Outlaw Jasper Identification Guide
Identify outlaw jasper, a boldly patterned trade-named chalcedony, and distinguish it from agate and dyed imitations.
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What Outlaw Jasper Looks Like
Outlaw jasper is a trade name for a vividly patterned opaque jasper (iron-rich microcrystalline quartz / chalcedony). It typically shows bold contrasting zones of red, gold, cream, brown, and black, sometimes with brecciated (broken-and-recemented) or swirling "wild" patterns that inspired the name. As a jasper it is opaque, hard, and takes a brilliant polish.
- Color: red, gold, cream, brown, black; high-contrast patterning
- Luster: dull/waxy raw, vitreous polished
- Transparency: opaque
- Form: massive nodules and seams; slabs and cabochons
Step-by-Step Field ID Checklist
- Confirm it is opaque. No light passes through, even on thin edges, ruling out agate.
- Test hardness. Mohs 7; it scratches glass and a steel knife will not mark it.
- Inspect the pattern. Bold contrasting zones, swirls, or brecciated fragments are typical.
- Check fracture. Conchoidal chips with sharp edges confirm dense chalcedony.
- Watch for dye. Suspiciously neon or perfectly uniform colors pooling in cracks suggest treatment.
Key Diagnostic Tests
- Hardness: Mohs 7.
- Streak: white (iron-rich red areas may smear faint brown).
- Fracture: conchoidal; no cleavage.
- Density: about 2.6 g/cm3.
- Acid: no reaction.
- Loupe: dye concentrated in fractures indicates color enhancement.
Common Look-Alikes
- Agate: translucent and banded; outback/outlaw jaspers are opaque. Backlight to separate.
- Brecciated jasper: outlaw jasper often IS a brecciated jasper; the name is a branded variety.
- Picture/poppy jasper: similar opaque patterned jaspers; distinction is largely trade naming and specific pattern.
- Dyed howlite/magnesite: much softer (3-3.5) and scratched by a knife; outlaw jasper resists it.
Where It Is Found
As a trade name, outlaw jasper is not tied to a single classic locality; patterned jaspers marketed this way come from various deposits in the western United States, Mexico, Madagascar, and elsewhere. Jasper forms where iron-rich silica cements or replaces host rock, with oxides creating the vivid color zones.
Frequently asked questions
How can you tell if outlaw jasper is real?
Genuine outlaw jasper is opaque, hardness 7 (scratches glass, resists a knife), with conchoidal fracture and no acid reaction. Bold natural color zoning, rather than dye pooled in cracks, indicates an untreated stone.
Is outlaw jasper dyed?
Most is naturally colored by iron oxides, but some patterned jaspers are color-enhanced. Check under a loupe: dye concentrated in fractures or unnaturally uniform neon colors suggests treatment.
What is the difference between outlaw jasper and agate?
Agate is translucent with curved banding, while outlaw jasper is opaque with bold contrasting or brecciated patterns. Both are chalcedony at hardness 7, so a backlight test for translucency distinguishes them.
What does outlaw jasper look like?
It looks like an opaque, boldly patterned stone with high-contrast red, gold, cream, brown, and black zones, often swirled or brecciated.
Outlaw Jasper identified by the community
Recent Outlaw Jasper specimens identified with Rock Identifier.
