Amazonite in Albite Specimen. Photo: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com

Amazonite, a variety of the microcline series of the feldspar group, gets its name from the Amazon River. A gridlike structure visable in amazonite gives the stone a faint sheen and makes it easily identifiable. Amazonite is always cut en cabochon or polished as beads, never faceted.

Sources

Gem Reference Guide, Los Angeles: Gemological Institute of America, 1988. Pp. 101-102.

Newman, Harold. An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1981. Pp. 17.

Schumann, Walter. Gemstones of the World, New York: Sterling Publishing, Co., 1977. Pp. 164.