What is Moldavite ?

Moldavite is a tektite that was formed during a large meteorite impact 14.8 million years ago, in the Ries Crater in southern Germany and are found in what we now know as the Bohemian plateau of the Czech Republic (500km from the impact site). It's composition is a "glassy" mixture of silicon dioxide with aluminum and other metal oxides. It ranges in colour from a light green to a deep forest green.

The cosmic event that gave birth to Moldavite was one of tremendous power and intensity. The scientific community has estimated that the force of the impact would be around 6 trillion megatons. The heat during the impact was high enough to instantly vaporise surrounding rock. Throughout history Moldavite has been highly regarded as a spiritual talisman and archeological digs revealed Moldavite pendants/jewellery that are at least 25,000 years old. In modern times it has emerged as one of the best stones for metaphysical transformation and growth. 

Key Healing Aspects - Rapid Spiritual Growth, Transformation, Heart Opening, Energy Cleansing, Divine Connection

Chakras - All, connects strongly with the Heart Chakra

Crystal Form - Amorphous

Due to its rarity and it's intense metaphysical energy the demand for Moldavite has been increasing rapidly in recent years, which unfortunately has resulted in imitations being created and being sold. 

Moldavite Imitations

Moldavite imitations aren't as new as you might think - Faceted Moldavite was immensely popular in Czech jewellery during 19th century and a recent study on moldavite jewels in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague uncovered that multiple antique jewellery pieces actually had glass imitation stones. Fake Moldavite is ever present today, with some well created imitation Moldavite coming from China ( which at first can be difficult to tell apart from the real deal) so here are a few things to look for when buying Moldavite - 

Red Flags 

Colour - Genuine Moldavite has a Dull light green to deep forest green colour. Watch out for Vivid Greens and bright emerald colours in fake specimens. 

An example of two faceted stones being sold on Ebay - Both as Genuine Moldavite 

Genuine Czech Moldavite - this faceted stone shows the true colour of moldavite

Glass Imitation - Notice the vibrant and bright green colour

Also - in faceted stones, its is incredibly unlikely that a real moldavite will have no inlcusions.

Texture - Raw moldavites have a rough texture which gives them a matte appearance, a dead giveaway for fake moldavite is the abscence of this texture - this is quite easy to see in person, but can be a little more difficult online. Espescially since some of the "better" fake stones are dipped in an acid solution to create a similar texture on the surface. In our experience majority of Raw Imitation Moldavites have a "wet" look to their appearance, even if the maker has attempted to replicate the texture. 

Genuine moldavite specimen - notice how it's texture gives it a dull/matte appearance

Here are some examples of fake Moldavite specimens - you can see the difference in texture and notice how unusually shiny and "wet" they look. 

This one has an attempted replication of texture, but next to genuine moldavite it stands out to be a glass imitation

Again these fake moldavite specimens have the texture completely wrong, vibrant green colours and that characteristic "wet" look. Another thing to look for is shape - notice how all the "moldavite" pieces are the same shape? Genuine moldavites are all uniquely shaped.

Price - Genuine Moldavite is very expensive due to its rarity and because there is only a finite source, the prices have been going up as it begins to run low and get harder to find. Unfortunately, lots of fake Moldavites are purchased unknowingly by people who think they're getting a good price, but genuine Moldavite will be $10-$30 per gram for tiny pieces and prices jump quickly as the specimens get larger. 

A quick google search reveals hundreds of cheap fake moldavite "specimens" and pendants for crazy low prices, These wire wrapped pendants came up first for a google search for "genuine moldavite" - we can see that these pendants are way to cheap to be genuine moldavite - $28 for a 14gram pendant!! at first glance these pendants don't obviously stand out as fake moldavite as they are a "well done" imitation but if we look at more photos of the same pendants, we see the "wet" appearance that further indicates it is a man made product. 

Clarity - Clarity of stones can be easier to see in faceted gems as opposed to rough. Moldavite specimens will most often be filled with inclusions, bubbles and lechatelierite (appears as thin way lines inside the specimen). The internal landscape of the Moldavite can be difficult to see in raw pieces, so don't stress too much about this point but if a stone is 100% clear it's most likely a man made one.   

Trust your intuition 

These are just a few of the easiest ways to spot fake Moldavite. Before buying moldavite its good to learn the ways to spot false stones and of course always trust in your intuition. If there is a stone you aren't sure about and can't tell from the photos you can reach out to someone for help with identification. It can also be helpful to see the stone in natural conditions - asking the seller for a video of the stone to show details can also help you identify it.

Genuine Moldavite is a truly beautiful crystal to have in your collection and has such a strong transformational energy. A wonderful crystal to set you off on the path of your soul's desire.

Good Sources of Information include; 

https://www.gia.edu/

https://www.mindat.org/

The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall 

The Book of Stones by Robert Simmons & Naisha Ahsian 

*Photographs were sourced from Ebay, Wish and the genuine specimens were taken by camera in-store.