Fluorite Beads... Here's the Mineral Info:

Fluorite can be made into beautiful beads and focals for handcrafted jewelry. It is a clear to semi-translucent mineral and can be found in a great variety of colors including: purple, blue, green, yellow, brown, pink, black and red-orange. Sometimes a single specimens will contain more than one color. Fluorite can also be fluorescent meaning that it glows in a different color when exposed to certain types of light. In other cases it is phosphorescent, or glowing with its own light. It is found all over the world including North America and the U.S., (Arizona, Connecticut, and North Carolina) in addition to areas of Canada and Mexico.

 Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons

As a mineral it is considered soft having a hardness of 4.  Fluorite was used by the ancient Egyptians for carvings such as scarabs. It has also been used by the Chinese as a carving material for many hundreds of years.  Fluorite has important industrial uses as a flux in producing steel. It also can be found in various applications for pottery, optics and plastic.  The mineral has been used by healers to help cure ulcers and to aid respiratory tract ailments. When used in meditation, it has been said that fluorite helps to energize the body and raise concentration.

What an amazing mineral! Fluorite was even named the official mineral for the state of Illinois. Have you seen it in a jewelry design or do you have some interesting facts to share? Please add your comments.

For more information you can start at this site: http://www.galleries.com/minerals/halides/fluorite/fluorite.htm