Fire Agate - A Unique and Beautiful Stone

Fire Agate - A Unique Beauty

In today's post I thought I would talk about what has definitely become one of my favorite stones - fire agate.  Fire agate is mined in the southwest United States and Mexico.  Arizona

mines have produced some of the most colorful and brilliant fire agates.  

Fire agate is named for its ability to reflect light back to the eye like flashes of fire.  It is actually a form of quartz, specifically the Chalcedony variety.  Fire agate stones are formed during volcanic events and eruptions during which micro-thin layers of bubbles and sheets form in a rainbow of red, green, yellow and blue colors.  These colors are then refracted back to the eye with fiery flashes of dazzling brilliance!  Because of their crackled appearance, they are also sometimes referred to as "crackle agate."

Fire agate is not particularly well known despite its amazing beauty.  Describing fire agate is very difficult as it is impossible to capture its full beauty and essence in a written description.  But gazing into a beautiful fire agate can be compared to gazing deeply into a burning ember.  There is simply no other stone that has this amazing quality!  It has been said that fire agates are brighter and more beautiful than opal - and I happen to believe this to be true.

To truly appreciate the unique beauty of fire agate, one must hold it and look at it.  As difficult it is to provide an adequate written description, capturing the beauty in a photo is equally challenging!  Still, here is a link to some photos of some beautiful fire agate stones at differentseasons.ganoksin.com/blogs.

And here are a few of the beads I purchased at the recent bead show I attended:

Fire Agate Beads

And here is a finished necklace I created using a beautiful "red hot" fire agate for the pendant:

"Red Hot" Fire Agate Necklace

Close-up view of fire agate pendant

In closing, fire agate is an absolutely amazing stone.  I have only created a few designs using them but am itching to make more.  Visit my shops to find some of my designs:
DJAjewels.etsy.com
DJAjewels.artfire.com

Helpful links:

http://fireagatejunkie.com/

http://tomsdomain.com/tdagate.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agate

http://www.yourgemologist.com/fireagate.html

http://www.minerals-n-more.com/Fire_Agate_Info.html

http://differentseasons.ganoksin.com/blogs/2009/01/15/fire-agate/