{"id":39004,"date":"2024-05-22T13:50:27","date_gmt":"2024-05-22T05:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/?p=39004"},"modified":"2025-05-15T09:25:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T01:25:26","slug":"a-gemstone-that-glows-at-night-fluorite-fluorite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/en\/a-gemstone-that-glows-at-night-fluorite-fluorite\/","title":{"rendered":"A gemstone that glows at night \u2014 Fluorite"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>The origins of the various names of fluorite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Chinese scientific name &#8220;\u87a2\u77f3(y\u00edng-sh\u00ed)&#8221;: This name is derived from the fact that fluorite often emits blue-green fluorescence or phosphorescence when exposed to ultraviolet light.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The English name &#8220;Fluorite&#8221; originates from the Latin word meaning &#8220;to flow,&#8221; because fluorite has a low melting point and easily melts when heated, exhibiting fluidity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fluorite, also known as &#8220;fluorspar&#8221;, is named for its composition of calcium[CaF] fluoride.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Fluorite belongs to the isometric crystal system, and its crystal formation is often influenced by the temperature, pressure, and fluid chemistry of its growth environment. Common crystal shapes include the cube, octahedron, and dodecahedron. Typically, fluorite forms cubic crystals at lower temperatures and octahedral crystals at higher temperatures.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Fluorite_-_dioctahedral_cleavage_pieces-1024x353.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Fluorite_-_dioctahedral_cleavage_pieces-1024x353.jpg\" alt=\"fluorite\" class=\"wp-image-38897\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The vibrant colors of fluorite<sup data-fn=\"42e818e9-9f87-4065-80c6-8dfedbd6a0a4\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#42e818e9-9f87-4065-80c6-8dfedbd6a0a4\" id=\"42e818e9-9f87-4065-80c6-8dfedbd6a0a4-link\"> 1<\/a><\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Fluorite comes in a wide variety of colors, including transparent, blue, green, purple, yellow, and red. There is also a type known as &#8220;Blue John&#8221; fluorite, which features different colored bands on the same crystal, similar to agate. This variety of colors is mainly due to the presence of different minerals absorbed by the hydrothermal fluids containing calcium fluoride as they flow into rock fissures at high temperatures.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Discoloration of fluorite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Fluorite-Quartz-226207.webp\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"486\" src=\"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Fluorite-Quartz-226207.webp\" alt=\"Fluorescence effect, phosphorescence effect\" class=\"wp-image-38893\" style=\"width:370px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Fluorite-Quartz-226207.webp 600w, https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Fluorite-Quartz-226207-300x243.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fluorescence effect <sup data-fn=\"97d4d026-4d3a-4ad1-88d4-7b719bf873a2\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#97d4d026-4d3a-4ad1-88d4-7b719bf873a2\" id=\"97d4d026-4d3a-4ad1-88d4-7b719bf873a2-link\">2<\/a><\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Fluorescence and Phosphorescence: Fluorite exhibits fluorescence or phosphorescence due to the presence of transitional or rare earth elements. The most common fluorescence color is blue, while other fluorescent colors include yellow, green, red, purple, and white.<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">Fluorescence Effect: When the ultraviolet light or other light source is removed, the fluorescence immediately disappears.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">Phosphorescent Effect: When the ultraviolet light or other light source is removed, the object continues to emit light for a certain period of time<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Example: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nBfijNvzjlA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nBfijNvzjlA <\/a> <\/p>\n\n<p>Color Change: A small number of fluorite specimens exhibit color change due to trace amounts of transitional elements (iron, vanadium) or rare earth elements (yttrium, niobium, samarium) within them. These fluorites typically appear indigo under fluorescent light and purple under incandescent light.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Example: <a href=\"http:\/\/catalog.digitalarchives.tw\/item\/00\/45\/7c\/2e.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">http:\/\/catalog.digitalarchives.tw\/item\/00\/45\/7c\/2e.