The difference between black agate and obsidian

Black agate is a very rare treasure in the world. It is very common in the Chinese jewelry market. It has undergone excellent color change and optimization traditions and is very popular. The difference between obsidian and black agate is the difference in color, shape, and efficacy. Both are very precious and suitable for collection.

What is Black Onyx?

Black agate. Black agate is rare in nature. Most of the black agate on the Chinese jewelry market is optimized and colored. However, because no other substances are added during the optimization process, it is still recognized as a natural gem in jewelry appraisal. This kind of agate is dark black and easily confused with other black jades. It is distinguished by its hardness which is greater than obsidian.

Black agate and obsidian are both black healing stones with similar appearance and similar price. Let us understand the difference between the two gemstones.

One of the differences between black agate and obsidian: color

The texture of black agate does not have obvious oval ring shapes, but only a small number of natural agates have crystallization states, such as stripes, spots, and dense blocks. One way to identify black agate is that you will find that some beads are completely black on a certain layer, with no other color or halo on the surface, and a certain layer is transparent, translucent or white. This is the best way to identify agate.

Obsidian is a natural glass with a completely black base color, but on the base, there are monochrome or colored striped or hole-like halos. This is the most obvious difference between the two. They are all opaque. You can carefully observe the surface of the beads under strong light to see if there is a halo. If there is, it is obsidian, and if not, it is black agate.

The difference between black agate and obsidian 2: formation

Agate is made from the solidification of colloidal silica. The main components of agate are Sio2 (silicon dioxide). When the texture is very pure, it is gray. If it contains various pigment ions, it will appear in red, black, blue, green and other colors, and have a deep or shallow ring structure.

Obsidian is formed when certain components of volcanic magma cool down and the bubbles or crystals inside create a "snowflake" effect or iridescent color that is seen as sparkling. If you look at it under a microscope, you will find that the surface of obsidian is actually bumpy and has many small holes. Black onyx has none of these. In terms of gloss, you will see that black agate will reflect silvery white when exposed to natural light, and the reflection will be like a mirror. If you have good eyesight, and you look at the black agate intently, you will see your image in the black agate, just like looking in a mirror. But obsidian cannot do this because it is uneven, and no matter how well it is polished, it will not have the same effect as black agate.

The difference between black agate and obsidian 3: weight

If you wear two black agate bracelets and two obsidian bracelets of the same size at the same time, the black agate bracelet is obviously heavier than the obsidian bracelet. Because obsidian has many small holes inside, it is light in weight.