Thursday, May 24, 2012

Mint Chalcedony - Dyed or Undyed?


Question: Thank you so much for your reply about the Prehnite cleansing, this helps!! Yes all my stones, so far, are all tumbled! If I may ask another question, a few years ago I bought green chalcedony, it's pale blue green. They are rondelle beads. Now I am wondering if it might have any treatment such as heat or stabilization or (I) where they fuse it with plastic. All look even colored, they are murky, very beautiful stones.

Do you know if mint green chalcedony is ever stabilized or color treated? Besides taking the strand of beads to the jewelers is there some test I can perform to check for myself?

Answer: Yes, colored Chalcedony is usually dyed, especially if it is of uniform color in so many beads. There is no guarantee if the beads were dyed or not unless you bought them from a reputable company which discloses this information. Sometimes, you can look into the holes of the beads or in the surface veins and see if pools of colored dye are found in these crevices. You can also tell by the price of the stones, those that are have good, natural coloring will be more expensive than dyed beads. For those who handle gemstone jewelry constantly, they will be able to tell just by experience which items are dyed and which are natural. In essence, I can not tell you for certain if the beads are dyed, but perhaps these tips will give you some clues. Of course, you can always take it to a gemologist or those knowledgeable in gemstones to get an official conclusion.

If you have any further crystal healing questions, we are happy to answer them.

Sincerely,
Sheila Satin

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