# Moldavite - Page: https://taslar.bumba.tr/en/stones/moldavite/ - Turkish: Moldavit - Also known as: Vltavín (Czech) - Kind: Variety - Classification: Meteorites and impact stones › Impact glasses - Crystal system: Amorphous (no crystal structure) - Hardness (Mohs): 5.5–7 - Specific gravity: 2.27–2.46 g/cm³ - Refractive index: 1.48–1.51 - Lustre: Vitreous (glassy) - Transparency: Transparent, Translucent - Colours: bottle green, olive green, bluish green, brownish green (Moravia) - Streak: White - Cleavage: None - Fracture: Conchoidal (shell-like) - Composition: Natural glass rich in silica (usually more than 70% SiO₂), with much less water than volcanic glasses. May contain threads of lechatelierite (almost pure silica glass) and abundant gas bubbles. - Texture: Glassy, with no crystals. Surfaces are often pitted, grooved or sculpted, and shapes may be aerodynamic: teardrops, buttons, discs and dumbbells. - Value ladder: 6/9 step, Fine ornamental and collector stone Green natural glass formed about 14.7 million years ago when a huge impact in southern Germany melted rocks and flung them as far as Czechia. Moldavite is the best-known of the impact glasses called tektites. About 14.7 million years ago, the impact that created the Ries crater in what is now southern Germany melted the surface rocks; droplets of melt thrown into the air cooled into glass as they flew and fell hundreds of kilometres to the east. Today most of these green glass pieces come from South Bohemia and Moravia in Czechia. The name comes from the Vltava River (German: Moldau), which flows through Bohemia. ## How does it form? About 14.7 million years ago, a body from space struck what is now southern Germany, in the area between Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Munich, and created the Ries crater, about 24 km across. The enormous energy released by the impact instantly melted the surface rocks. Droplets of melt were thrown into the air and cooled into glass as they flew 200–450 km to the east. These pieces of glass fell into the basins of what are now South Bohemia and Moravia and, over time, were buried among sands and gravels carried by rivers. Over millions of years, carbon dioxide in groundwater and humic acids in the soil etched their surfaces, giving moldavite its typical pitted, wrinkled and jagged look. This is why moldavites are found mostly in old sand and gravel pits. ## What is it used for? - **Jewellery:** Moldavite has been set in jewellery occasionally since the Baroque period and widely since the second half of the 19th century. It is used both in its natural shape as pendants and faceted for jewellery. - **Collecting:** Pieces with an intact natural surface and unusual shapes are sought by collectors. Český Krumlov has a museum devoted entirely to moldavite. - **Stone Age tools:** In the Upper Palaeolithic, people living in what is now Czechia and Austria knapped moldavite into tools. - **Science:** Moldavites are used to study how melt forms in large impacts and how far it is thrown. Spectroscopic studies in 2019 confirmed that they contain “iron-loving” (siderophile) elements such as chromium, iron, cobalt and nickel. ## How is it mined? In Czechia, collecting moldavite requires the landowner’s permission; unauthorised digging is illegal and becomes a criminal offence if repeated. According to researchers at Charles University, the sand pit between Chlum and Ločenice is the only operation in the country with official permission to mine and sell moldavite. There, all moldavite-bearing layers are dug out and sieved and the site is then restored, a method used to prevent the damage that illegal digging does to the landscape. ## How to recognise it - It is a translucent glass ranging from bottle green to olive green; pieces from Moravia are more brownish than those from Bohemia. - Natural pieces have a pitted, wrinkled and jagged surface; this “sculpted” surface forms as carbon dioxide in groundwater and soil acids slowly etch the glass. - Under a loupe it shows plenty of gas bubbles and worm-like threads of lechatelierite (almost pure silica glass); these are the best clues to natural moldavite. - A gem laboratory is needed for a firm identification: natural moldavite has a refractive index of about 1.49 and a density of about 2.35, while the glass imitations tested gave higher values. ## Fakes and imitations - Glass imitations: those examined by GIA had a higher refractive index (1.52) and density (2.45–2.53) than natural moldavite, glowed a chalky blue in short-wave ultraviolet light and contained very few gas bubbles. - Acid-etched glass: the jagged surface of natural moldavite can be imitated very closely by etching glass, most likely with hydrofluoric acid; straight, evenly spaced surface lines should raise suspicion. ## What determines its value? Value depends mostly on colour (a lively, bright green and good transparency), an intact natural sculpted surface, size and shape; unusual pieces such as spiky, hedgehog-like forms are sought by collectors. For faceted stones, clarity and cut quality matter. According to GIA, demand and