It belongs to the family of chalcedony quartz, … and is characterised by its fine grain and bright colours.
AGATE IS A VERY POPULAR and well known semi-precious stone that is featured in many types of jewellery. It comes in many different colours and patterns, which makes it incredibly versatile for jewellery designers. Sarah Ezzy-Dickson finds out more.
Agate was named by Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher and naturalist who found the stone on the banks of the river Achates around the third century BC. Colourful agate stones were obtained from this river (which is now called Dirillo, located in Sicily) over 3,000 years ago; and they were widely used in the art of hardstone carving, with evidence of this being recovered at the Knossos site on Crete, illustrating
