What Is Variscite? The Natural Stone Most Jewelry Lovers Have Never Heard Of
If you've spent any time around my work, you've probably seen the word variscite and wondered what on earth it is.
You're not alone. Most people — even people who genuinely love natural stone jewelry — have never encountered it. Turquoise gets all the attention. Variscite quietly sits in its shadow, which is a shame, because it is one of the most beautiful and underappreciated stones in the natural world.
I work with several varieties of variscite — Aloe, Agua Oro, Silver Peak, Colina Verde, and Ivory Creek — and each one has its own distinct character. Here's what you need to know.
What is variscite?
Variscite is a hydrated aluminum phosphate mineral — a close cousin of turquoise, formed through similar geological processes. Like turquoise, it gets its color from trace minerals in the host rock. Unlike turquoise, it contains very little copper, which means it sits in a different part of the color spectrum — greens and blue-greens rather than the classic blue of high-copper turquoise.
Variscite is found in a handful of locations worldwide, but the finest material comes from a small number of mines in Nevada and Utah. Each mine produces stone with a completely distinct character, and over time those mines have been given names that reflect their color, their location, or the people who discovered them.
It is rarer than turquoise, less well known, and in high-grade form, increasingly hard to find. All the variscite I work with is sourced directly from miners and lapidary artists — natural and untreated.
Aloe Variscite
Aloe Variscite gets its name from its color — that soft, watery blue-green that is immediately reminiscent of aloe vera gel. It sits at the cooler, more aqueous end of the variscite spectrum, with a translucency and depth that makes it look almost liquid in the right light.
The color is not uniform. A single Aloe Variscite stone can shift from pale ice blue at one edge to deeper teal at another, sometimes threaded with fine gold or black veining from the host rock. The host rock itself — the matrix — often stays present in the cut stone, creating a natural frame around the color that adds to its visual complexity.
What I love most about Aloe Variscite is that it is genuinely hard to photograph. The camera flattens it. In person, there's a depth and movement to it that photographs struggle to capture — a quality that makes it one of the most consistently commented-on stones when I wear it.
Agua Oro Variscite
Agua Oro means golden water in Spanish — and the name earns itself completely. This Nevada variscite has a rich blue-green color threaded with warm golden matrix that shifts depending on the light. Where Aloe is cool and aqueous, Agua Oro has warmth to it — that golden matrix gives it a depth and complexity that photographs beautifully and looks even better in person.
I love pairing Agua Oro with Madagascar Sapphire or champagne zircon, whose warm tones mirror the golden matrix and create a color story that feels pulled from the same stretch of earth.
Silver Peak Variscite
Silver Peak Variscite comes from a single small mine in Nevada and is one of the more collectible variscite varieties. The stones tend toward deep green-gold tones — richer and more complex than Aloe, with a natural depth that photographs genuinely struggle to capture. Every time someone sees a Silver Peak piece in person for the first time, the reaction is the same: it looks different than I expected. Better.
Because Silver Peak comes from a single small mine with limited production, high-grade material is increasingly rare. When I find pieces worth working with, I bring them into the collection and use them carefully.
Colina Verde Variscite
Colina Verde means green hill — and this is the most immediately striking of the variscite varieties I work with. Where Aloe is watery and cool, and Agua Oro is warm and complex, Colina Verde is bold. A bright, fresh minty green that looks almost too good to be real — the kind of color that makes people stop and ask what the stone is before they even realize it's a ring on someone's hand.
It's a high-grade variscite from Nevada, and the color saturation on the best pieces is remarkable. I typically set it in 14k gold-filled, which warms the cool mint green and creates a combination that works beautifully for everyday wear.
Ivory Creek Variscite
Ivory Creek Variscite is the quiet one in the variscite family — softer in color, more contemplative, with a creamy pale green that feels almost understated until the light catches it just right. Where Colina Verde announces itself boldly, Ivory Creek rewards close looking. It's the kind of stone that grows on you — the more time you spend with it, the more you see in it.
I work with Ivory Creek in trillion cuts and paired with contrasting stones like London Blue Topaz, whose deep cool blue creates a striking counterpoint to the warm ivory-green. The combination is unexpected and beautiful in a way that's hard to put into words until you see it in person.
How to choose your variscite
Each variety has its own personality, and the right one depends on what draws you in.
- You love ocean colors — seafoam, shallow water, kelp green — Aloe Variscite
- You want something earthy with warmth and complexity — Agua Oro Variscite
- You want something rare with rich, deep color — Silver Peak Variscite
- You want bold, saturated color that stops people in their tracks — Colina Verde Variscite
- You want something soft, refined, and quietly beautiful — Ivory Creek Variscite
All of the variscite I work with is natural and untreated — no dyes, no stabilization, no enhancement. What you see is what the earth made, from mines in Nevada sourced directly from the people who know them best.
Jessica Foreman is the maker behind Natural Earth Collective, a handcrafted jewelry studio in Ohio specializing in sterling silver and natural stones sourced directly from sustainable miners and lapidary artists.