Quick Specs
- Type: Tumbled stone pendant
- Stone: Lepidolite
- Size: About 5/8 by 1/2 inch
- Finish: Tumbled and polished
- Hanger: Silver-toned bail
A Small Polished Lepidolite on a Silver-Toned Bail
The pendant is a single tumbled stone, about 5/8 inch by 1/2 inch, with rounded edges and a glossy surface. It’s wider at one end and narrows toward a rounded point, a shape somewhere between a teardrop and a small pebble. The surface is a glossy brown, and reddish, translucent patches show near the edges where light passes into the stone. The center is darker and finely speckled, and the color lightens toward the rim. A bright highlight runs along the upper right edge where the polish catches the light. A silver-toned bail, a flat strip folded into a loop, is fixed to the top through a small ring, and it takes a chain or cord of your choice. At this size the pendant is light, so it works alone on a fine chain or as an extra piece on a chain that already carries others. Each tumbled stone keeps its own outline, and the color and pattern vary from piece to piece. A tumbled stone has no facets: the surface is one continuous curve, and the gloss follows that curve from the wide end to the point.
Lepidolite is a lithium-bearing mica, a potassium lithium aluminum silicate with fluorine and hydroxyl in its structure. Like other micas, it has perfect cleavage in one direction, which is why it forms thin flakes and sheets, and Wikipedia lists its luster as vitreous to pearly. Lepidolite is soft, so it asks for gentle handling. Lithium is part of its chemistry, and lepidolite is mined as a source of that metal. Trace manganese gives the mineral its pink, purple and red colors. Brazil, Madagascar, Russia, Canada and the United States are among the places it’s found. In modern crystal practice, lepidolite is linked with the crown chakra, the seventh and highest point in the modern Western chakra scheme, which Fire Mountain Gems attributes to a traditional Hindu belief system, and it’s tied in the same guide to the zodiac sign Libra. The chakra idea comes from Indian traditions, and Wikipedia calls the modern seven-chakra scheme largely a Western arrangement. Those meanings belong to crystal lore, and you can take them as themes for reflection.
Ways to Wear and Keep the Lepidolite Pendant
Choose a chain or cord from my neck chains, cords and cages, check that its ends pass through the bail, and wear the pendant for days when you want a small stone close. Slip it into a pouch as a pocket token, or lay it beside your journal or your deck while you read. On an altar it fits in a shallow dish with other small stones, and on a desk it can rest on a saucer within sight. A stone this size also fits in a card, so it travels well as a gift. Because lepidolite is soft, keep it wrapped in a cloth when it goes in a bag. Under a scarf or collar, the stone rests against fabric, which keeps it clear of buttons and zippers.
How to Wear and Care for the Lepidolite Pendant
Three steps cover threading the pendant, wearing it gently, and cleaning it.
- Thread the Bail
Slide your chain or cord through the silver-toned bail and let the stone hang. Look at the small ring that joins the bail to the stone and check that it sits closed. A fine chain suits a stone this small, and a cord gives it more presence. Lift the pendant by the bail when you put it on, so the stone's weight stays off the ring.
- Wear It Gently
Fire Mountain Gems advises removing lepidolite jewelry before exercise, sports or vigorous chores and keeping it away from harsh household chemicals. Lepidolite is soft and cleaves in one direction, so a hard knock can chip or flake it. Treat the pendant as a piece for calm days, and carry it in a pouch when you're on the move.
- Clean and Store It
Fire Mountain Gems suggests warm soapy water, a rinse and a soft cloth for cleaning lepidolite. Dry the stone and the bail right away. Store the pendant apart from other gems and jewelry, wrapped in a soft cloth or set in a fabric-lined box, to reduce the chance of scratches and fractures.
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock this pendant because it puts a single lepidolite stone, 5/8 by 1/2 inch, on a bail that takes the chain of your choice. Lepidolite is a lithium mica with perfect cleavage, so it’s soft, and I treat the pendant as a piece for gentle wear. The crown chakra link is modern crystal lore, and I offer it as a theme for your own reflection. If you’d like loose stones to place beside it, browse my bulk tumbled stones.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lepidolite is a lithium-bearing mica. Minerals.net gives its formula as a basic potassium lithium aluminum fluoro-silicate, and Wikipedia places it in the polylithionite-trilithionite series of trioctahedral micas. Geology.com says its perfect cleavage in one direction produces the mica-like flakes and sheets. Pink, purple and red colors come from trace manganese, according to Wikipedia and geology.com.
Yes. Lithium is part of the chemical formula given by minerals.net, Wikipedia and geology.com, and minerals.net says the mineral is mined as a source of lithium. The lithium sits inside the crystal structure of the mica. Wikipedia and geology.com both attribute the pink to purple color to trace manganese.
Fire Mountain Gems calls lepidolite soft and advises warm soapy water, a rinse and a soft cloth, with removal before exercise and storage apart from other gems and jewelry to reduce scratches and fractures. Geology.com explains the fragility: perfect cleavage in one direction gives the mineral its flaky, mica-like structure. Treat a lepidolite pendant as a piece for gentle wear.
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