Drusy (Drusy stones)

Jewelry Discussion
1

Greetings All:

Would someone please enlighten this ignoramus (me) what drusy is
and what drusy stones are? How can they be dyed? I always thought
drusy was tiny crystal coatings on a host matrix.

Always ready to learn something new.

Regards,

Joe Bokor
@Joe_Bokor

2

“Drusy” is really an adjective - it’s coatings of tiny, perfect,
sparkling crystals inside druses, or voids, in a rock. Since
the rock itself, as well as the crystals, are usually silica,
and water-deposited silica can be quite porous, the dyeing is
really infiltration of the porous material with a colored
solution. Just like dyed agates. In truth, the crystals are
probably real quartz (crystalline silica) and therefore not
colored, but the underlying material is probably agate or
chalcedony (crypto- or micro-crystalline silica), which CAN be
dyed.

Tas

3

Hi Joe,

   Would someone please enlighten this ignoramus (me) what
drusy is and what drusy stones are? . . . . I always thought
drusy was tiny crystal coatings on a host matrix.

You’re right about this. What we are referring to as a drusy
“stone” is a section of drusy on its matrix – the base and sides
of the matrix have been shaped and polished somewhat as a
cabochon except that the surface druse is left intact.

How can they be dyed?

I believe that some druses on agate or chalcedony may have been
dyed in the usual manner, taking care not to damage the crystal
surface. Most of the man-made “colors” I have seen were druses
coated with a titanium (?) film which imparts an aurora or
iridescent look to the surface. There may be several metals used
to fume the surface – gold is another, I believe. Additionally,
some dealers have offered jet black pieces with the crystal
surface electroplated with high carat gold (22K ?)

There are some beautiful natural colors such as druzy
chrysocolla (matrix showing color of chrysocolla through its
druzy quartz coating)

Pam Chott
@Pam_Chott
www.silverhawk.com/ex99/chott