Paintings by Angels

The Remarkable Semi-Precious Stones of Indonesia

Most people who live in Indonesia know that Indonesia is one of the largest producers of South Sea Pearls in the world. Some people also know, or have heard, that Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) is also an important diamond producer.  Few persons know that Indonesia also produces some of the world's most beautiful semi-precious stones. Many of these are found only in Indonesia.

Chyrysacolla - This is a blue-green semi-precious stone that sometimes resembles turquoise. Before China discovered and marketed its tons of turquoise, this popular gem was very expensive and Chyrysacolla was often used as a substitute for turquoise. Top quality Chyrysacolla is much harder than turquoise and has risen in value because it does not discolor or break easily. Good, even colored translucent stones can cost up to $60 per carat on the international market.

Pancawarna Gems of Java - Pancawarna is a Sanskrit word meaning multicolored and is a term that has been used for perhaps centuries to refer to the multicolored agates and jaspers of Indonesia, and more particularly the semi precious stones of Java. Panca means five and it is the stones with five colors that command the highest prices. If you count black and white as colors these rare and valuable stones could contain five, six or even seven colors.

Pancawarna gems often have a lot of black with white so the contrast in colors is very strong. This contrast is one of its special features. The material is very hard, being 6.5 to 7.0 on the Mohs scale. This is almost as hard as jade and thus the gems take a good polish. There are often wonderful color patterns resembling abstract paintings, and very rarely what seems to be an image or picture. This picture or image can be a flower, leaves, landscapes or even animals or human forms. These stones are highly prized, are very expensive and highly sought after in the local market.