Black Agate, Dyed, Round, One Pendant with Crystal, 26x16mm

Black Agate, Dyed, Round, One Pendant with Crystal and Metal Alloy Bail, 26x16mm

Agate is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, consisting of a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks.

Hardness 6.5-7

These pendants are cut, drilled and polished in China.

Heating beads is a very common form of enhancement and is used to affect desired alterations of color and/or clarity. Heating can also be used to lighten or darken a stone. Heat is one of the conditions that cause gems to form, whether in the ground or in a lab. Heating occurs during natural gem formation. But heating applied to the stone after gem formation is an enhancement. Beads are dyed with the introduction of coloring agent into a gemstone to give it new color, intensify present color or improve color uniformity.

Metal Alloy is a metal made by combining two or more metallic elements, base metals, to give greater strength or resistance to corrosion. In mining and economics, base metals refer to industrial non-ferrous metals excluding precious metals, like silver, gold, and platinum. Base Metals include copper, aluminum, nickel, tin, zinc antimony, bismuth, lead and many more. Metal Alloy, also known as Pewter and is usually a tin based alloy 85-95% of the time but could also be zinc based.

In December of 1994, The US Safe Drinking Water Act defined Lead-free as having less than 0.25% lead content. Most newly made solid pewter on the market today is considered lead free by these standards. But it is still recommended to not give children Metal Alloy jewelry if there is any chance, they will put it in their mouths!