How to Buy Malachite Jewelry

With its vibrant green color and smooth feel, malachite jewelry is gorgeous. Whether you get a pair of malachite earrings, a cocktail ring or a cuff bracelet with malachite, this gemstone will enhance your outfit and offer you a unique look. But, as you know, when it comes to buying precious & semi precious stones jewelry, there are some facts you need to consider. Read further to find out what to look for when buying malachite jewelry.

What is malachite?

This beautiful gem is a copper carbonate mineral. Because of the copper, malachite’s natural color is green, ranging from light to dark green. What is very interesting to know is that this semi-precious stone forms in limestone and usually in combination with azurite. There’s something romantic about how these two gemstones form together but, unfortunately, azurite is a rather unstable element. When exposed to air, azurite weathers, leaving only malachite as the final gem.

Besides its beautiful color, another distinctive sign of malachite jewelry is its texture. Usually, malachite features concentric circles on its surface, and these circles can be white, green or even black. These patterns make malachite a unique gemstone with a very smooth look.

Buying malachite jewelry

When you buy malachite jewelry, there are several factors you need to consider – the color, clarity, cut & treatments it received. We are going to talk about all these factors separately so that you have all the information you need to buy the best malachite jewelry.

Malachite jewelry color

While you can find malachite only in green, there are a lot of shades to choose from. If you want a subtle piece, you can go for a light green with whitish circles. For a dramatic look, choose a dark green gemstone with black circles. An interesting fact to note is that while malachite jewelry usually features a banded pattern, sometimes, in rare cases, the pattern resembles eyes. Such a stone looks very mysterious and elegant.

Another particular situation is when azurite has managed to blend with malachite as opposed to weathering. In this case, your malachite jewelry (or, more correctly, azurmalachite) will exhibit patterns of blue and green.

Malachite jewelry clarity

While we cannot speak about clarity for an opaque stone, like malachite, we can talk about its luster. Don’t expect your malachite jewelry to be transparent. Instead, this gemstone will offer a silky beautiful luster. Because of this, malachite looks especially gorgeous in a bezel setting.

Malachite jewelry cut

Usually, jewelry makers take into consideration this gemstone’s pattern before cutting it. This means that your malachite jewelry will feature a cut designed to emphasize its natural pattern. Look for malachite in a cabochon or disc cut.

Does malachite receive any kind of treatment?

Usually, this gemstone doesn’t need treatment to enhance its color, as it is already vivid. However, some malachite jewelry can receive a wax treatment to increase its durability. You should know that malachite is a soft stone, so be careful when you wear your malachite jewelry.

You can also find malachite imitations on the market but, if this is the case, the seller should display this information. However, this beautiful gemstone is not as rare as diamonds, for example, so you will not have a hard time finding genuine malachite jewelry.

What kind of malachite jewelry should I get?

If you want to buy malachite jewelry, you have to pay attention to the design. As we mentioned before, this gemstone is very soft and fragile. On the Mohs scale, it has a hardness between 3.5 and 4, which is extremely low. However, with the right setting and cut, it can last a lifetime.

Malachite rings

Your ring is the most exposed piece of jewelry. This means that, if you want to buy a malachite ring, you have to check the setting. Prongs, for example, are not great for this gemstone, as they don’t offer enough protection. Instead, look for a malachite ring with a bezel, flush or halo setting.

Malachite bracelets

While charm bracelets would look gorgeous with malachite charms, they aren’t the best option for this gemstone. If you want to buy malachite jewelry that lasts a lifetime, go for a cuff bracelet with gems in a bezel or flush setting. You can also get a bracelet with inlay malachite gemstones.

Malachite necklaces

With necklaces, you have more options as you can either get a malachite bead pendant or a beaded malachite necklace. Most necklaces don’t feature gemstones in risky settings, so you have more shopping freedom.

Malachite earrings

With earrings, we recommend getting malachite studs or drop earrings with malachite beads. Make sure there are no other gemstones in the earring, otherwise malachite can get scratched.

Malachite jewelry is fabulous and, if you take care of it properly, it will last a lifetime. If you enjoyed reading this article, check out our other buying guides as well. To view Ana Luisa’s unique malachite drop earrings, visit our online jewelry shop.

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Ruxandra

Ruxandra is a fashion blogger who teaches fashion stumped twenty to thirty somethings how to shop their jewelry boxes for polished new ensembles. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Fashionista, Nylon, and Refinery29.