Apophyllite
High-end Mineral Specimens
Apophyllite is a group name for hydrated calcium silicate minerals, not one mineral species. The most common member is fluorapophyllite-(K). Clear or white crystals commonly form square prisms, tablets or pyramids and have glassy faces with a pearly sheen along their perfect cleavage.
Identity
- Material or variety
- Apophyllite group
- Scientific or material identity
- Apophyllite group
- Classification
- Natural mineral or mineral variety
- Aliases or trade names
- Fisheye stone
- Composition or formula
- Hydrated potassium-calcium silicates
- Crystal system or structure
- Tetragonal
- Geological or manufacturing origin
- Can form in more than one geological environment, or combines several materials.
- Mohs hardness
- 4.5 to 5
Origins
Brazil · Canada · Germany · India · Norway
Appearance & optical properties
clear-white apophyllite with square pyramidal faces.
History & discovery
The name joins Greek words meaning “away from” and “leaf,” describing how the mineral flakes when heated as it loses water. Apophyllite was once treated as one mineral, but mineralogists redefined it as a group in 1978 and later revised the member names to show their differing chemistry.
Uses & care
- Common uses
- Well-formed crystals and clusters are primarily mineral specimens. Transparent pieces are occasionally faceted for collectors, but perfect cleavage and modest hardness limit practical jewelry use.
- Handling and cleaning
- Dust crystals with a soft dry brush and handle them by their matrix rather than their points. Avoid water immersion, acids, heat, steam, ultrasonic cleaning and sudden temperature changes, all of which can damage or separate the hydrated, perfectly cleaved crystals.
Jewellery
5 pieces of Apophyllite jewellery. Learners earn each one in DigMyGem by learning words; until then it shows as a silhouette.
Glacier Point Ring
Ring
A ring set with a clear apophyllite pyramid cut to a high point, so pale it seems carved from ice. It is a fragile stone, kept for evening wear.
Stilbite Garden Pendant
Pendant
A pendant pairing a green apophyllite crystal with a spray of pink stilbite, two minerals that often grow together. The setting keeps both crystals in their natural forms.
Ice Cathedral Tiara
Tiara
A silver tiara crowned with tall apophyllite points that rise like the spires of a glass cathedral. Its crystals are clearer than any quartz.
Crystal Spire Earrings
Earrings
An imagined pair of earrings, each a single clear apophyllite crystal with its square pyramid tip pointing down like an icicle.
Frost Spire Brooch
Brooch
An imagined silver brooch holding a cluster of clear apophyllite crystals like a frozen cathedral.