When speckled with another color, the green chrysoprase is called plasma. This description of chrysoprase as a purple stone was distinct to Marbod’s account. Chrysoprase is the green variety of chalcedony, more approriately called prase in a darker hue. In a curious part of an 11th-century lapidary, Marbod speaks of a purple chrysoprase sprinked with yellow specks. Under the name agate, purple-and-white variegated chalcedony was found in Troezen of Greece, while a paler variety came from Corinthia. The Romans obtained their purple jasper from Turkey, which also produced a purplish blue variety. In addition, jasper and agate that display patches of purple would likewise fall into this category. These opaque and translucent chalcedonies must have been the purple jaspers that the Romans esteemed the most. The amethyst of the ancients was always transparent thus, purple quartz that is translucent or opaque would be classified as jasper. Hence, in the old nomenclature, what we call lavender amethyst and banded amethyst would fall under jasper. Jasper was not necessarily opaque then, but was rather often translucent. In Rome, the best jasper had a shade of purple. The ancients knew translucent or opaque quartz, as we define chalcedony today, but under different names. While best known in white and blue, chalcedony also produces purple gemstones. A lilac chalcedony, better known today as “lavender amethyst” 8 Purple Chalcedony Though mostly opaque, sugilite also occurs in translucent crystals, which would be more suitable for jewelry. Spots of dark purple standing out from light areas bring down the value of the stone. However, sugilite frequently occurs with a mottled appearance. The deeper its color, the more valuable a sugilite is. Grape jelly purple is a color that the stone is prized for. Sugilite is a mostly opaque stone ranging in shade from pink to purple. The purple gem obtained its name from Ken-ichi Sugi, the Japanese petrologist who discovered the mineral in the Iwagi Islet of Japan. Sugilite is a purple stone discovered only in 1944. 9th Most Beautiful of Purple Gemstones: Sugilite From lite – Simon Eugster, CC BY-SA 3.0 9 Sugilite Since the stone likewise occurs in a pale shade, the Turkish gem also goes by the name lavender jade. The purple gem occurs in Bursa, a region in Turkey, hence the names turkiyenite and Turkish purple jade. The warm-colored inclusion is cinnabar, a toxic ore of mercury, which would have been rather dangerous had the stone been actually powdered and swallowed as Aldobrando prescribed for the cure of the liver. This comes in rock consisting of a mixture of jadeite and quartz. Jade resembling the purple stone that, as Aldobrando described, bears yellowish patches does occur. In another variety, a yellow stain with pittings and hollows occurs in the midst of the purple color. He says further that there were stones of a darker hue, with protuberances and bands of yellow, as well as black spots. Aldobrando says that the stone usually has a purple shade, almost like porphyry, with various figures of herbs, flowers, knots and Arabic characters in a yellow color. Cleandro Arnobio, to whom was sent a specimen of jadeite from America prior to 1602, relates an account about the stone by Aldobrando, a physician and physicist of Bologna, Italy. While purple jade found use as a gem only since the 1980s, there came an allusion to this stone three centuries earlier. Also known as turkiyenite, this purple stone ranges in shade from lavender to dark purple. Bracelet made of purple stones 10th Most Beautiful of Purple Gemstones: JadeĮxtremely rare among the purple gemstones is the purple jade.
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