prices have risen in recent years and glass imitations have multiplied as a result, so reliable proof that a stone is natural is the most important condition of its value. This information is educational, not buying, selling or investment advice. Value varies enormously with quality and treatment. ## Myths and misconceptions - Myth: Moldavite is a piece of a meteorite from space. Fact: Moldavite did not come from space: it is an impact glass formed from Earth rocks melted by the body that struck the Ries, so it is a tektite, not a meteorite. - Myth: Moldavite is named after Moldova. Fact: The name comes from Moldau, the German name of the Vltava River in Bohemia; the stone’s Czech name, “vltavín”, also refers to that river. It has nothing to do with Moldova. - Myth: All the green stones sold online as moldavite are natural. Fact: GIA reports that glass imitations have become more widespread as prices have risen. Some weigh only a few grams and are acid-etched to copy the natural surface; telling them apart often takes laboratory testing. ## What is it believed to be good for? This section reports beliefs; it is not health information. There is no scientific evidence for these claims and no stone replaces medical treatment. - According to a South Bohemian folk tradition cited by the Czech Wikipedia, a young groom once had to give his bride-to-be a moldavite as proof of his deep feelings. - Today crystal sellers and online crystal communities call moldavite the “stone of transformation”; they claim it is “extremely high-vibrational” and changes its owner’s life by turning it upside down. What science says: Moldavite is a silica glass formed from Earth rocks melted in an impact; there is no scientific evidence that it gives off “vibrations” or changes its owner’s life. The stories told on social media are personal experiences. This interest has pushed up prices and filled the market with glass imitations. ## Curious questions **Where is moldavite found?** Most moldavite is found in South Bohemia in Czechia, especially in old sand and gravel deposits of the České Budějovice and Třeboň basins. It also occurs in Moravia, the Cheb Basin, Lusatia around Dresden in Germany and the Waldviertel region of Austria. ## Did you know? - Moldavite was introduced to science in 1786 by Josef Mayer of Prague University as “chrysolites” from Týn nad Vltavou; the name “moldavite” was first used by Zippe in 1836. - One of the largest known moldavites is a 265.5-gram piece found at Slavice in Moravia in 1971; the largest from Bohemia is a 211-gram piece from Jakule near Nové Hrady. - Stone Age people living in what is now Czechia and Austria knapped moldavite into tools; some of the worked pieces date from the Aurignacian, about 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. ## Where is it found? - Chlum–Ločenice sand pit, České Budějovice, South Bohemia, Czechia (Major deposit): The only operation in Czechia with official permission to mine and sell moldavite - Besednice, Český Krumlov, South Bohemia, Czechia (Known locality): Protected natural monument “Besednické vltavíny”; nearby, the Moldavite Museum of Český Krumlov runs digs open to the public - Týn nad Vltavou, South Bohemia, Czechia (Historic source): Source of the first moldavites introduced to science, as “chrysolites”, in 1786 - Jakule, near Nové Hrady, South Bohemia, Czechia (Known locality): The largest moldavite found in Bohemia (211 g) - Between Slavice and Třebíč, Moravia, Czechia (Known locality): The oldest primary moldavite-bearing sediments; Moravia's largest moldavite (265.5 g) was found at Slavice - Cheb Basin, West Bohemia, Czechia (Known locality) - Lusatia (Dresden area), Saxony, Germany (Known locality) - Waldviertel, Lower Austria, Austria (Known locality): The Austrian moldavite area; prehistoric people also made tools from moldavite here ## Sources - [Moldavite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldavite), Wikipedia - [Vltavín](https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vltav%C3%ADn), Wikipedia (cs) - [Besednice](https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besednice), Wikipedia (cs) - [Moldavites of South Bohemia (Jaroměřský, Fizková, Šulc, Dvořák & Tuhý)](https://sga.cuni.cz/?p=1335), Charles University, Faculty of Science (SGA Student Chapter Prague) - [Moldavites: Natural or Fake? (J. Hyršl), Gems & Gemology 51(1), Gem News International](https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/spring-2015-gemnews-moldavites-natural-fake), GIA, 2015 - [Imitation Moldavite, Gems & Gemology 57(2), Lab Notes](https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/summer-2021-labnotes-imitation-moldavite), GIA, 2021 - [Moldavite TikTok crystal update (J. Giandurco)](https://www.bustle.com/life/tiktok-moldavite-crystal-update), Bustle, 2023 - [Ločenice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lo%C4%8Denice), Wikipedia - [Týn nad Vltavou](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%BDn_nad_Vltavou), Wikipedia Source: https://taslar.bumba.tr/en/stones/moldavite/ · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0