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Subject: Is Blue Obsidian a Fake Crystal?
Date: 04/13/10
From: Ellie
To: Healing Crystals

What is your take on blue obsidian? I understand it is man-made, and I'm wondering if you consider it fake or like aqua aura?




Hi Ellie,

All brightly colored, transparent "Obsidians" are man-made.  There has been red, cherry red, blue/green, blue, yellow, purple, dark green, cobalt blue, etc — as many colors as is possible to create have been created. These colored "Obsidians" are nothing more than art glass with some color introduced. This is very slick marketing. Obsidian IS actually a type of glass. Silica/Sand is also made into glass, so no one is really NOT telling the truth —but they sure are stretching it :)

For me personally? I feel they are not natural. They are bright and pretty. They will contain the energy of color, which is often used in healing. So, as tools in color therapy, they can be helpful. I think they are considered "fake" when the person selling them consciously misleads the consumer.

This would be a great topic to start in the Healing Crystals forum! There are a lot of members there and a lot of opinions too!
https://www.healingcrystals.com/forum/index.php

Here is the thing, I am horrified by all of the fake stuff out there. I keep up with the fakes and frauds on a regular basis. I like to balance my knowledge between the geology and the metaphysical. But I am just one person :) Every one you ask will have their own opinion, so in the end, what really matters is what do YOU think? :)

With love and crystal blessings,

Kristi



Posted on April 16, 2010

  I had a choice of additions to my collection for Yule, I admit that the color of the blue obsidian almost pulled me away from my original goal, a cinnabar sphere.

I have jewelry that has green obsidianite, but it used Mt. St. Helens ash in the mix. I was 3 and lived in Seattle when she blew. It’s a little piece of my history. I wear it as a pretty bauble. The mount is far more valuable than the stones will ever be.

I got my cinnabar quartz sphere. I left the pretty glass on the shelf.  (Submitted by: Aery on December 20, 2018)
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  Awe man this sucks, I recently brought some and it's beautiful, it's horrifiying to know people would sell fakes, I also just found out that my geode (thought it was amythest) was actualy a purple dyed rock quarts geode
I'm tempted to throw my 'obsidian' at some concrete because it's hard to break obsidian and I want to know if it is fake  (Submitted by: xXFireTearsXx on December 29, 2016)
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  I think what she was pointing out is that the ones that are perfectly clear with bright vibrant colors are the man made ones. Not that the other colors don't exist in nature. Just that you aren't going to fingers a hunk of blue obsidian thatis pperfectly transparent and looks like swiss blue topaz. Obsidian has natural variations to it. As the minerals are heated and blended together under ground or during an eruption you are going to get different concentrations of different minerals which will produce beautiful colors. But they will have specks, streaks, bands and other varying concentrations. It's the ones that look like colored glass balls that are fake, nothing more than melted down beach sand that's been dyed. So smelted quartz, not Obsidian. They shouldn't be allowed to use the name of a naturally occurring product unless it occurred naturally!  (Submitted by: Mike on December 05, 2016)
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  I wish I could post a picture here.
There are real blue and green obsidian. Here in Pennsylvania. A friend of mine found a very large deposits actually in two different counties.. Was gracious enough to gift me some rather large pieces. The look Smokey gray but when held up to light very green and blue. Also the one large blue is very bright bands of different shades of blue color.  (Submitted by: Chessica on December 24, 2013)
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  There are some real colors of obsidian out there which are blues, greens, reds, etc, as other people did point out. In fact, Rainbow Obsidian is many different colors and natural. I've even found pieces of blueish obsidian and green obsidian in my home town, proof that it's in the United States. Now, sure, it's a blueish gray, but it has the obvious blue tint to it. It's not the same hue as the man-made obsidians or the rainbow obsidian, but it is undoubtedly blue. One piece is even nearly purple, although to the darker end of the scale where it does seem gray under synthetic light and only shines purple under natural sunlight. Mahogany obsidian is various hues of reddish orange with black spots, and that isn't man-made.  (Submitted by: Nimarkiva on July 22, 2013)
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  Real blue obsidian formed through the natural voprocess does indeed exist. What I have seen is less transparent, in fact barely translucent, than other obsidians. Real blue obsidian is exceedingly rare and it's properties are very useful for knapping stone weapons and tools.  (Submitted by: Sint-Holo on July 19, 2013)
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  actually...

I recently came across this thread on Mindat.org and there is some naturally occurring Green, Blue/Green, Blue obsidian that has been found in Germany in the Eiffel Mountains

source: mindat.org/forum.php?read%2C55%2C212334%2Cpage=1  (Submitted by: Sam on May 20, 2013)
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  I'm with you, Kristi! Although I LOVE my Aura Quartz, I am aware that they are "created":i.e. the patina is created by heat-treating and chemical bonding. I dislike calling colored glass "Obsidian"-it didn't come about as the result of a volcanic eruption, so it needs a different name, AND needs to be identified as artificial!. I have the same problem with all the dyed Agates out there. Yes, they still have good properties, but do they really need to be neon colors for someone to use them? Hopefully not! Yet another case of Caveat Emptor! But, the good news? When in doubt, ASK KRISTI!!! She won't steer you wrong!  (Submitted by: Rhonda on April 23, 2010)
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