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Jasper
Jasper
Jasper
Jasper

Jasper

Jasper

A species of Chalcedony, Also known as Kinradite

Generally red, brown, yellow, or green in color, and sometimes even blue, jasper is an opaque microcrystalline quartz. Its smooth surface and high polish makes it a preferred rock for a gemstone or ornamental pieces. It is quite durable and withstands scratching.

Hardness
Hardness:

6.5 - 7

Density
Density:

2.58 - 2.91 g/cm³

General Info About Jasper

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Physical Properties of Jasper

Luster
Vitreous
Diaphaneity
Opaque
Colors
Various colors, often red, yellow, brown, gray
Magnetism
Non-magnetic
Tenacity
Brittle
Cleavage
None
Fracture
Conchoidal, Subconchoidal
Streak
White
Crystal System
Trigonal
Hardness
6.5 - 7 , Hard
Density
2.58 - 2.91 g/cm³, Normal Weight
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Chemical Properties of Jasper

Chemical Classification
Silicates
Formula
SiO2
Elements listed
Si, O

Optical Properties of Jasper

Refractive Index
1.54
Birefringence
0.003-0.009
Pleochroism
None
Dispersion
0.013
Optical Character
Biaxial positive

Health Risk of Jasper

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What is the hazards of Jasper?

Harm Type
Physical Toxicity
Jasper in powdered form can be toxic due to its Crystalline Silica content.
Quartz, silica, crystalline silica and flint are non-toxic materials, but very fine dust containing quartz, known as respirable crystalline silicon (RCS), can cause serious and fatal lung disease. Lapidaries should exercise caution when cutting silica.

How to prevent the risks of Jasper?

Avoid long-term inhalation of its dust!
Jasper is typically non-toxic unless it's in powder form. Long-term exposure to finely ground powder may lead to silicosis. Therefore, when cutting or polishing jasper, be sure to wear a dust mask to avoid inhaling its dust.

Discover the Value of Jasper

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Rarity
Easy to obtain
Collection Recommendation
3.9 out of 5
Popularity
4.1
Aesthetic
3.8
Rarity
3.5
Sci-Cultural Value
3.5

The Market Price of Jasper

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Color and weight are the decisive factors affecting the price of jasper. The price of a tumbled stone about 2.5 cm across is usually $1-$6/piece.

Rough/Tumbled Price

Smaller Than Hand (0-1.5in)
$1 - $10
Close Hand (1.5-3in)
$10 - $30
Equal To Hand (3-6in)
$25 - $60
Bigger Than Hand (>6in)
$55

How to Care for Jasper?

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Durability
Durable
Scratch resistance
Good

Toughness of Jasper

Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
Jasper is a variety of chalcedony, characterized by its microcrystalline structure. This unique structure imparts an exceptional level of toughness to the stone, making it highly resistant to chipping or cracking under everyday wearing conditions.

Stability of Jasper

Sensitive
Stable
Jasper is durable under common conditions, maintaining its appearance in sunlight, water immersion, dry environments, contact with usual contaminants, and household detergents.
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Real vs Fake Jasper

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4 Ways to Tell if jasper is Real

Fake Alert Level:
Special Caution
"jasper" as a widely popular name is sometimes used by merchants to label various opaque materials, even if they are not geologically or mineralogically related to real jasper. It is advisable to make purchases from reputable retailers and, if possible, request a certificate from a gem testing laboratory. Here are some handy tips to help you initially discern the authenticity of jasper.
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Characteristics of Jasper

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Cultural Significance of Jasper

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Uses of Jasper

Jasper has been a favorite ornamental gem since ancient times; it is mentioned in ancient Latin, Greek, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, and Assyrian sources. Different varieties of jasper are commonly formed into gemstones or fashioned into decorative objects, including lapidary items for jewelry, vases, decorative boxes, and other ornaments.

The Meaning of Jasper

A gemstone with a long history, jasper has been mentioned in the Holy Bible and referenced in the literature of many cultures, including Hebrew, Latin, Egyptian, and Assyrian as a magical stone. For example, ancient Egyptians buried the jasper stone with the dead to secure their passage to the afterlife, while Native Americans used the stone as a protection from evil. It's a birthstone of March.

