Color

Pyrite is called “Fool’s Gold” because it resembles gold to the untrained eye. Pyrite is a brassy yellow or pale gold opaque stone with a metallic luster and tones of yellow, brown, and grey. 

Pyrite Crystal Quality

Pyrite crystal quality is determined by two criteria:  size of the crystals and level of damage on crystal clusters. It is important to note the following definitions before reading this standard:

Pyrite crystal: a single crystal in  3 main shapes: cube, octahedron, or pyritohedron

Crystal cluster: a piece of pyrite that has many crystals on it.

Having that in mind, the quality of a pyrite piece does NOT depend on the size of the stone or crystal cluster. It depends on the average size of the crystals that are grouped together (clustered) on the crystal cluster (or stone).

Quinoa Quality

Quinoa Quality is the lowest quality of Pyrite and should not be used for jewelry. In this quality level, the pyrite crystals on the cluster are around 1 mm in size (the size of a quinoa grain). 

Chispa Quality

Chispa Quality displays crystals that are on average 1-3 mm in size. Chispa (=Spark) can be used for polished cabochons with drusis filled with crystals or as crystal cluster cab (see below). It is important to only use pieces that do not show damaged crystals.

Top Chispa Quality

Top Chispa Quality displays crystals that are on average 4-6 mm in size. Top Chispa makes for beautiful crystal surface cabochons. It is important to only use pieces that do not show damaged crystals.

Cocada Quality

Cocada Quality displays crystals that are on average 6 to 10 mm in size. Cocada can be used for oustanding and unique jewelry pieces. It will be nearly impossible to find two pieces that would look alike.  It is important to only use pieces that do not show damaged crystals.

Coco Quality

Coco Quality displays crystals that are on average bigger than 10 mm in size. In most cases, pieces made from this Pyrite quality would be too heavy and too big for jewelry. But in certain cases, it might be used for exemptional pieces. It is important to only use pieces that do not show damaged crystals.

Types of pyrite jewelry

In the following, we will show the different types of jewelry on the market:

Pyrite grains

Coarse grains of pyrite are often used glued on metal (like on the Gemrock Silver Moon Pendant) or in mini-bottle pendants (like the Gemrock Mini Bottles with sterling silver charms)

Chispa Pyrite Cabochons

This type of cabochon is made from Chispa-quality rocks. A polished cab that has drusis filled with Chispa crystals (crystals of 1-3 mm in size)

Look for mirror-like polish, like on this Gemrock  Cabochon, and nice undamaged crystals in the holes.

Crystal Cluster Cabochons

Cabochons that display a more or less straight surface of a crystal cluster. To be jewelry-grade the crystal size should be either Chispa (upper left cab) or Top Chispa Quality (lower right cab). Quinoa Quality is not adequate for jewelry. It is important that the entire crystal cluster surface does NOT show any damage. Damaged crystals should be discarded from use for jewelry. Also, in quality cabochons like these Gemrock Cabs, the sides (Bezel) must be polished to mirror-finish.

Cutting service

We offer you personalized top-quality cabochon cutting service for your rough rock. Talk to us:

Marcasite Cabochons

Marcasite jewelry is made using cut and polished pieces of pyrite as gemstone, and not, as the name suggests, from marcasite. Pyrite is more stable and less brittle than marcasite. Marcasite can also react with moisture to form sulfuric acid. 

The so-called “Marcasite jewelry” is frequently made by setting small pieces of faceted pyrite into silver. Cheaper costume jewelry is made by gluing pieces of pyrite rather than setting them.

Thailand is one of the largest producers of modern marcasite jewellery in silver. Marcasite jewellery has been made since the time of the ancient Greeks. It was particularly popular in the eighteenth century, the Victorian era and with Art Nouveau jewellery designers.

Cabochons made from solid Pyrite

These cabochons are not facetted but cut in the classical “cabochon” style from solid pyrite (the inner mass of a big crystal). If you are looking for quality, watch out for a mirror polish like on these Gemrock Cabs. While tiny pores unavoidably appear from time to time in such cabs, the best quality is the one with no such pores.

A new style of unique jewelry: Crystal Surface Cabs

At Gemrock we are promoting a new style of Pyrite cabs. In order to obtain the inner mass of pyrite crystals for marcasite jewelry, gem cutters discard the natural surface of these big damaged crystals. However, nature has created unique 3D landscapes on those crystal surfaces. At Gemrock we are harvesting this natural beauty by slicing off these surfaces and using them to make unique jewelry pieces displaying the natural shine of pyrite crystals.

Nature provides us with 4 different surface styles, each with its own natural charm:

Striated Mirror style

Big pyrite crystals often show a natural mirrorlike polish on their surface, often interrupted only by striation lines. The most common cause of striations is the convergence of two crystal faces. One of the faces gets truncated or “overtaken” by the other, but manages to leave its mark in the form of an edge or stria.

