Fluorite
| Category |
| Fluorite |
| Crystal Form |
| Isotropic |
| Moh's Scale Hardness |
| 4.0 |
| Specific Gravity |
| 3.0–3.25 |
| Refractive Index |
| 1.434 |
| Sources |
| Argentina, Austria, Germany, France, Myanmar, Namibia, United Kingdom (Derbyshire), United States (Colorado, Illinois). |
The name "fluorite" is derived from the Latin meaning "to flow". Flourite comes in transparent to translucent with a variety of colours: bright golden yellow, bluish green, blue, green, purple, rose-pink or colourless. It has a glassy and vitreous luster. Fluorite is a soft gemstone and can easily be scratched or demaged. Traditionally, fluorite is used as a material for carving cameos and decorative objects because of its softness. Fluorite was used as a flux once, because it melts more easily that other minerals.
Treatments
Irradiation treatment or heat treatment are often used to improve the colour. Fluorite that are cut en cabochons may be capped with clear quartz to prevent the stone from being scratched or damaged.