Prices will vary on your choice of length, strands and combinations of strands. Strands can vary seasonally
Made on a custom basis, as we have to finish them to your specification, but should not be longer than two or three weeks.
Charoite was first found in the 1940’s, 325 miles north of the tip of Lake Baikal, and locally called “lilac stone.” This gem was introduced to the Western gemstone marketplace as Charoite in the 1970’s. It immediately made a large impact, both with traditional lapidaries and marketers who used it for decorative objects, carvings and cabochons, and, soon after, with metaphysical gem enthusiasts for whom it embodies a long list of healing and spiritual attributes.
Named for the only locale in which it is found, the Charo River Valley in the former Soviet Union, Charoite is one of the few gems that is so distinctive in its color and patterns that a gemologist can feel justified in making a “sight” identification. There’s really no other material likely to be mistaken for it — at least this is true until a synthetic or man-made simulant comes along some day.
Like lapis lazuli, the gemstone that we call “Charoite” is actually a rock composed of several minerals including Charoite. Unlike lapis, though, it is usually nearly pure Charoite mineral, with only slight amounts of microcline feldspar, aergirine-augite and tinaksite. It is the mineral Charoite that gives this gem its unmistakable purple color which, often in the same piece, ranges from very light to medium dark purple and from translucent to opaque. The other distinctive aspect of its appearance is the swirling patterns that form due to its fibrous crystals being arrayed in complex interlocking patterns.