Apatite, Natural, Faceted Rice Beads, One 6x8mm Strand

Apatite, Dark, Natural, Faceted Rice Beads, One 6x8mm Strand. 

This price is for one strand 15 to 16 inches long. 

6x8mm rice bead strands about 40 pieces.

Apatite forms under a wide variety of conditions and is found in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks.  It is usually green to blue in color, but can be yellow, brown, purple, pink, or colorless.  The bright, well saturated electric blue to blue-green colored stone became known as Neon Apatite. The color is natural, and no treatments or alterations are required to achieve it.

The name Apatite was invented by A.G. Werner probably sometime in the mid-1780s, which he later described as being named from the Greek verb to deceive someone because, as he wrote, "until now it has misled all mineralogists in its identification” 

Major sources for gem apatite are Brazil, Myanmar, and Mexico. Other sources include Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, and the United States.

Hardness 5

This is a natural stone that has had no treatment other than cutting, drilling, and polishing in China.