Serpentine Beads
Serpentine beads are a group of hydrated magnesium silicate minerals, mostly antigorite and lizardite, that form smooth green rock with a waxy luster and a mottled, snakeskin look that gave the group its name. This collection holds natural serpentine, including the pale new jade and the dark Russian serpentine, in a range of finishes and shapes for bracelets, necklaces and earrings.
Appearance
New jade, a trade name for translucent serpentine from China, is a soft yellow-green to celery green that glows when light passes through, often with faint cloudy veils and small dark flecks. Russian serpentine from the Urals is darker, an olive to bottle green with black inclusions of magnetite and chromite and sometimes pale veins. Serpentine jade is another name for it. Strands vary in translucency and in how many dark flecks they carry.
A polished finish gives it the soapy, waxy sheen that resembles jade; a matte finish turns it a soft, dusty green. Hardness varies from 2.5 to 5.5 on the Mohs scale depending on the mix of minerals, with most bead material around 4 to 5, so it scratches more easily than jade or quartz, and it should be stored apart from harder beads and kept away from household chemicals.
Formation and origin
Serpentine forms when the dark, magnesium-rich rocks of the earth's mantle and ocean crust, peridotite and dunite, take up water at relatively low temperature, a process called serpentinization that goes on today at mid-ocean ridges and where ocean plates are pushed under continents. The green comes from iron in the structure, and magnetite forms as a byproduct and gives the black flecks. Bead material comes from China, the Ural Mountains of Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Italy and the United States.
Pairings
Green apatite beads: a deeper teal green with more saturation, and apatite is 5 on the Mohs scale, so the two wear alike.
Fluorite beads: green and purple bands that pick up serpentine's green, and both need the same gentle handling.
Lepidolite beads: lilac against pale green is a soft pairing of 2 stones that need the same gentle care.
Lore and Meaning
Serpentine has long been worn as a charm against snakebite and poison, a belief that followed from its snakeskin look, and Romans and later Europeans carved it into vessels thought to reveal poison. In modern crystal traditions it is associated with renewal, with meditation and with the awakening of kundalini energy, and it is placed with the heart and crown chakras. These are traditional beliefs, not claims of physical effect.
