Carnelian or Agate or both???

Carnelian is an amazing, naturally occurring stone. It is also a very popular bead. The rich rust orange color leaves a calming and deep earth feeling in your soul. Not to sound too spiritual there but the color emanates a calming effect. However, with technology so rapid and ever changing stone miners and their counter parts have been able to manipulate such an extraordinary stone into human kinds version of wonderment. I fully support this symbiotic relationship. Why? Because these miners are using the "scrap" of the Carnelian stone and creating a use for it by heating and manipulating its properties to create another beautiful enticement for the beaders and stone collectors of the world. While the new lab creations are not high in monetary value, they hold an aesthetic appeal with designers and customers alike, and are a bit lighter on the wallet. The picture to the left is several different forms of Carnelian and Agate. Carnelian is in the Agate family, it is a stage of Agate, as Citrine is a stage of Amethyst. The large flat rounds are Carnelian, the triangular pieces are Fire Agate which hold large masses of Carnelian, then we have the "claw" shaped beads and the round puffy beads, these are manipulated pieces of "green" Carnelian. As I said, while the Carnelian pieces that have been dyed and heated are worth less in value they hold an amazing aesthetic appeal.