Green Fluorite Egg — Translucent Polished Carving, 128g — Field Find

THE FIND
A polished green fluorite egg, 128g — translucent green calcium fluoride with a refreshing, glassy clarity. The color moves from pale mint to deeper sage depending on the thickness of the stone and the angle of the light. An egg form that rewards holding up to the light.

WHAT WE KNOW
Fluorite is calcium fluoride (CaF₂) — one of the most color-variable minerals in existence, occurring in virtually every color of the spectrum depending on trace impurities and radiation exposure during crystal growth. Green fluorite gets its color from trace amounts of chlorine, yttrium, or radiation-induced color centers in the crystal lattice. Fluorite is relatively soft (Mohs 4) and has perfect octahedral cleavage in four directions — which means it can chip and cleave along those planes if knocked. The word “fluorescence” is derived from fluorite: in 1852, George Gabriel Stokes observed that fluorite specimens glowed blue-white under ultraviolet light and named the phenomenon after the mineral. Fluorite is one of the most widely fluorescent minerals, though not all specimens fluoresce. This specimen weighs 128g. Material identification based on appearance; not independently verified.

THE STORY
Fluorite gave its name to an entire physical phenomenon — fluorescence — because it was the first mineral in which the effect was systematically described. Stokes observed in 1852 that invisible ultraviolet radiation was being absorbed and re-emitted as visible blue-white light, and named the phenomenon after the mineral where he studied it. The green of this egg is a different expression of the same mineral: not fluorescence but transmitted color, the result of trace impurities in the crystal lattice filtering the light that passes through it.

WHY WE CHOSE IT
The translucence is the case for this piece — green fluorite in egg form allows light to pass through the stone in a way that opaque minerals don’t, and the color depth varies across the surface as the stone thickness changes. At 128g it has good presence and the egg form is well-suited to the translucent quality of the material.

ABOUT THIS PIECE
Type: Green fluorite egg (polished carving, calcium fluoride)
Weight: 128g
Locality: Not independently verified
Condition: Polished carving — fluorite is soft (Mohs 4) with perfect cleavage; handle with care to avoid chipping. Please review photographs for color, translucence, and natural variation.
Quantity: 1 — one of a kind.