Distribution of Jasper

Jasper is an opaque rock of virtually any color stemming from the mineral content of the original sediments or ash. Patterns arise during the consolidation process forming flow and depositional patterns in the original silica rich sediment or volcanic ash. Hydrothermal circulation is generally thought to be required in the formation of jasper.
Jasper can be modified by the diffusion of minerals along discontinuities providing the appearance of vegetative growth, i.e., dendritic. The original materials are often fractured and/or distorted, after deposition, into diverse patterns, which are later filled in with other colorful minerals. Weathering, with time, will create intensely colored superficial rinds.
The classification and naming of jasper varieties presents a challenge. Terms attributed to various well-defined materials includes the geographic locality where it is found, sometimes quite restricted such as "Bruneau" (a canyon) and "Lahontan" (a lake), rivers and even individual mountains; many are fanciful, such as "forest fire" or "rainbow", while others are descriptive, such as "autumn" or "porcelain". A few are designated by the place of origin such as a brown Egyptian or red African.
Banded iron formations
Jasper is the main component in the silica-rich parts of banded iron formations (BIFs) which indicate low, but present, amounts of dissolved oxygen in the water such as during the Great Oxidation Event or snowball earths. The red bands, typically more competent than the hematite layers surrounding it, are made of microcrystalline red chert, also called jasper.
Picture jaspers
Earrings of polished "leopard-spot jasper" (actually a type of spherulitic rhyolite)
Picture jaspers exhibit combinations of patterns resulting in what appear to be scenes or images, when seen on a cut section. Such patterns include banding from flow or depositional patterns (from water or wind), as well as dendritic or color variations. Diffusion from a center produces a distinctive orbicular appearance, i.e., leopard skin jasper or linear banding from a fracture as seen in leisegang jasper. Healed, fragmented rock produces brecciated (broken) jasper.
While these "picture jaspers" can be found all over the world, specific colors or patterns are unique to the geographic region from which they originate. One source of the stone is Indonesia, especially in Purbalingga district. From the US is Oregon's Biggs jasper and Idaho's Bruneau jasper from the Bruneau River canyon are particularly fine examples. Other examples can be seen at Ynys Llanddwyn in Wales. A remarkable, pale, blue-green jasper, with patterns somewhat resembling those of malachite, occurs in a deposit at Ettutkan Mountain, Staryi Sibay, Bashkortostan, Russia. (The town of Sibay, in the far south of the Ural Mountains, near the border with Kazakhstan, is noted for its colossal, open-cast copper mine).
Basanite and other types of touchstone
Basanite is a deep velvety-black variety of amorphous quartz, of a slightly tougher and finer grain than jasper, and less splintery than hornstone. It was the Lydian stone or touchstone of the ancients. It is mentioned and its use described in the writings of Bacchylides about 450 B.C., and was also described by Theophrastus in his book On Stones (Ancient Greek title: Περὶ λίθων: Peri Lithon), a century later. It is evident that the touchstone that Pliny had in mind when he wrote about it was merely a dense variety of basalt.
Basanite (not to be confused with bassanite), Lydian stone, and radiolarite (a.k.a. lydite or flinty slate) are terms used to refer to several types of black, jasper-like rock (also including tuffs, cherts and siltstones) which are dense, fine-grained and flinty / cherty in texture and found in a number of localities. The "Lydian Stone" known to the Ancient Greeks is named for the ancient kingdom of Lydia in what is now western Turkey. A similar rock type occurs in New England. Such rock types have long been used for the making of touchstones to test the purity of precious metal alloys, because they are hard enough to scratch such metals, which, if drawn (scraped) across them, show to advantage their metallic streaks of various (diagnostic) colours, against the dark background. There are, confusingly, not one but two rocks called Basanite, one being a black form of jasper and the other a black volcanic rock closely akin to basalt. Add to this the fact that many different rock types - having in common the colour black and a fine texture - have, over the ages, been pressed into service as touchstones and it will be seen that there is ample scope for confusion in this petrology- and mineralogy-related field of study

Etymology of Jasper

The name means "spotted or speckled stone," and is derived via Old French jaspre (variant of Anglo-Norman jaspe) and Latin iaspidem (nom. iaspis) from Greek ἴασπις iaspis (feminine noun), from an Afroasiatic language (cf. Hebrew ישפה yashpeh, Akkadian yashupu). This Semitic etymology is believed to be unrelated to that of the English given name Jasper (of Persian origin).

Healing Properties of Jasper

Jasper is considered a grounding stone that promotes strength and stamina of the mind, body, and spirit. It helps to motivate certain users and provides the endurance for success. Its calming energy may alleviate stress. Jasper is often used to stimulate the mind and enhance creative skills.
Chakras
Heart

Common Questions People Also Ask

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