Lodolite, often sold as garden quartz or scenic quartz, is clear quartz that grew around colourful inclusions of chlorite, hematite, feldspar and other minerals. The result looks like a tiny landscape sealed in glass: mossy green hills, orange clouds, drifting sand. Each stone captures the exact minerals that happened to be present as the crystal grew, so no two scenes are ever repeated. Nearly all of it comes from Brazil, particularly Minas Gerais, one of the world's great quartz regions.
Because the host is ordinary quartz, lodolite has a hardness of 7 and no cleavage, making it dependable for everyday pendants, rings and beads. It is usually cut in smooth, domed shapes, spheres or gentle freeforms, since a clean polished window is what lets you gaze into the scene. Care is simple: warm, soapy water and a soft cloth. When buying, just check the inclusions look layered and three-dimensional inside the stone, not painted on the back like some glass imitations.
Other quartz and chalcedony with interesting natural inclusions
