Jasper is an impure red, yellow, brown, green and in rare cases blue mineral, believed to have been one of the Hoshen stones – the gems adorning the ceremonial breastplate worn by the high priest of the ancient Israelites.
Jasper has a Mohs scale of hardness of 7. Its name is derived from Greek and means “speckled stone.”
Easy to polish, jaspers have been in use since 1800 BC. The modern jewelry industry uses jaspers to create various ornaments.
Jaspers’ types vary according to where they are found, resulting in an interesting array of names the likes of American Green Jasper, Black Leopard Jasper, Monaco Jasper, Imperial Jasper, Picture Jasper, Mountain Jasper, Hidden Valley Jasper, etc.
