Crazy Lace Agate

Mindat lists crazy lace agate from Mexico: Sierra Santa Lucia, Ejido Benito Juárez, Buenaventura Municipality, Chihuahua. According to the New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources symposium abstract, this range rises to about 6,200 feet (about 1,890 m) and hosts numerous agate mining concessions. The agate occurs mainly as veins and, unlike other Mexican agates (which form in volcanic rocks), it is mined from a highly siliceous, dark grey Cretaceous limestone.

Mindat describes it as an agate composed of multicoloured twisting and turning bands; the New Mexico abstract adds zig-zags, scallops, bouquets, sunbursts and eye shapes, often grouped into larger spherical complexes. As agate it gives the chalcedony readings (refractive index about 1.53–1.54, specific gravity about 2.6). Retailers such as Pascle use the name more broadly for any lace agate with disordered banding, so the name alone does not prove the Mexican locality. Agate is porous and is very often dyed; vivid, unnatural colours indicate dye.

Agate is durable (hardness about 7) and can be washed with warm water and a mild dish soap, then dried. If a bead may be dyed, avoid steam, ultrasonic cleaners, heat and solvents, which GIA notes can affect treated gems.

The Japanese retailer Pascle associates crazy lace agate, like other agate and chalcedony, with sharing and togetherness and says it is believed to support good relationships and communication. This is a retail tradition, not a verified property.