Gemstone Lake Superior Agate

Lake Superior agate Gemstone - Meanings, Properties & Facts

Lake Superior agate stone is an exotic stone with exceptional beauty highlighted by its intricate patterns, vibrant colors, and unique banding. These stones are primarily found in the Lake Superior Agate’s shorelines and are believed to pack lots of metaphysical benefits. They help wearers to enjoy a healthy, prosperous life and actively aid in their spiritual progress.

Benefits

This beautiful stone is packed with many metaphysical properties. Here are some major ways in which Lake Superior Agate benefits wearers:

• Physical Healing: Lake Superior Agate facilitates physical healing and supports overall physical vitality.

• Emotional Benefits: Lake Superior Agate is said to clarify thoughts and helps a person to make logical decisions in life. Especially when used in combination with landscape jasper stone this stone is said to help the wearer overcome their emotional inhibitions and live a more fulfilling life.

• Spiritual Growth: Lake Superior Agate actively assists in the spiritual growth of the wearer and stimulates the Crown chakra which is considered a seat of spiritual insight and awareness.

Appearance

Lake Superior agate is an iron-stained agate variety that is present on Lake Superior’s shore. An official state gemstone of Minnesota the Lake Superior agate sports red as its primary shade along with orange, and yellow shades produced by the iron oxidation process. Sometimes also called agate lake superior, the stone may have gray, white, tan, and black color strips. Among others, the agates with round banded patterns, technically called eyes, are the rarest variety and thus attract a premium price tag. Fortification agate is the most popular type of specimen of this variety.

Lake Superior Agates are generally translucent to opaque in their appearance and characterized by a distinct pattern consisting of unique bands with different colors, intensities, and thicknesses. The specimens with more intricate patterns and rich colors are believed to be of superior quality. The stone’s bands can either be concentric, or angular (called fortification), or it may be a combined pattern of both.

Origins

Lake Superior Agate is found in Lake North America’s superior region, especially in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The stone was formed as a result of complex volcanic activity that happened 1.2 billion years ago.

Usage

Just like the appeal and personality of the stone the lake's superior agate usage is also versatile. Lake Superior Agates are generally employed to craft different types of jewelry like earrings and rings. The stone’s complex patterns and vibrant colors create a good potential to discover and reveal different facets of its beauty. Specifically, cutting and polishing the stones reveals different dimensions of their beauty. Due to its impressive benefits energy workers also use lake superior agate cabochon’s healing properties for assisting their patients overcome their phsyical, emotional and spiritual challenges.

Real vs fake

Several gemstone sellers may try to sell you fake stones in the name of genuine ones. If you want to save yourself from being cheated then here are some points to verify the authenticity of the stone:

• Region: As the name suggests the real lake superior agate comes from the Lake Superior region mainly in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. If your seller claims to procure stone from any other location then it is probably a fake stone.

• Banding patterns: Due to constant mineral deposition over many tears the real superior lake agate shows distinct banding patterns, concentric patterns, or fortification banding patterns. As opposed to the real stone the patterns in the fake stone may look symmetrical or uniform.

• Colors: The primary color the real superior lake agate is red but can also also show yellow, while the secondary shades can be black, brown, green, blue, and gray. If your stone shows different colors or sports an artificial sheen then it might be a fake stone.

• Translucency and Opacity: The Clarity of Real stone ranges from translucent to opaque. The fully transparent stones may indicate that they are imitations and not genuine variety.

• Texture and Rind: Being exposed to elements and the natural weathering process the real stone develops a weathered, outer layer which is termed a rind. If your stone doesn't have a rind or shows an unnaturally bright rind then it may be a fake stone

• Expert Evaluation: If you are not able to confirm the stone's authenticity through the above techniques then it is advisable to get the stone evaluated by a professional gemstone assessment company.

Care and cleaning

To keep your stone's original visual appearance and durability intact you need to take good care of the stone. Here are a few things to keep in mind to preserve the beauty and durability of your store:

• Dropping or mishandling the stones might result in damage or chipping. So always handle the stones with care.

• Keep your stone separately to save them from direct contact with the jewelry or stones

• For removing any dirt hold your agate under warm tap water and gently rinse it using your fingers.

• The stone is intolerant to extreme temper. So avoid cleaning it with hot water

• If needed you may use nonchemical mild soap with gentle movements without applying too much force. Once you clean it thoroughly, carefully rinse the soap

• Before storing back the stone, carefully pat dry it with a microfiber cloth

• Gemstone polishing cloth or small mineral oil can be used to return the original polishing of the stone

• Harsh chemicals can interfere with the stone’s surface and damage it. So remove your stone when engaging in any direct contact with such chemicals as bleach, harsh soaps, etc.

Conclusion

Lake Superior agate, sometimes called lake superior gemstone is an extremely beautiful stone with vibrant colors and attractive patterns with vivid bands. The stone helps the wearer lead a happy and fulfilling life. Due to its diverse profile and powerful spiritual benefits the demand for lake superior agate is fast increasing across different parts of the world. Its limited availability also make it famous among collectors.

The spiritual benefits have attracted the attention of the crystal healers who use the stone for healing their patients. All these factors have contributed positively to the saleability of the stone and make it a positive investment for retail and wholesale suppliers of gemstones and crystals.

FAQs

1. What is Lake Superior Agate?

Lake Superior Agate is a chalcedony variety available in North America’s Lake Superior region

2. What makes Lake Superior agate so special?

The unique visual characteristics of the stone like unique banding patterns either in parallel or dotted bands along with its vibrant colors make the superior agate special,

3. What are top selling colors of superior lake agate?

Some of the popular colors of the stone include red, yellow, orange, and white as primary colors while the secondary colors include gray, brown, black, and occasionally blue and green hints. Vibrant red and orange hues are the most demanded hues of the stone.

4. Where can I find Lake Superior Agates?

The best gemstone quality lake superior agate is available across the shorelines of Lake Superior, especially the region spanning Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan.

5. How are lake superior agates valued?

Different factors determine the value of lake superior agate like quality, size, patterns, and colors. While easily available stone is priced reasonably, the stones with exceptional visual characteristics attract the interest of gemstone collectors and thus command exceptionally high prices. Likewise, the size also plays an important role in determining the stone’s value. Large lake superior agate for instance is more valuable than small-sized stones.

6. Can Lake Superior Agates be found in other locations?

In technical terms, the "Lake Superior Agate" is uniquely associated with the agates that are present in the Lake Superior area. However, sometimes the gemstone seller may sell the agate from other areas that have similar visual characteristics to lake superior agate.