Peruvian Agate Gemstone Quality Standard

Rarity

While other countries have huge Agate reserves, Peru’s Agate is very rare. It can not be mined. Getting your hands on any Peruvian Agate is a very rare event. It is only possible if you know a local individual who collected a few kilos and wants to sell them to a mineral dealer in the capital Lima. The few kilos in our possession originate from historic finds and we can currently no source additional material.

Availability

Gemrock Peru possesses a few kilos of historic material for each color variation. We are not selling rough material. We are willing to cut a small number of custom cabs from these rare agates. We offer Peruvian Agate as part of our own jewelry.

Currently, we have no access to more material.

Ethical and environmentally friendly Mining?

Peruvian Agate is not mined, but rather collected (rockhounding). No habitat destruction occurs. 

Color variations

Peruvian Sunset Agate

A thick brown band, followed by 4-5 thin bands of orange shades, followed by a central transparent quartz crystal in the inner part of the drusis.

Transparent Agate

Transparent to translucent greyish agate without bands.

Green Agate

Transparent to translucent greyish agate that gets a green hue because of the green surfacelayer of the stone.

White-banded Agate

White bands of variable thickness

Red-banded Agate

Red bands of variable thickness

Polishable

Polishable to glass finish

Cutting Quality

Challenges:

Requires prolonged shaping and polishing time due to its hardness and wears down the diamond tools fast.

Advantages:

Peruvian Agate does not tend to break or chip. Experienced cutters therefore can obtain very sharp unchipped edges between the backside and bezel as well as between the bezel and dome.

Top-cutting-quality is characterized by:

• a polished backside
• a sharp unchipped edge between the backside and the bezel
• a very straight and even highly polished bezel
• a sharp unchipped edge between the bezel and the dome
• a well-shaped dome
• Top-quality polish

Pricing

Adequate pricing must take into account the cost factors to obtain top-quality cabochons:

• Acquisition of new Agate is currently not possible. The material in our possession is historic material.
• A usual material loss of approximately 90 % of the material during the cutting and shaping process.
• The increased labor effort to cut, shape, and polish such a hard material, including increased wear down of expensive diamond tools.