Porous and soft stones

What is it?

Porous and soft stones are stones that are not often used in jewelry. The first reason is that these stones are generally less valuable than other stones (such as sapphire or ruby). The second reason is that porous stones are more fragile and crumble more easily. They are therefore more difficult to set, and require more careful maintenance. Porous or soft stones are lower on the Mohs scale (scale of hardness of stones).

Another feature of these stones is that they are mostly opaque. This distinguishes them from the various quartz and other fine stones that we know. Due to this property, some stones cannot be treated, so most of them remain natural until the end of the production chain. These stones are damaged after a rhodium plating bath, so not all jewelry can be made with porous white gold stones. Rhodium plating is the final step in the process of making white gold jewelry at Façonnier. Learn more about this process, go here.

Who are they?

• The onyx which is a black and shiny stone;
• Malachite, a stone ranging in color from light to dark green with marked lines,
• The lapis lazuli, an indigo blue stone with golden glitter;
• The various pearls, which are part of the family of organic pearls, consisting of fragments of shells of mollusks, they are found in different colors: white, black or pink;
• The various opals, which represent the family of minerals composed of silica and water with inclusions, which give them a rainbow color. The best known are the white opal, the fire opal and the harlequin opal;
• And many others like pearls, tiger's eye, turquoise, amber, etc...

The original creations Shaper with porous stones

At Façonnier, we have chosen to work with these forgotten stones through some of our collections. We have decided to see the "flaws" that can be found in porous and soft stones as advantages. Exploiting the originality of little used stones is part of Façonnier's DNA.

Their low hardness allows us to work them in our own way. It is a feeling of freedom and liberation to create these own stone cuts. Discover the original Façonnier onyx creations with the scarab collection, and many more to come...