Red Creek Jasper, Matte, Natural, Smooth Round, 6mm & 8mm. Priced Per Strand

Red Creek Jasper, Matte, Natural, Smooth Round.

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

6mm strands have 60 to 65 pieces.

8mm strands have 43 to 48 pieces. 

Red Creek Jasper, also called Cherry Creek or Red Picasso, is a colorful jasper that was discovered in Mainland China in 2010. The miners were looking for turquoise when they found this lovely stone instead. Like turquoise, Red Creek Jasper must be stabilized to be cut and polished. Some places call it Red Picasso Jasper.

Red Creek Jasper combines softly muted shades of mustard yellow, tan, sage, and olive green, and burnt red in patterns that resemble a breathtaking sunset. It has amazing brecciated patterns that resemble an abstract landscape painting.

Most Jaspers get their name from either their location or their appearance. Red Creek Jasper and Cherry Creek Jasper are both names used after its location in China. It is found in the Cherry Creek Mine and there is a nearby creek named Red Creek. The primary source of this stone is China with noted deposits in South Africa and the USA (Utah). 

Jasper is a member of the chalcedony family. It is usually an opaque stone with a solid color or an irregular display of colors caused by various mineral impurities. Its colors are usually red, yellow, brown, or green in color and rarely blue. The common red color is due to iron inclusions. It often contains an abundance of impurities, and therefore some regard it as a rock instead of a mineral. Patterns arise during the consolidation process forming flow and depositional patterns in the original silica rich sediment or ash. The Jasper name means "spotted or speckled stone".

Jasper is known to have been a favorite gem in the ancient world; its name can be traced back in Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Assyrian, Greek and Latin. Jasper in mentioned many times in the Bible. Green Jasper was used to make bow drills between 4th and 5th millennium BC. 

Hardness 6.5-7

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

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

Matte beads have a velvety or frosted surface, rather than a shiny or reflective surface. These stones undergo additional tumbling that require knowledge of the material and skill. Each stone type requires a different amount of time in the tumbler depending on the material's hardness and characteristics. The matte finish also creates a variation in color from the traditional finish of the bead