Green Aventurine

Specifications

Mineral Class: Quartz
Crystal System: Hexagonal
Hardness: 6.5 - 7
Luster: Vitreous
Diaphaneity: Translucent to Opaque
Colors: Green
Symbolizes: Serendipity
Source: Russia, Spain, Austria, Tanzania, Brazil, Chile, and India

Green Aventurine is a silicon dioxide mineral and a member of the Quartz family.  Its color changes depending on impurities. A variety of Quartz, Aventurine commonly forms in green, but also occurs in orange, red, brown, yellow, and blue. The color variations are made by Muscovite, Hematite or Goethite. These additions to Aventurine establish the  different variations found within it.

This stone was named after the Italian word “a ventura”, which means “by chance” possibly owing to its lucky discovery of Aventurine glass in the 18th Century. Colloquial stories place the discovery and name by a Murano glass workman, accidentally letting copper fillings fall into the molten glass, naming it, “avventurino". Most green and blue Aventurine we find today comes from India, while the creamy whites and grays and orange occur in Chile, Spain and Russia. It is commonly carved into figurines, monuments, sculptures, beads, and cabochons for jewelry.