Polished red jasper

Opaque reddish-brown to golden-brown, with earthy patterns and a resinous-to-glassy polish; Mohs hardness 6.5–7, no visible cleavage, cryptocrystalline structure, and specific gravity about 2.5–2.7.

Jasper forms when silica-rich fluids cement or replace sediments and volcanic material, with iron oxides producing the red and brown colors. It commonly forms in Precambrian to younger hydrothermal and sedimentary environments.

Used for cabochons, carvings, beads, lapidary objects, and decorative stone; polished pieces are inexpensive but attractive collector specimens.

Jasper is an opaque variety of chalcedony or microcrystalline quartz, unlike translucent agate. Its colors commonly reflect hematite, goethite, or other iron minerals.

Identify it by its opaque body, red-brown iron-rich coloration, very fine texture, and ability to take a strong polish; it commonly occurs in volcanic terrains and silica-rich sedimentary formations worldwide, including India, Madagascar, Brazil, and the United States.