Chrysocolla is an attractive blue-green gemstone that provides a unique color to the gem world. The name Chrysocolla first appears in the writings of Theophrastus (315 BC) and comes from the Greek words “chrysos” for gold and “kolla” for glue, because Chrysocolla resembles other materials used in soldering gold in ancient times.



Crystal healers believe that Chrysocolla helps to bring out the best of one’s creativity by calming and releasing fear and in expressing feelings both verbally and artistically. Chrysocolla is considered by some crystal practitioners to be a feminine lunar gemstone. Some people have said that Chrysocolla looks like the earth as seen from space. In combination with its feminine connections, some people believe it is useful in meditating for world peace. One popular approach is to hold Chrysocolla in your hand and visualize the peace and calm that emanates.



A hydrous copper silicate, Chrysocolla is a minor copper ore. Chrysocolla is often confused with Turquoise because of its color. Chyrsocolla is perhaps more appropriately a mineraloid than a true mineral. Most of the time it is amorphous, meaning that it does not have a coherent crystalline structure. Chrysocolla forms as crusts, stalactites or stalagmites and in botryoidal grape-like shapes, as well as inclusions in other minerals. While Chrysocolla by itself is too soft for jewelry, when it appears as an inclusion in Quartz it is hard enough to polish as cabochons. Very rare, this form of Chrysocolla is often marketed as “Gem Silica” and is one of the most coveted Chalcedony Quartzes.

Chrysocolla is often cut as beautiful greenish-blue cabochons, and used for ornaments such as carvings and figurines. In the 1950’s, USA lapidaries voted Chrysocolla Chalcedony Quartz the “most popular American gemstone”.