Variscite is a natural green aluminum phosphate, often mistaken for turquoise and sometimes sold as variquoise. It is a different mineral, and a softer one. We do not carry it.
Phosphate
Variscite
Variscita
- Palette
- Green
- Mined in
- United States, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Iran
- Hardness
- Mohs 4.5 ?
- See-through
- opaque
- Known since
- 1837
- Named for
- Variscia, an old name for the Vogtland region of Germany
- Also sold as
- utahlite, variquoise
- Intention
- Calm New Beginnings
- Water
- Keep it dry; wipe with a soft cloth
- Dye or finish
- Variscite beads are not usually dyed, though cracked or porous pieces may be stabilized.
Not in our pieces now
8 FACES
Roman carvers cut variscite into eight-sided prisms to imitate emerald, whose crystals usually have six sides.
ALEXIS DAMOUR
Alexis Damour linked the green Neolithic beads of Brittany to the callaïs that Pliny described.
What it is
Variscite is a green aluminum phosphate, from pale mint to deep green, often with dark veining in the matrix. It is easily mistaken for turquoise and is sometimes sold as variquoise; it is a separate mineral.
What gives it its color
Variscite's green comes from a small amount of chromium.
Where it comes from
Variscite comes from Lucin, Snowville and Fairfield in Utah and the Candelaria Hills in Nevada, the Vogtland of Germany (which gave it its name), Queensland in Australia, Brazil and Yazd in Iran.
In history
People in Neolithic Brittany made beads and pendants from variscite around 4500-4000 BC, and a variscite necklace from Arzon of that age is in the museum at Vannes. The Romans used it to imitate emerald, and in the 1800s European supplies came from three sites in Spain.
What's said about it
We found no long-standing lore of its own. Today it is mainly a collector and lapidary stone, loved for its green.
People who work with green stones in general keep them for fresh starts. That is a reading of the color, not a tradition of variscite itself.
Because it is soft, it suits a careful wearer or a place on a shelf.
How people wear or keep it: On a shelf, in a display case, or on the wrist, worn with care.
In crystal practice
Day to day, the same tradition suggests keeping it close: on a shelf, in a display case, on the wrist, worn with care. Most practitioners cleanse a new stone first (running water only if the stone can take it, otherwise smoke or moonlight) and set it aside now and then to rest.
These are beliefs people have held and still hold about the stone, reported as such. Nothing here is a promise or a medical claim. We sell stones as jewelry, not for these effects.
Associations
Also calledutahlite, variquoise
Care
- Soft; it scratches and chips, so wear it where it will not knock against things.
- Wipe with a soft damp cloth and dry it; do not soak it.
- Keep it away from solvents, hot water and cleaners.
- Store it apart from harder stones.
How to tell what you have
- Variscite is usually greener than turquoise and has no copper. It often has white crandallite veins or black web-like matrix.
- It is soft (about 4.5 on the Mohs scale); a very even blue-green may be turquoise, and the name 'variquoise' can cover either.
What sets the price
The price follows how vivid and even the green is, how much white or black veining runs through it, where it was mined, and whether the strand is really variscite or turquoise or a look-alike sold under a similar name.
Questions people ask at our table
What is variscite?
It is a natural green aluminum phosphate mineral. It is not a variety of turquoise, though the two look alike.
Is variscite turquoise?
No. Turquoise contains copper and is usually bluer; variscite contains aluminum and is usually greener. Pieces that could be either are sometimes sold as variquoise.
Where is it found?
The best known sources are Utah and Nevada in the United States. It also occurs in Germany, Australia, Brazil and Iran.
Is it hard enough for daily wear?
It is soft, at about 4.5, so it marks easily. Handle it gently and keep it away from harder stones.
Do you carry it?
We do not carry variscite. We do carry turquoise, African turquoise and green aventurine.
Not in our pieces right now
Stones we do carry that are close to it are listed under related stones.
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