Malachite Bracelet

Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide - Cu₂CO₃(OH)₂ - and its green is the green of copper itself. It forms in bands where copper-rich water seeps through cavities in the weathered upper zones of copper ore, layer settling on layer, which is why the stone reads in concentric rings and eyes.

The banding is the whole character: light and dark greens alternating in curved bands, each piece a cross-section of how it grew. No two beads carry the same pattern.

It is soft - Mohs 3.5–4, well below the quartzes - and this is the one fact that governs how it is worn. The care below is not optional politeness; it is what the stone needs.

Asked often

Is the green dyed?
No. The green is copper, the stone’s own metal. The banding - light to dark in concentric rings - is the record of how it formed, and cannot be faked convincingly.

Why is it more delicate than my other bracelets?
Malachite is soft, Mohs 3.5–4, far below quartz. It scratches and dulls more easily, so it is worn with a little more care - off the wrist for tasks, away from water and scent.

Is it safe to wear?
Polished, sealed malachite is stable on the skin. The caution is about dust from cutting or grinding, not about wearing a finished bead. Do not soak it, as prolonged water can dull the surface.

How do I care for it?
Dry cloth only. Keep it from water, scent, acids, and abrasion. Store it apart from harder beads so they do not scratch it.

1. Worn on either wrist, over the hand, on a durable elastic cord.
2. Wipe with a soft, dry cloth only.
3. Take it off for washing, swimming, and tasks - it is soft, and water dulls it.
4. Store it away from harder stones, which will scratch the surface.

Malachite asks the most careful handling of any stone in this range. That is the price of a green this vivid in a stone this soft - and it is a fair one.

Dry cloth only. Keep from water, scent, acids, and abrasion. Store apart from harder beads.

• Stone: Malachite · copper carbonate
• Composition: Cu₂CO₃(OH)₂
• Crystal system: Monoclinic
• Hardness: Mohs 3.5–4 (soft)
• Character: Banded · concentric light-to-dark greens
• Treatment: None · sealed polish
• Band: Durable elastic cord
• Origin: D.R. Congo
• Care: Dry cloth only · keep from water, scent, and abrasion

Malachite was ground to a green pigment in Egypt thousands of years ago and used by painters in Europe into the eighteenth century; it was carved into beads and amulets across the ancient Mediterranean. The Romans called it after the mallow leaf, for the matching green.

In nineteenth-century Russia, the great Ural deposits made it a material of state: tabletops, columns, and the famous Malachite Room of the Winter Palace were faced in it, the bands matched across joints by hand. From the painter’s green to the colour of a palace - now banded around the wrist.