{"id":137,"date":"2007-11-29T04:11:38","date_gmt":"2007-11-29T12:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cheldodge.net\/blog\/?p=129"},"modified":"2007-11-29T04:11:38","modified_gmt":"2007-11-29T12:11:38","slug":"gemstone-of-the-day-onyx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/lavajewelry\/2007\/11\/29\/gemstone-of-the-day-onyx\/","title":{"rendered":"Gemstone of the Day: Onyx"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s definitely time to start writing Gemstone of the Day articles again, and I thought I’d begin with a fairly well-known gemstone: onyx<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Onyx<\/a> is a cryptocrystalline form of quartz. It occurs in pretty much any color you can imagine, and it is commonly banded. Onyx with red banding is called sardonyx. Solid black onyx is perhaps the best-known variety of onyx. Onyx has a hardness of 7 on Moh’s hardness scale.<\/p>\n

The name onyx<\/a> is often erroneously applied to banded calcite found. True onyx can be easily distinguished from this impostor by its hardness. Calcite is much softer than onyx.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\nOne of my latest creations: wire-wrapped faceted black onyx necklace with a wire wrapped labradorite pendant. I discussed labradorite earlier in my Gemstone series.<\/i><\/p>\n

There’s still time to join the Winter Beading Challenge<\/a>, by the way. I know I mention this quite frequently, but I’m really excited about it, so I don’t think I can be blamed for talking about it so much.<\/p>\n

Question of the Day: If you could train your pets to do one thing to help out around the house, what would it be?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"