What is Agate?

Agate normally comes from volcanic rocks. In its natural state it is not particularly inspiring with a generally dark greenish skin, but when cut across, a succession of multicoloured very fine parallel lines appear, This vibrant banding makes agate a fantasically attractive stone.

Agate is a type of Quartz with a hardness of 7/10 (Mohs scale) so it is just about hard enough to be used in jewellery making.

Because there are so many possible colours of agate, telling it apart from other stones is sometimes difficult, but look out for its waxy surface sheen and you should be able to spot it.

Not of particular rarity, so the value of raw agate stones is low, but when agate is crafted into particularly fine jewellery it can command a fine price to match.

Moss Agate is a particularly attractive form of this stone which looks, as the mame implies like fine green moss set in stone.