CHABAZITE: Nova Scotia (specimen ~ 3 inches across)
Chabazite is too soft for wear. The colors are pale but attractive. Unfortunately, clean material is extremely scarce. Chabazite is not terribly difficult material to facet, but finding suitable material is not easy. This is one of the rare gems that are seldom discussed or heard about. There may be only a handful of cut gems in existence.
Chabazite Value
The International Gem Society (IGS) has a list of businesses offering gemstone appraisal services.
Chabazite Information
| Data | Value |
| Name | Chabazite |
| Crystallography | Hexagonal. Crystals rhomb-shaped, tabular; frequently twinned. |
| Colors | Colorless, white, yellowish, pinkish, reddish white, salmon color, greenish. |
| Luster | Vitreous |
| Hardness | 4-5 |
| Density | 2.05 -2.16 |
| Cleavage | Distinct 1 direction; Fracture uneven. Brittle. |
| Stone Sizes | Cut chabazites are always very small, usually less than 1-2 carats. Crystals are never entirely transparent, and often only one corner of a pinkish or colorless crystal can be cut. Very few chabazites have been cut at all, and they are seldom seen in museum collections. |
| Luminescence | None |
| Spectral | Not diagnostic |
| Formula | CaAl2Si4O12 · 6H2O |
OPTICS: Variable; R.I. = 1.470 -1.494
Uniaxial (+) or (-)
OCCURRENCE: Cavities in basalt and other basic igneous rocks; also hot spring deposits.
Nevada; California; Oregon; Colorado; New Jersey; Hawaii. Bay of Fundy district, Nova Scotia, Canada; Greenland; Scotland; Ireland; Italy; Germany; Hungary; USSR; India; Australia; Czechoslovakia.
COMMENTS: Chabazite is too soft for wear. The colors are pale but attractive. Unfortunately, clean material is extremely scarce. Chabazite is not terribly difficult material to facet, but finding suitable material is not easy. This is one of the rare gems that are seldom discussed or heard about. There may be only a handful of cut gems in existence.
NAME: From the Greek chabazios, an ancient name applied to certain materials.
