Kyanite, Blue, Cylinder, Varied Sizes, One 12x7mm Strand

Kyanite, Blue, Cylinder, Varied, 12x7mm, Strands are 15 to 16 inches long.

12x7mm cylinder strands have 35 to 38 pieces

Kyanite is a member of the silicate group of minerals. It generally occurs as elongated crystals found in rock and quartz veins.  It forms from high pressure during the metamorphism of sedimentary rocks and quartz veins.  Kyanite is usually blue, but may be white, grey, green, orange, yellow, pink, or nearly black.

Named in 1789 by Abraham Gottlieb Werner from the Greek word "kyanos", meaning "blue," the common color of this species. The French spelling for this stone was "Cyanite" was commonly used by mineralogists through much of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Kyanite can be found in Brazil, USA, Switzerland, Russia, Serbia, India, and Kenya.  Early legends say that Kyanite suspended from a human hair will follow the earth's magnetic force. Travelers used it as a compass when surveying new surroundings.       

Hardness 4.4-5

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

The source of these beads is Brazil, and they are cut, drilled and polished in China.