Hardness: 3.00
Refractive Index: 1.48-1.66
Specific Gravity: 2.71
Birthstone:
Astral Stone:
Anniversary Stone:
Origination: Italy, Germany, England & the United States
Care & Cleaning: Rub lightly with a soft polishing cloth. An optional dab of olive oil will produce a beautiful shine.
Fiction, Facts & Folklore:
Calcite is one of the most common minerals on the earth.
It often forms within the veins of huge slabs of limestone.
A colorless variety of calcite is used to make fine quality Italian marble.
Calcite will glow in a multitude of colors in fluorescent lighting, but only in those specimens that contain manganese.
The marble-rich area of Franklin, New Jersey is home to a wide variety of minerals, many of which are found residing in or associated with calcite.
A brown and white banded stone often seen in sculptures, statues and other artifacts known as �Mexican onyx� is not onyx at all, but rather a variety of calcite.
Although it is not durable, expert craftsmen can turn calcite into objects of jewelry.
Calcite in its colorless state is sometimes seen en cabochon to display a cat�s eye effect. Calcite can also be fashioned into beads.
Calcite often shows an interesting optical illusion. When a person looks through the crystal, it splits light rays in two. This produces a double image.
A yellow variety of calcite sometimes combines with brown aragonite to form a colorful mineral known as �septarian�.
Geologists have found evidence of yellow calcite in what is now the state of Utah dating back millions of years.