What Does Carnelian Look Like?

Carnelian is one of those minerals that is included in the quartz family.  Though it does not look much like quartz at all, it holds the similar chemical ingredients of SiO₂ as most quartz family minerals do.

Carnelian is one of those minerals that is not commonly known by most people.  In fact, it does get confused as the two very popular minerals agate and jasper.  Both of which are also in the quartz family group.

Key Visual Looking Characteristics of Carnelian

To identify carnelian, it helps to know a few things about the mineral first.  Picking up and handling this mineral without knowing some things about it can lead many to identify it incorrectly.  You can visually identify carnelian by the following looks it will have:

• Its luster in appearance: It can look waxy or resinous, and somewhat translucent when polished.
• Its visual formation: The mineral does not form as a visibly structured crystal, but does have a trigonal crystal structure.
• The colors: Its colors range from light to dark browns, light to dark reds, and light to dark oranges.  
• Blended colors: The colors are mixed in a way that is not banded, but more like a cloudy look.  The colors will blend and mix throughout, and have sharp changes in light or dark colors.
• Small cracks: Visible lines, like cracks, can be seen in the mineral of some specimens. Often these cracks are darker or lighter colors than the surrounding material 
• The Streak: When running a streak, or scratch test, it has a streak of white.
• Its Mohs scale hardness: It is quite a hard mineral with a range of 6.5 to a 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness.  This makes it great for being carved and cut, which is done quite often.

One unique identifying thing about carnelian is if you see an old signet ring with a red or orange stone in it, it is likely carnelian.  In the past, people would seal their letters with wax.  They would then press these signet rings into the wax to leave their mark.  Maybe you have seen this happening in a movie? 

Some Different Looking Carnelian Varieties

Carnelian does not really have too many varieties.  When distinguishing between carnelian specimens, most really refer to the color of the specimen.  Some carnelian varieties with a different look will include:

• Orange carnelian:  Some orange carnelian specimens will only have an orange color.  These will get polished up and put into jewelry.  
• Red carnelian:  There is some carnelian that will only express the color red.  These are also a favorite to put into jewelry as they can polish up quite nicely and look like a gem.
• Carnelian flame:  This is not so much a type of carnelian but a way it gets carved.  Many carnelian flames have an array of colors in them and are carved out into forms that look like a flame.
• Carnelian palm stones:  Again, not so much a type of carnelian but a way it is cut out.  These stones fit in the palm of your hand and are great for handling and fidgeting with. 
• Quality carnelian:  This variety of carnelian, is simply one that expresses many different colors mixing and swirling together.  This form of carnelian is one of the most desirable to obtain as a specimen and can even have whitish and grayish material within (which might be more solid pieces of quartz).

Carnelian is often carved out into many different objects.  Though these are not really a variety of carnelian, it does bring a level of excitement to acquire different forms of the mineral.  I have seen some of the most interesting things carved out, and carved into, specimens of carnelian.

  

Difference in Look Between Carnelian and Agate

These two minerals are quite difficult at times to tell apart.  In fact some people will have specimens that they just simply call carnelian agate.  Both these minerals are part of the quartz family and consist of chalcedony which makes identification difficult.  Some identifying visual differences between carnelian and agate are:

• Carnelian does not have banding:  By definition if you have carnelian which is a form of chalcedony, that ends up with banding, then they call it agate. Banded forms of red chalcedony are defined as agate.
• Carnelian reds, oranges, and browns look different:  It can be difficult to describe but the colors of carnelian do stand out as a bit more brilliant than the same colors you might see in agate.
• Carnelian naturally looks a little more glass like: Carnelian has more of a glassy appearance along with its more brilliant colors.
• Carnelian has distinguishable cracks. There can be some cracks and such in agate, but the darker contrasting inclusions of cracks in carnelian can be very obvious.
• Carnelian specimens are not seen in host rock: Carnelian specimens are often seen as a piece of chalcedony. Agate many times will be in host rock such as geodes and in cracks and crevices of other rock.

I want to make an extra note here in regards to identifying agate. Not all agate is banded. Many times agate can be one solid looking color or even translucent and clear. I have some agate of this nature and this special agate will fluoresce green under a longwave UV light.

The key to visually identifying carnelian and agate will be that glassy very brilliant colors of red, brown, and oranges. This can still be a bit tricky in identification if you find carnelian looking rock that has banding. Just remember though, if it does have banding then it will be considered agate.

There are many online that call the mineral “banded carnelian” or “banded carnelian agate” when there is banding. I don’t have too much of a problem with that but I thought I would make a special note of that here.

Difference in Look Between Carnelian and Jasper

Carnelian and jasper are difficult to tell apart.  Carnelian and jasper are both in the quartz family but their contents are a little different from each other.   Some identifying visual differences between carnelian and jasper are:

• Carnelian does not have banding: By definition carnelian which is a form of chalcedony does not have banding, however some jasper does have some banding.
• Carnelian is a more pure chalcedony:  With this more pure silica content, it can be a bit more transparent to the eye.  Jasper is often polluted with other various impurities and does not look as smooth and consistent in texture and color as carnelian.
• Carnelian has a flowing and consistent color:  Jasper is more of a speckled and spotted color of mineral.  Those varying speckles or inconsistencies really set it apart from carnelian.
• Carnelian colors are reds, oranges, and browns:  Jasper can contain colors such greens, yellows, purples, and on rare occasions blues.   The reds, browns, and oranges do not look as brilliant in jasper as they do in carnelian.

When it comes to carnelian and jasper, you can really start to easily identify them from each other by the stark contrast in colors and visual texture.  At times the physical texture, touching and handling it, can be quite noticeable as well. 

Conclusion

Carnelian in many cases can be identified easily by its brilliant colors in reds, oranges, and browns.  The concentration of silica in this type of chalcedony is very fine and makes for smoother specimens than some other minerals in the quartz.

When carved out into objects, carnelian is quite a favorite for many rock and mineral enthusiasts.  I personally own a carnelian flame and would love to purchase other carved out forms of carnelian.

If you are interested in the mineral carnelian, I have written an article that has some great additional information about it that you might find interesting: “What is Carnelian?”