Marcasite

Anyone would readily concede that colorful gemstones are definitely a remarkable thing of beauty. Among the less popular but equally striking stone is the marcasite, or more commonly known as white iron pyrite. A jog back in history would tell you that marcasite first entered the fashion scene during the reign of Louis XIV of France. The materials was prevalently used along with silver and fashioned into wonderful designs of rosettes and floral sprays for buckles and brooches. This turned out to be a big hit in the Victorian era and even Queen Victoria herself was said to have favored the marcasite jewelry items in her collection. This mineral also made a great comeback during the World War I since it fit right into the stylish Art Deco trend back then.

This particular mineral is often confused and mistaken with pyrite, but marcasite can be easily distinguished because it is considerably lighter in weight and is significantly more brittle. Because of it’s unstable crystal structure, most of the marcasite specimens have a tendency to crumble, which explains the fact why this particular gemstone is rarely used in jewelries in pure form and any other types of accessory for that matter, unless it is incorporated with other more stable mineral such as silver.

Marcasite stones are also used to psuedomorph other major minerals available today. What does this mean? Basically a psuedomorph is a process that replaces an atom by another atom, that if done subtly and expertly, it can still retain the mineral’s old shape intact. That is why most of the marcasite is widely used ingredient in morphing pyrite, fluorite, gypsum and many other minerals. It even used to make great diamond imitations. However, because of its brittleness, most of the marcasite items over the years have long disintegrated into a worthless pile of dust. Marcasite is also known to easily tarnish and oxidize if constantly exposed to the atmosphere. So if you have marcasite in your jewelry collection, don’t expect it to last more than a couple of decades or so.

While this mineral may not claim to have any significant economic importance, it is more prevalently used as a good source of sulfur and can be easily recovered in various parts of the world. Among the large chalk deposits of marcasites are reportedly found in Dover, in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland and along the English Channel. Since it is easily derived, it is one of the inexpensive minerals available today. A lot of miners often view marcasite negatively because it is usually mistaken as gold because of its rather deceptive appearance. Thus, this mineral have earned the name “fool’s gold” since many people pan and dig this mineral hoping they struck a vein of gold only to find out too late that its actually one of the inexpensive stones. However, it is quite surprising to note that despite its affordability, glass, plastic and steel are often used to imitate it.

Today, marcasite is found in much inexpensive jewelry in silver and also in some fancy timepieces. Still, this mineral is only used in small proportions and could never be truly be used as a major component in the design of jewelry items. The great thing about using marcasite in some jewelry items is the fact that it gives off a wonderful sheen and slowly tarnishes through time and gives off that unique vintage look. Of course, if you are looking forward to investing on expensive and resilient jewelry items, then you possibly find it in marcasites. However, if you are merely looking for some fancy faux pieces that are generally not expected to last long, then marcasites certainly presents a cheaper alternative.