Gemology: W is for...
We're nearing the end of our gemology journey and have arrived at gemstones beginning with W. Most gemstones beginning with W are simply "White" variants of other gemstones, such as white opal, white topaz etc., or named after the W location in which they were discovered, but we have managed to identify a couple of W gemstones that may be of interest.
WASCOITE
Wascoite is a variety of Jasper Agate found in the Wasco region of Oregon, USA. It's a translucent honey brown mineral with irregular concentric bands of red and yellow, and looks beautiful as a minor gemstone when polished en cabochon. or shaped into a pendant.
Image via Pinterest
Watermelon Tourmaline
Watermelon Tourmaline, as the name suggests, is tourmaline with the colouring of watermelon! We know it's not a W gemstone in its own right, but it's so pretty we just had to include it!
This unusual gemstone has layers of pink, white (clear) and green colouring caused by the presence of various minerals; iron, manganese and lithium. It's transparent and positively beautiful as a versatile jewellery gemstone.
Image Attribution: By Madereugeneandrew (talk) - self-made, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17136175
Our final look at gemology will cover gemstones beginning with X, Y and Z. Look out for that soon!
Next week: "How to Clean Your Jewellery"
asd
