's In A Name?

Some say the name comes from the Amazon River. This beautiful green stone has been found in Brazil but not close to the Amazon. This stone has been known and used by man for thousands of years. Long before the Spanish discovered this mighty river in 1541.

In Greek Mythology the Amazons were a nation of women warriors. While there is disagreement over the historical existence of the Amazons as a people it is likely the source of the name of this stone.

DIY How to make a teacher lanyard: Introduction

Sundance Color Inspiration for Beading

Checking to see what colors are trending. One of my "go to"places is the Robert Redford Sundance Catalog. The option: New Arrivals probably shows any new colors and trends.

Found this: Now it is is time to list and study the colors.

The first small yellow bead is light and buttery- like butter that has been whipped. 

In Crayola colors:

• pale yellow

• blue

• pinkish red

• darker yellow

• orange

• light blue

• turquois

You are to look carefully to see there are actually two yellows, a bright one with the stripes and a small buttery yellow. 

The two yellows are actually related when you look at the RGB numbers!!!

Using the sessions color tool- https://www.sessions.edu/color-calculator/

and manually adjusting the color came out : 232 234 73

What is interesting is: the Red stayed the same but the green and blue numbers increased.  

Adding more green and blue created a lighter softer yellow.

The other yellow is in the trade bead.

Using the sessions color tool- it appears 232  240 14

Side by side:
Lighter yellow bead:  232 234 73
Darker yellow bead : 232 240 14




Next is the blue. This blue bead look like Lapis. 

The bead next to blue is an interesting shade of pinkish red. The pinkish red bead is on either side of the yellow bead. 

I get the most information when I read the list of beads in the catalog:

• lapis-dark blue 
• turquoise-tear shaped
• apatite
• coral
• trade beads-long yellow

Time to search for apatite to see what color it is??


The results are pretty obvious. The apatite bead is the pretty light blue bead. 

The redish pink bead is obviously red coral. 

The next step is to find the beads and see what the assortment looks like.

Staytuned to see a Teacher Kate Lanyard with this Sundance color inspiration. 

Teacher Kate Lanyards



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