Aventurine

Aventurine

Aventurine is a form of quartz, characterised by its translucency and the presence of platy mineral inclusions that give a shimmering or glistening effect termed "aventurescence".

The most common colour of aventurine is green, but it may also be orange, brown, yellow, blue, or gray. Chrome-bearing fuchsite (a variety of muscovite mica) is the classic inclusion, and gives a silvery green or blue sheen. Oranges and browns are attributed to hematite or goethite. Because aventurine is a rock, its physical properties vary: its specific gravity may lie between 2.64-2.69 and its hardness is somewhat lower than single-crystal quartz at around 6.5.

Aventurine feldspar or sunstone can be confused with orange and red aventurine quartzite, although the former is generally of a higher transparency. Aventurine is often banded and an overabundance of fuchsite may render it opaque, in which case it may be mistaken for malachite at first glance.

The name "aventurine" derives from the Italian "a ventura" meaning "to cometh". This is an allusion to the lucky discovery of aventurine glass or goldstone at some point in the 18th century. Although it was known first, goldstone is now a common imitation of aventurine and sunstone. Goldstone is distinguished visually from the latter two minerals by its coarse flecks of copper, dispersed within the glass in an unnaturally uniform manner. It is usually a golden brown, but may also be found in blue or green.

The majority of green and blue-green aventurine originates in India (particularly in the vicinity of Mysore and Madras) where it is employed by prolific artisans. Creamy white, gray and orange material is found in Chile, Spain and Russia. Most material is carved into beads and figurines with only the finer examples fashioned into cabochons, later being set into jewellery.

Main markets for aventurine are landscape stone, building stone, aquaria, monuments, and jewellery.

See also

*Optical phenomena
*List of minerals
*dioptase
*malachite

External links

*http://mindat.org/min-436.html

http://www.wicca.com/celtic/stones/stonea-e.htm


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  • aventurine — [ avɑ̃tyrin ] n. f. • av. 1680; de aventure, un ouvrier ayant laissé tomber par aventure de la limaille dans une matière vitreuse en fusion ♦ Minér. Variété de quartz translucide à inclusions de mica. « cet œil gauche, pareil à une bille d… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Aventurine — Catégorie IX : silicates[1] Aventurine Général …   Wikipédia en Français

  • aventurine — AVENTURINE. sub. fém. Sorte de pierre précieuse, d un jaune brun semé de petits points d or. [b]f♛/b] Il y a aussi une Aventurine factice, qui est une composition faite avec de la poudre d or, jetée à l aventure sur du vernis, ou sur du verre… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • Aventurine — A*ven tu*rine, n. [F. aventurine: cf. It. avventurino.] 1. A kind of glass, containing gold colored spangles. It was produced in the first place by the accidental (par aventure) dropping of some brass filings into a pot of melted glass. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • aventurine — [ə ven′chə rin] n. [Fr < It ( vetro) avventurino, aventurine (glass): so named from resembling the mineral avventurina (< avventura, chance), so named from its rarity: see ADVENTURE] 1. a kind of glass flecked with spangles, as from copper… …   English World dictionary

  • Aventurine — Aventurine, dem Aventurin ähnliches Steingut, bei dessen Herstellung die Tonmasse eine Beimengung von Glimmer erhält …   Lexikon der gesamten Technik

  • Aventurine SA — Infobox Company name = Aventurine SA type = Self genre = Massively multiplayer online role playing games foundation = founder = Claus Grovdal location city = location country = location = Greece locations = key people = Claus Grovdal, Game… …   Wikipedia

  • aventurine — (a van tu ri n ) s. f. 1°   Pierre artificielle qui se fait avec du verre mêlé de limaille de cuivre, qui y éclate comme de petits grains d or. 2°   Pierre précieuse, pleine de plusieurs points d or qui lui donnent beaucoup de brillant ; c est un …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • AVENTURINE — s. f. Sorte de pierre jaune ou brune qui est semée de points brillants, dorés ou argentins, dont les reflets ont beaucoup d éclat.  Il se dit aussi d Une composition imitant l aventurine, faite avec de la poudre d or, jetée à l aventure sur du… …   Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise, 7eme edition (1835)

  • AVENTURINE — n. f. Sorte de pierre jaune ou brune qui est semée de points brillants dorés dont les reflets ont beaucoup d’éclat. Il se dit aussi d’une Composition imitant l’aventurine, faite avec de la limaille de fer ou de petits cristaux de cuivre jetés à… …   Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise, 8eme edition (1935)

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