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-small-font-size\">Color Change Effect: When a mineral&#8217;s color changes due to the angle of light or the wavelength of the light source, it is referred to as the color change effect, also known as Aventurescence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignfull is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-container-core-column-is-layout-f7a85e60 wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-right:0;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--80);padding-left:0;font-size:0px;line-height:0\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/9104_-_Milano_-_Museo_storia_naturale_-_Fluorite_-_Foto_Giovanni_DallOrto_22-Apr-2007.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1275\" src=\"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/9104_-_Milano_-_Museo_storia_naturale_-_Fluorite_-_Foto_Giovanni_DallOrto_22-Apr-2007.webp\" alt=\"fluorite\" class=\"wp-image-38888\" srcset=\"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/9104_-_Milano_-_Museo_storia_naturale_-_Fluorite_-_Foto_Giovanni_DallOrto_22-Apr-2007.webp 1920w, https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/9104_-_Milano_-_Museo_storia_naturale_-_Fluorite_-_Foto_Giovanni_DallOrto_22-Apr-2007-300x199.webp 300w, https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/9104_-_Milano_-_Museo_storia_naturale_-_Fluorite_-_Foto_Giovanni_DallOrto_22-Apr-2007-1024x680.webp 1024w, https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/9104_-_Milano_-_Museo_storia_naturale_-_Fluorite_-_Foto_Giovanni_DallOrto_22-Apr-2007-768x510.webp 768w, https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/9104_-_Milano_-_Museo_storia_naturale_-_Fluorite_-_Foto_Giovanni_DallOrto_22-Apr-2007-1536x1020.webp 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fluorite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">(Figure 1) <sup data-fn=\"a1cfaeb8-9a85-4e7a-a83c-76ca4f6d17bd\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#a1cfaeb8-9a85-4e7a-a83c-76ca4f6d17bd\" id=\"a1cfaeb8-9a85-4e7a-a83c-76ca4f6d17bd-link\">3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Fluorite<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Crystal system: equiaxed crystal system<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Hardness: 4<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Specific gravity: 3.18<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Luster: Vitreous luster<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Transparency: transparent to translucent<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Color: Various colors, commonly green or blue<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Index of refraction: 1.433~1.435<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Birefringence: None<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Fluorescence: Multiple variations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Cleavage: Complete octahedral cleavage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Characteristics: commonly seen negative crystals, developed cleavage, high specific gravity<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li style=\"line-height:2\">Imitations: glass, amethyst<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>The commercial value of Fluorite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p>Industrially<\/p>\n\n<p>Compared to its use in jewelry, fluorite also plays a significant role in metallurgy, optics, and electronics.<\/p>\n\n<p>Metallurgy: The lowest grade, &#8220;metallurgical grade fluorite (60-85%<sub>CaF2<\/sub>)&#8221;, is traditionally used as a flux to lower the melting point of raw materials in steel production, helping to remove impurities, and later used in aluminum production. The intermediate grade, &#8220;ceramic grade fluorite (85-95%<sub>CaF2<\/sub>)&#8221; is used to produce opal glass, enamel, and cookware. The highest grade, &#8220;acid grade fluorite (with over 97% CaF<sub>2<\/sub>)&#8221;, accounts for about 95% of fluorite consumption in the United States and is used to produce hydrofluoric acid by reacting fluorite with sulfuric acid.<\/p>\n\n<p>Optics and Electronics: Calcium fluoride is commonly used as a window material for infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths because it is transparent in these regions (approximately 0.15 \u00b5m to 9 \u00b5m) and has a very low refractive index variation with wavelength. Additionally, lenses made from calcium fluoride have excellent optical qualities, particularly in terms of dispersion resistance. Due to their low dispersion, these lenses exhibit minimal chromatic aberration, making them highly valuable in microscopes and telescopes.<\/p>\n\n<p>Ornamental<\/p>\n\n<p>Fluorite is generally not suitable for everyday wear due to its relatively low hardness and toughness, making it more of a gemstone for viewing and collecting. There are two main approaches to selecting fluorite: one is choosing faceted gemstones, and the other is selecting phenomena stones (fluorescence, phosphorescence, color change). For faceted fluorite, visual flawlessness is an important criterion. Ideally, the stone should have perfect cleavage and few inclusions to increase its hardness. Green is the most common color, followed by blue, with red, purple, and yellow being rarer. Stones with multiple colors in the same crystal are highly prized. For phenomena stones, phosphorescence and color change are considered more desirable than fluorescence. <\/p>\n\n<p>In ancient times, the famous &#8220;Bright Moon Pearl&#8221; and &#8220;Night Glowing Pearl&#8221; were actually made of fluorite that glows at night.