Dendritic Specimen

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Late Victorian high carat gold brooch set with a stunning transcluent dentritic agate which seems to depict a row of trees reflected over a lake. 1.5inches by 3/4 inch. Gemologists do not consider these stones true agates but, instead, a variety of chalcedony quartz, with markings known as dendrites, which derives from the Greek word dendron meaning tree. The fern-like structures are actually inclusions with traces of iron or manganese, which crystallise inside the agate’s fine surface fractures and create the branch-like motifs. Show more