Black and green jasper12/9/2023 ![]() Before you place the stone on the refractometer, you want to make sure you have a flat, somewhat polished surface to take a reading.Įach gemstone has its own RI, so discovering a sample’s RI can help you figure out what sort of stone it actually is. With that being said, Jasper has a hardness of 6.5 – 7 on the Mohs hardness scale.ĭetermining the refractive index, or RI as it’s referred to by gemologists, for Jasper is fairly straightforward, but you’ll need a specific piece of test equipment and the RI fluid to go with it. I don’t recommend actively testing the hardness of a stone because it’s destructive in nature and doesn’t really provide a definite answer to what type of stone it is. Yellows, reds, and oranges will typically show a weak to moderate magnetic attraction. That said, the magnetic attraction will vary depending on the color of the stone and how much iron is present. It just so happens the iron ore present in Jasper causes it to be magnetic. Different stones contain different minerals. The presence of iron is the main reason stones are magnetic. Tumbled specimens are tested by scraping a specimen across a piece of ungalvanized porcelain, typically known as a streak plate. Once you’ve developed robust knowledge in identifying rocks and minerals, you won’t be using destructive tests.Ī mineral streak test involves scraping the stone against a harder surface to see what color remains. This is a destructive test, so you need to ensure that you’re allowed to damage the specimen or stone if you choose to use this method. Knowing what to look for will help you more easily identify what you’re looking at.Ĭolor: Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, White, Orange, Brown, Gray, Black, Multicolored Let’s take a look at the physical properties of jasper. Again, medium polish with very little pitting. Is it tumbled? Very common to find tumbled jasper. The most common specimens found are red and yellow, depending on location.Raw or rough Jasper is often found in palm-sized specimens and smaller.Expect red, blue, shades of brown, yellow, gray, and orange.However, some specimens, like Red Jasper, are sometimes found a solid red with a few changes in the shade. Colors and patterns will vary, but in many specimens, the patterns are clear.Here’s a list of characteristics Jasper displays when it’s a specimen. Is it a specimen? Jasper is found in different forms, and you’ll get better at identifying these forms by looking at and inspecting this mineral over time. It’s more likely to find beads and pendants made of jasper. Is it faceted? Very seldom is jasper faceted because it is opaque. Earth tones are more common than bright colors. The colors in the stone should be modeled or patchy in nature. Is it a cabochon? If you’re dealing with a cabochon, then it should have a medium to high polish with very little pitting on the surface. Don’t worry, you’re in luck because I have a “ how to identify agate” page that can help you. Instead, you might have a piece of agate which is commonly mistaken for jasper. As you work your way through the visual inspection you might determine early on that you don’t have a piece of jasper. The questions below are relatively easy to answer, but each type will have its own process for identifying them. The visual inspection starts with what form of jasper you have. Let’s take a deeper look into how to identify jasper like a pro. If you’ve learned a unique way to identify gems, then feel free to share it with us. There are various ways to identify rocks, minerals, crystals, and gemstones, but we will be using a method I learned while attending the Gemological Institute of America. Some of the most popular and well-known varieties are red jasper, yellow jasper, black jasper, ocean jasper, green jasper, raw jasper, picture jasper, bloodstone, brecciated jasper, bumble bee jasper, and porcelain jasper. For example, a bloodstone looks like a stone with drops of blood in it while picture jasper looks like someone painted a picture in the stone. Most varieties of jasper are named for the location they’re found or it describes exactly what type of jasper it is. One thing you will see with jasper is the naming convention. It comes in any color and takes on several appearances. Jasper’s an opaque, fine-grained Chalcedony species comprised of microscopic quartz crystals intermixed with several impurities.
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