Judging quality
Genuine ocean jasper shows crisp orbs with concentric rings and often small druzy vugs. Later 'ocean jasper' finds are duller and less orbicular.
Chalcedony
Ocean Jasper
Orbicular chalcedony covered in floating spherulites like bubbles or eyes, from a tidal outcrop on the northwest coast of Madagascar reachable only at low tide. The original deposit is exhausted, so material is finite.
Care
Hard and stable. Water and cloth.
History & lore
Rediscovered in 1999 by Paul Obeniche after a passing mention in a nineteenth-century mineral list, and mined by boat and by hand.
Cultural history, recorded as tradition rather than as medical or scientific claim.
Common questions about Ocean Jasper
- What is Ocean Jasper?
- Orbicular chalcedony covered in floating spherulites like bubbles or eyes, from a tidal outcrop on the northwest coast of Madagascar reachable only at low tide. The original deposit is exhausted, so material is finite.
- How hard is Ocean Jasper and what is it made of?
- Ocean Jasper is a Chalcedony-family mineral with the composition SiO2. It crystallizes in the trigonal system and rates 6.5-7 on the Mohs hardness scale. It occurs in green, blush, white, multicolor.
- Where does Ocean Jasper come from?
- Notable localities for Ocean Jasper include Marovato, Madagascar.
- How do you tell good Ocean Jasper from filler?
- Genuine ocean jasper shows crisp orbs with concentric rings and often small druzy vugs. Later 'ocean jasper' finds are duller and less orbicular.
- How do you care for Ocean Jasper?
- Hard and stable. Water and cloth.
See it in person
Photographs only go so far
Both rooms are open six days a week, and there is always someone happy to pull pieces out of the case so you can compare them under the light.