SEDA JEWELERY

DENDRITIC AGATE

This is a natural untreated agate from Turkey.It is set in silver and well polished.

Silver stamped 925

Weight 28.50 cts app

Size of stone 24 x 17 x 7 mm app

Dendritic agate is a whitish-gray or colorless chalcedony with tree- or fern-like markings known as dendrites. The variety name agate is used for this gem even though it does not exhibit the banding typical of agate. The dendrites in dendritic agate are iron or manganese inclusions, usually brown or black in color. Though they appear organic due to their fern-like structure, they are actually inorganic; they are formed at fine fracture surfaces through crystallization of weathered solutions of neighboring rock. Dendritic agate can be tricky to cut because the dendrite inclusions occur at various depths in the rough stone. The lapidary needs to cut the material to expose the most interesting patterns. Like other chalcedonys, dendritic agate has a hardness of 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale, a specific gravity of 2.59-2.67 and a refractive index of 1.530-1.540. Since chalcedony has no cleavage it is quite durable and can be used for all sorts of jewelry