Amazonite Palm Stone

A polished amazonite palm stone — oval, smooth, and the distinctive teal-to-turquoise-green that makes amazonite immediately recognisable. Amazonite is potassium feldspar coloured by lead and water impurities; the same mineral without those impurities is simply orthoclase, a plain pink or white feldspar. The colour is entirely the result of trace contamination at the parts-per-million level.

The white patterning through amazonite pieces is undisplaced feldspar matrix — the same mineral at a different stage of growth or with different trace chemistry. This white-on-teal pattern is one of the most distinctive visual signatures in the mineral world. No imitation looks quite like it.

Amazonite is not from the Amazon River — it was named by a geographic confusion in the 18th century. The primary modern sources are Russia, Brazil, and the United States (Colorado and Virginia). The stone was known to ancient Egyptians, found in Tutankhamun's tomb.