Re-crystalization Surface

When Pyrite crystals do break off naturally, nature starts re-crystallizing the broken surface leading to an irregular mirrorlike surface. 

Fractured Surface (3D)

Some crystals display a strongly fractured surface, creating a unique cubic 3D surface.

Landscape style (3D)

The fourth type of crystal surface resembles 3D landscapes with valleys and mountains.

Material Fusions

Material Fusions are a very uncommon, but nevertheless very attractive style, of Pyrite jewelry. The combination with another stone is not only esthetic, it often provides strength and stability to the brittle pyrite (like in the center picture below).

Watch out for fake Pyrite jewelry!

Pyrite bracelets are widely sold, and especially in the spiritual realm promoted as good for obtaining wealth. Most of these cheap bracelets are produced in India. Real Indian pyrite is a solid and dark grey pyrite (left image below), which does not compare to the beauty of polished Peruvian Pyrite.

If you buy a bracelet with grey-looking non-shiny pyrite you can assume with reason that it is real. If you see, however, really golden-looking very shiny “pyrite” bracelets (right image below), then don’t believe a word, because this is fake pyrite.

Fake Indian Pyrite

Watch out for damaged Crystals!

Pyrite is mined with dynamite. It is then collected in sacks and transported to the cutting shops in Lima, Peru, or even further to India. During this process, it is not an exaggeration to assume that 99.9 percent of the pyrite clusters are getting damaged at least in parts. For jewelry, this is not a huge problem as cabochons are very small and when obtaining a big load of pyrite rough rock it is fairly easy to select pieces that have intact crystal surfaces big enough to provide very beautiful jewelry. Those intact parts can then be extracted from the stone and used for jewelry.

Jewelry has to be beautiful, otherwise, it is not jewelry. Damaged crystals are just not acceptable for jewelry. Would you buy a cracked and damaged diamond, ruby, or smaragd? Why should it be different for pyrite?

Sadly we are observing that at present nobody cares. Nearly all of the pyrite jewelry offered in global online stores and websites was made with damaged crystals that should have never made it to jewelry. The only way to improve the quality of Pyrite jewelry is through education. See the following pictures and learn how to avoid ugly low-quality pyrite, not being worth your money.

Watch out for low polishing quality!

Pyrite contains up to 50% iron. Therefore, it behaves differently when polished, than other stones in lapidary production. Experienced gem cutters like the ones of Gemrock are able to adapt to this metallic material and reach a mirror polish. If your pyrite cabochon does not show such mirror-surface it is not a quality polish.

Cutting Quality

Challenges:

Pyrite is a fairly soft material, easy to cut. However, “solid” Pyrite (like used for marcasite jewelry) comes with internal cracks and tiny pores. On one hand, this can lead to breakage, but more often the tiny pores reduce the beauty of the cabochon. The appearance of pores can not be foreseen and it will only appear during the cutting process. Such cabs are still looking very beautiful and can be used for cheaper jewelry.

When working with Chispa pyrite and crystal cluster surface the thickness of the material is irregular and, below the surface, the material can have small crystal drusis. this weakens the material and leads to increased breakage and material loss during the cutting and polishing process.

Polishing pyrite requires a different process than for regular stones, given the metallic nature of pyrite. Not many gem cutters have experience with polishing pyrite the right way.

Advantages:

Pyrite does not tend to chip. Experienced cutters therefore can obtain very sharp unchipped edges between the backside and bezel as well as between the bezel and dome.

Top-cutting-quality is characterized by:

• a polished backside
• a sharp unchipped edge between the backside and the bezel
• a very straight and even highly polished bezel
• a sharp unchipped edge between the bezel and the dome
• a well-shaped dome, not showing any deformation
• Top-quality metallic mirror polish

Pricing

Adequate pricing must take into account the cost factors to obtain top-quality cabochons:

• Acquisition of top-grade Pyrites
• Selection of material without crystal damage and discarding more than 90 percent of the rough pyrite as unsuitable for jewelry.
• A usual material loss of approximately 90 % of the selected material during the cutting and shaping process.
• The level of experience required by a cutter to produce a flawlessly shaped and highly polished cabochon.

Useful Information:

If you want to learn how to appreciate the value of Pyrite Crystal Specimen have a look at our video “Absolutely all about Pyrite“.

Wholesale:

Pyrite specimens, cabochons, carved products, and jewelry:

Register your crystal shop or jewelry shop for a wholesale account with Gemrock in any registration box on any of the pages on this website.

• Check our Pyrite Jewelry
• Check our Pyrite specimen collectors’ flats

Retail:

• Pyrite Jewelry: www.gemrockcanada.com
• Pyrite Crystal specimens and Fine Minerals: www.gemrockcanada.com

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