Fluorite

History
Fluorite has been used as a carving material for hundreds of years, as it is fairly soft. It has not been considered for use in jewellery until recent times, where it is usually fashioned into beads.

Features
Fluorite is quite soft, and is frequently multi-colored. Nearly all fluorite fluoresces when exposed to long wave and short wave ultra violet light. It can occur as crystals or large masses. If dropped or struck with sufficient force, fluorite will perfectly cleave into octahedral. Fluorite occurs in almost every color except red.

Treatments
Fluorite is generally not treated.

Principal Deposits
Fluorite can be found all over the world, and is well known in England, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, the United States, Canada, Germany, Poland, Italy and Norway.

Rarity
Fluorite is fairly common, but because of its easy cleavage and its low hardness, good quality faceted stones are seldom seen. Fluorite is more commonly used to carve vases, figurines and beads.