<\/p>\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-0-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-a74f90a5ea7c8bf078166a0413173d55\">Fluorite is difficult to maintain due to its perfect cleavage and low hardness and toughness. It should not be scratched, bumped, or exposed to large temperature differences, as these can cause it to crack. There is a common belief that soaking fluorite in hot water can make it glow, but in reality, this practice can cause the fluorite to crack along its cleavage planes and should be done with caution.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote has-medium-font-size\"><blockquote><p>Follow Honway to learn more about the characteristics of gemstones~<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n<p> <\/p>\n\n<p>Photo Credit:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-elements-7945d15369fc2883aec9f1e77d12d742 wp-block-footnotes has-text-color has-ast-global-color-0-color has-small-font-size\"><li id=\"42e818e9-9f87-4065-80c6-8dfedbd6a0a4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Fluorite_-_dioctahedral_cleavage_pieces.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Ser Amantio di Nicolao,https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Fluorite_-_dioctahedral_cleavage_pieces.jpg<\/a> <a href=\"#42e818e9-9f87-4065-80c6-8dfedbd6a0a4-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 1\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"97d4d026-4d3a-4ad1-88d4-7b719bf873a2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Fluorite-Quartz-226207.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">RKBot,https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Fluorite-Quartz-226207.jpg<\/a> <a href=\"#97d4d026-4d3a-4ad1-88d4-7b719bf873a2-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 2\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><li id=\"a1cfaeb8-9a85-4e7a-a83c-76ca4f6d17bd\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:9104_-_Milano_-_Museo_storia_naturale_-_Fluorite_-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall%27Orto_22-Apr-2007.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">G.dallorto,https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:9104_-<em>Milano<\/em>&#8211;<em>Museo_storia_naturale<\/em>&#8211;<em>Fluorite<\/em>-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall%27Orto_22-Apr-2007.jpg<\/a> <a href=\"#a1cfaeb8-9a85-4e7a-a83c-76ca4f6d17bd-link\" aria-label=\"Jump to footnote reference 3\">\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fluorite comes in various colors due to its exposure to different minerals during its formation process. Its unique color change and fluorescence are also caused by trace amounts of transitional or rare earth elements. There are two main directions for selecting fluorite for collection: one is choosing faceted gemstones, and the other is selecting phenomena stones such as fluorescence, phosphorescence, color change, etc. Fluorite plays a significant role in industries such as metallurgy, optics, and electronics, special lenses in laboratories are also made from fluorite, which have excellent dispersion resistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"[{\"id\":\"42e818e9-9f87-4065-80c6-8dfedbd6a0a4\",\"content\":\"<a href=\\\"https:\\\/\\\/commons.wikimedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/File:Fluorite_-_dioctahedral_cleavage_pieces.jpg\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"noreferrer noopener\\\">Ser Amantio di Nicolao,https:\\\/\\\/commons.wikimedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/File:Fluorite_-_dioctahedral_cleavage_pieces.jpg<\\\/a>\"},{\"id\":\"97d4d026-4d3a-4ad1-88d4-7b719bf873a2\",\"content\":\"<a href=\\\"https:\\\/\\\/commons.wikimedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/File:Fluorite-Quartz-226207.jpg\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"noreferrer noopener\\\">RKBot,https:\\\/\\\/commons.wikimedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/File:Fluorite-Quartz-226207.jpg<\\\/a>\"},{\"id\":\"a1cfaeb8-9a85-4e7a-a83c-76ca4f6d17bd\",\"content\":\"<a href=\\\"https:\\\/\\\/commons.wikimedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/File:9104_-_Milano_-_Museo_storia_naturale_-_Fluorite_-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall%27Orto_22-Apr-2007.jpg\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"noreferrer noopener\\\">G.dallorto,https:\\\/\\\/commons.wikimedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/File:9104_-<em>Milano<\\\/em>-<em>Museo_storia_naturale<\\\/em>-<em>Fluorite<\\\/em>-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall%27Orto_22-Apr-2007.jpg<\\\/a>\"}]"},"categories":[2251],"tags":[1769,2202,2200,2201],"class_list":["post-39004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gemstones","tag-diamond-classroom-en","tag-discoloration-effect","tag-fluorescence-effect","tag-phosphorescent-effect"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honwaygroup.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}