Price Per Piece 

Sourced: Congo

Cut: Heart Polished

Size: 40-50mm

Weight: 824g

If you love the colour green, then malachite crystal is a stone you want to get to know more about. It has a beautiful, rich, colour and is easily spotted thanks to the instantly recognisable swirls of lighter green found within the stones. It’s almost reminiscent of marble swirls, but can also be found in concentric circles and other flowing shapes.

These beautiful green stones are minerals that form not too far from the Earth’s surface.

They were first found in Egypt and Israel around 4000 BC. Back then, they were mined extensively largely for practical uses. However, the beauty of the stone was not lost on the artists of the time, and the stone was also used in statues and jewellery in Ancient Greece and then Ancient Rome. It was also put to use in powder form as makeup.

The exact history of the word malachite is unknown. The main theory is that it comes from the Ancient Greek word malache or malakee. These are the words used to describe the leaves of the mallow bush. This is still a popular plant that can be found across Europe, Asia and Africa.

Another Ancient Greek word that malachite could have derived from is malakos, which means soft. This theory seems less likely since the mineral stone is not malleable.

This stone is said to have a number of healing properties and is well known to be beneficial as a protection stone. It is claimed to be able to absorb negative, toxic and pollutant energies from around you and from within you. This means that it is said to be used to balance mood swings and help you to work on a positive outlook on life. It is also said to help to open your heart to love and positive vibes – allowing you to love more freely and take risks in life that are good for you.

Malachite is also considered a protection stone, especially for travel, and is commonly carried by those who work on aeroplanes. Miners also carry the stone for protection when they are underground working.

Unfortunately, malachite is fairly commonly faked or synthetically produced. The first thing that you should look at is the price. Real malachite is quite a bit more expensive than the fake stones. It’s not always the case, but it is a good place to start.

Then you can look at the patterns and colours within the stone itself. Real malachite isn’t uniform and has any number of swirls, waves, circles and stripes within one stone. Most manufacturers of synthetic malachite will stick to stripes because they are the easiest to reproduce.

The contrast in colours will also generally be a lot harsher and more obvious than that of the natural mineral. Naturally occurring malachite stone will softly move from light greens through to almost black greens. The synthetic stone will generally have a stark contrast of a lighter green and a darker green.

Malachite is as magical as it looks, and this green gem is a wonderful one to add to your collection, or to give as a gift to someone you love.