Fluorite, also known as "false Ruby," is a soft gemstone found in various locations in the United States and Europe. However, it imitates many of precious stones of the same color, when cut. Fluorite possesses such transparency and brilliance that many of semi-precious and even precious stones could envy. Nonetheless, you can easily distinguish Fluorite from genuine stones due to its hardness, which is equal to 4/10 (according to the Mohs scale of hardness).

Properties

As mentioned above, Fluorite is a very soft stone. So you can scratch it even using a piece of glass or any knife. Fluorite, furthermore, is brittle; its crystals are cleavage parallel. Therefore, they could be easily damaged during the process of cutting.

It's worth noting that Fluorite possesses a unique property called "fluorescence." The crystals of Fluorite, when heated, have always exhibited a fluorescence. Thus, a blue specimen, for example, emits a green glow, while a green crystal could emit a purple glow. Chemically, Fluorite is nothing but fluorine of calcium. Fluorite contains fluorine inside it in a large quantity, approximately 49 percent of its structure. By the way, such subject as a fluorine exists in the human body in small amounts. For instance, it is an element of human teeth. This substance also is in the bones of fossil animals.

Moreover, according to the studies dated 19th century, the scientists discovered that the human bones found in Pompeii contained more of the fluoride substance than we can observe in the current ones. [The Homeopathic World, Vol. VIII, London, 1873.]

Color

Fluorite crystals showcase a broad spectrum of colors. Usually, Fluorite is colorless and transparent. However, the specimens of red, green, blue, yellow and violet colors occur in abundance. The crystals of Fluorite become phosphorescent under the influence of heat or light.

In Jewelry

Despite the fact that Fluorite is a very soft gemstone, it possesses all the necessary qualities for usage in jewelry. Due to its softness, any consumer must be pretty careful, because it's too easy to damage this beautiful semi-precious stone. Nevertheless, some jewelers use Fluorite to imitate precious stones. Therefore, it bears the names such as false Ruby, fake Emerald, false Topaz, false Amethyst, etc., at different times.

The ancients, however, used Fluorite for ornamental and decorative purposes. The collections of various museums contain plenty of cups, vases, and other articles made of Fluorite.

Mining

Fluorite is a widespread gemstone that mined all over the world. The most known deposits of this gem are in the United Kingdom and the United States. The principal locations are Elizabethtown, Shawneetown, Hardin County. Some unique specimens of Fluorite, chiefly of green color, obtained from Muskellunge Lake, St. Lawrence County, New York. Also, the vast mines of Green Fluorite were found in Macomb in 1888.

In the United Kingdom, there are also several locations with the deposits of the Fluorite, such as Cumberland and Derbyshire. However, in these sites, this mineral is known under the names Derbyshire spar and Blue John.

There are also known locations in Germany and Switzerland, where locate the deposits of the crystals of red Fluorite, and also in China, Mexico, Russia and South Africa.