Natural Schalenblende (Poland) Designer Focal Bead 23x33mm

Front Drilled near tip (See Pictures), This stone has a very high polish and was hard to photograph because it is very reflective. The first Picture is taken with a light filter, so that you can seethe color.

Schalenblende is a lead-zinc ore that contains compact layers (once botryoidal) of Galena, Wurtzite, Sphalerite, Pyrite, and Marcasite. Identifying the minerals within a piece are very easy, yellow being Wurtzite, brown being Sphalerite, silver being Galena, and grey and gold being Pyrite and Marcasite. Galena is the most common mineral, resulting in pieces being extremely dense for their size. It’s estimated that Schalenblende formed around 135 million years ago, when a sulfide rich liquid rapidly crystallized at an unusually low temperature. This specific creation process was rare on Ancient Earth, thus making this stone relatively rare. Schalenblende was first discovered back in 1892 by J.D. Dana. He chose to name it after the German words “Schale” and “Blende”, which means “to cover” or “to hide”. This refers to the number of different minerals within Schalenblende that are hidden throughout it’s concentric layers.