Bloodstone, Natural, Faceted Rondelle, One 6x4mm Strand

Bloodstone, Natural, Faceted Rondelle, 6x4mm

Strands are 15 to 16 inches long.

6x4mm rondelle strands have 85 to 90 pieces.

Bloodstone, also known as Heliotrope, is a dark green variety of chalcedony that has a solid base color of deep forest green. On top of that is a light splatter of sharply contrasting and clearly visible blood-red dots. These are arranged in a spray or a random pattern as if they were blood spatter. Tiny inclusions of chlorite, amphibole, and pyroxene are thought to contribute to the green base colors of bloodstone. The splashes of red are concentrations of iron oxide minerals - most likely hematite.

It has been a popular gemstone for at least two thousand years. The name Heliotrope is from two Greek words meaning “Sun” and “to turn”), which could be about the way the mineral reflects light.  It is a cryptocrystalline mixture of quartz that occurs mostly as jasper (opaque) or sometimes is chalcedony (translucent).

Bloodstone is found in Armenia, South Africa, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Australia, and the United States. There is also an outcrop of bloodstone on the Isle of Rum, in Scotland.

Hardness 6.5

This is a natural stone that has had no treatment other than cutting, drilling, and polishing. 

The source of these beads is South Africa and they are cut, drilled and polished in China.