Jet Tumbled Stones - Premium Grade
Premium-grade jet tumbled stones, in medium to large sizes. These stones were produced in a rock tumbler, so size does vary slightly from piece to piece.
Jet is an organic material derived from fossilised wood. Its internal structure does not have the ordered, repeating arrangement of atoms that's characteristic of crystals. Therefore, jet is classified as a mineraloid, a substance that lacks a crystalline structure.
Other mineraloids include obsidian (volcanic glass), amber (fossilised tree resin), and shungite (a carbon-rich material formed from metamorphosed organic matter).
The most famous source of jet is Whitby in North Yorkshire, England, but it also occurs in many other parts of the world, including Spain, Turkey, and the United States. These jet tumbled stones are from Mongolia.
Jet originates from wood, mostly from trees similar to modern-day Araucaria (related to the monkey puzzle tree). When these trees died millions of years ago, their wood became buried under layers of mud, sand, and other sediments. With pressure and a lack of oxygen, the wood was preserved and decayed very slowly.
Through physical and chemical changes that took place over long periods, the woody material gradually transformed, leaving behind a carbon-rich substance. The process is similar to the formation of coal.
Groundwater carrying dissolved organic compounds helped stabilise and enrich the wood material with hydrocarbons, creating a dense, compact, carbon-rich substance.
The end result is a smooth, black, organic mineraloid. Jet can be highly polished and has been used for jewellery and ornaments for thousands of years. However, it is very soft and must be handled carefully.
Jet is mostly carbon, like coal, graphite, or diamond, but it also contains small amounts of hydrogen, oxygen, and other organic residues left over from the original wood. It is sometimes described as a type of coal, but more accurately it's a gem-quality form of lignite (a soft, brownish-black coal formed from fossilised plant material).
The word jet comes from the Old French jaiet, which in turn comes from the Latin gagates. The Latin name referred specifically to the material we now call jet, which was already well known in the ancient world. Over time, as language evolved, the name changed, eventually becoming jet in English.
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