2" Crazy Lace Agate Cabochon

Crazy lace agate, also known as Mexican Agate, is a unique banded agate that comes from Chihuahua, Mexico. It gets its name from complex, lacy patterns swirling through the stone. Colors can vary from cream and orange to red, and are caused by iron and aluminum inclusions in the agate.

Agate is a variety of microcrystalline quartz (chalcedony) that displays translucence and, in some cases, banding. Agate primarily forms when silica-rich fluids fill pockets within rocks and/or fossils, depositing the silica along the walls of the rock. This process can result in banding patterns, as the compositions and impurities of these depositing fluids change over time. These banding patterns can either form as flat layers, creating linear patterns known as waterline agate, or as rounded layers, forming more common ring-like patterns. These patterns depend on the surfaces available for deposition.