Fluorite

Fluorite is the most colour-varied stone we carry — a single piece can hold green, purple, blue and clear in distinct bands. It is also genuinely soft at Mohs 4, so this range is deliberately limited to forms that tolerate it. Read the care note before choosing.

What Fluorite Is

Fluorite is calcium fluoride (CaF₂), crystallizing in the cubic system — perfect cubes and octahedra, often with a glassy surface and vivid colour zoning. Mohs hardness 4, specific gravity 3.18, and perfect octahedral cleavage in four directions. That cleavage is the reason fluorite breaks along flat planes when dropped: it is not a tough stone, and it is not a hard one.

The name gave us the word "fluorescence": many fluorites glow under UV light, a genuine optical property that has been studied since the 19th century. Fluorite is also the mineral source of fluorine and the reason fluoridation exists as a public-health measure — a piece of trivia worth knowing when people call it a "gentle" stone.

An Honest Wear Warning

At Mohs 4, fluorite is softer than a steel nail. It will scratch, it will chip on edges, and it will not survive life as a ring. Despite this, a great deal of fluorite jewelry is sold as everyday wear without caveats. Our position is straightforward:

• Bracelets — workable if you accept surface wear; the beads are large enough to take some abrasion.
• Earrings and pendants — the ideal forms; they take almost no impact.
• Rings — we do not recommend them, and we do not stock them.

Meaning and Tradition

Fluorite is traditionally a stone of mental order — associated in crystal tradition with focus, study and clear thinking, and linked to the third eye and crown chakras because of its blue and purple bands. In astrology it is most often assigned to Capricorn and Pisces. The colour bands are what make pieces collectible: green-and-purple "rainbow" fluorite is the most sought form.

Care

Warm water and mild soap only, never ultrasonic or steam — the cleavages will not tolerate it. Do not soak. Keep away from all harder stones in storage, and remove before any activity where the piece might be knocked. Fluorite also fades in prolonged direct sunlight.