Moldavite

Bottle-green natural glass created by a meteorite impact in southern Germany about 15 million years ago.

Moldavite specimen — Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify moldavite

Translucent forest to olive green.
Deeply sculpted, wrinkled surface.
Tiny bubbles and swirls inside; fakes are often too clean and evenly colored.

Often confused with

Obsidian
Obsidian is usually black and has smooth, shell-like breaks.
Compare side by side
Tektite
Other tektites are black or brown, not green.
Compare side by side

Where it's found

South Bohemia, Czech Republic
Ries crater area, Germany
Austria

Uses

Collector pieces and jewelry.

Rock tumbling

Not suitable for tumbling. Polishing destroys the natural sculpted surface that proves it's real.

Did you know?

Fake moldavite is extremely common — real pieces show bubbles and a naturally etched surface.

Think you could spot it from a blurry close-up?

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