Cornelian

The Cornelian gemstones are the precious stones which are a variety of chalcedony mineral found in red color. The color is due to the deposits of iron impurities in the stone. The hue of this beautiful stone varies from deep red to light red. The stone is generally heated or dyed to produce the glittering red color.

Cornelian is usually cut in beads or en cabochon. The stone has its use in intaglios and cameos. It is actually silicon dioxide with the specific gravity ranges in between 2.65 to 2.66. The hardness of this stone is seven on Mohs scale and the refractive index varies in between 1.543 to 1.552.

The beautiful Cornelian gemstones are mainly found in the desert regions of Arabia and Egypt. Parts of Rio Grande, India also have deposits of this stone along with China, Colombia, Saxony, Scotland, West Germany and USA. Here is some technical information about the Cornelian gemstone:

Optic sign: Positive in nature
Bi-refringence: 0.009
Optical nature: Uniaxial

A microcrystalized quartz, the cornelian stone represented existence in Pharaonic Egypt. Found in nodules form, these stones were first found in the lands of Arabia and India. Presently, the source of this precious stone is Brazil.

You can buy a number of gorgeous Cornelian gemstones from the online cut stone sellers. They present a wide variety of colors and designs on the stone. Following are the few names of the online stone sellers: