
Helenite can also come in various red, green and blue varieties. It is seen as an inexpensive alternative to naturally-occurring green gemstones, such as emerald and peridot. If it is used as a ring stone, the facet edges will be easily abraded, the faces will be easily scratched, and the stone might be chipped with even a slight impact. Even in these uses it should be considered to be a very delicate stone. It is best used in earrings, pendants, brooches, and other types of jewelry where it will not encounter impact or abrasion. It has a hardness of just 5 to 5 ½ and chips about as easily as obsidian or window glass. True black obsidian will be dense and heavy while fakes will be light, akin to glass (because it. Strawberry Obsidian or Strawberry Quartz is a fake red crystal, as most fruit-named stones tend. Is there fake black obsidian Unfortunately, there are lots of fake black obsidian in the market. Rainbow Obsidian Sphere Money Magma Green Crystal Ball. Real obsidian has a hardness of about 5.5, which means that it’s easy to chip, break, or scratch. The stone has been marketed by the jewelry industry because of its emerald-like color, good refractive index, although its durability is low. Fake obsidian will be lighter than the real stone. Although helenite and obsidian are both forms of glass, helenite differs from obsidian in that it is man-made. Helens area in a furnace to a temperature of approximately 2,700 ☏ (1,480 ☌). Helenite is made by heating rock dust and particles from the Mount St. Īs word of the discovery spread, jewelry companies took note and began to find ways to reproduce the helenite. The silica, aluminium, iron, and trace amounts of chromium and copper present in the rocks and ash in the area, combined with the heat of the torches, transformed the volcanic particles into a compound that would be later commercially replicated as helenite. Using acetylene torches, they noticed that the intense heat was melting the nearby volcanic ash and rock and turning it a greenish color. Sellers try to sell fake Obsidian with these shades at a higher price. There are a few stones with blue, green, and red colors. The brown streaks occur in the form of bands. You can also find Obsidian with brown streaks. Workers from the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company were attempting to salvage equipment damaged after the volcanic eruption. To Tell if Obsidian is Real or Fake, Check the Colors and Iridescence You can get the Obsidian in black or gray color. Cite: 'Obsidian comes in black, brown, gray and several combinations such as white and black 'Snowflake' obsidian and brown and black 'Mahogany' obsidian. Helenite was first created accidentally after the eruption of Mount St. To my disappointment, I read that obsidian cannot be green and that green obsidian is a fake.

In Teotihuacan, skilled stone workers had to go to their source and mined the blue and green obsidian from under the volcanic ash and. Helens obsidian, emerald obsidianite, and ruby obsidianite, is an artificial glass made from the fused volcanic rock dust from Mount St. Obsidian is formed when volcanic lava is cooled down at a fast paste and forms into a crystalline volcanic glass that turns into black, gray, green, blue, and other different colors depending on the location.


Artificial glass made from volcanic ash Helenite set in an earring
