Moldavite Faceting Information

Color: Bottle-green to olive green
Moh's Hardness: 5.5
Refractive Index: 1.48-1.50
Critical Angle: 42.51°
Specific Gravity: 2.32-2.38
Cleavage: None
Fracture: Conchoidal
Heat Sensitivity: Low
Birefringence (double refraction): None
Crystal Structure: Amorphous

Treatments: Generally none

What I prefer to polishing with: Cerium oxide on a Tin lap

Jeff's Comments: Moldavite is basically glass and cuts easily, it commonly has small bubbles in it like glass. Moldavite is supposedly a tektite, created when a large meteor crashed into the earth with such force that it propelled material outside of the atmosphere. This material fell back to the earth in what is now the the Czech Republic.

Be aware that there is a fair amount of green glass being sold as Moldavite, especially out of Africa.

Design Notes: About any Quartz design will work well. I prefer checker boards because they help hide the bubbles. Use a shallow design, most rough tend to cut dark.

Design Links: Cornered - This is great for clear rough if you have a piece that will work…