How to Spot Real Moldavite!

For those of you that know and love Moldavite, it's important to also know that, as with all things, there are fakes made of glass on the market. Real Moldavite only comes from the Moldau River Valley in the Czech Republic. Before you ask, yes we get all of our Moldavite pieces from a very trusted source, who has his own collection of fakes to educate people with. Claude specializes in Moldavite and buys direct from the Czech Republic, and is very specific about who does the faceting of stones for his pieces as well.

If you want to know more about the properties of Moldavite and why I call it the 'New Yorker' of the stone world, lol check out our previous blog post Moldavite, Stone of Transformation.

So now to the real question, how do you know if it's a fake? As with all things, many fakes are obvious, but there are also those that are extremely good.

The very first thing to look at is price. If it's inexpensive, it's most likely a fake. Now this isn't foolproof, of course. There are plenty of unethical people who will sell a fake at hundreds of dollars. However, you can pretty much figure that 99.9% of 'inexpensive moldavite' is nothing but manufactured glass.

Tip# 2: Check Seller Location

I hate to say it, but the truth is that the vast majority of fakes come from Asia, China in particular. If it's shipping from an Asian country, beware of fakes! Again, this isn't foolproof either. There are US sellers that end up with fakes - both knowingly and unknowingly, but the source is typically Asia.

Tip# 3: Check for Marketing Terms

To be fair, some fake Moldavite sellers don't actually claim the stone is real Moldavite. They'll call it things like 'Created' or 'Lab-Created' Moldavite. This is nothing but green glass and have none of the energetic properties of real Moldavite.

Tip# 4: Check for Seams

Check the stone for any seams on the edges. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, look at a plastic bead that's been molded into some shape or other. Usually there's a seam around it where the two sides of the mold came together. The same thing can happen in fake Moldavite. If it has a seam, it's a fake.

Tip# 5: Check for Color

True Moldavite has a very unique color, often described as apple to olive green. Yes it can vary from dark to light, but it won't look like a bright green beer or soda bottle. It also won't look blue - yes I've seen this one. Talk about unscrupulous.

Tip# 6: Check for Texture

Okay, this one is trickier if you haven't seen a lot of true Moldavite, but if the moldavite surface looks like cake frosting or like a blob of jelly, it's nothing but man made glass. Real Moldavite (uncut of course) has a sort of textured almost but not quite pock-marked surface like in the pic above. Rough Moldavite usually has a matte, almost velvety look, and typically will only be shiny if an edge has sheared off. This doesn't apply to faceted stones, of course, but it can be another helpful guideline.

Tip# 7: Buy From a Trusted Source

At the end of the day, it's important to purchase from a trusted source that only purchases stones from the Czech Republic. Also, if you missed it earlier - yes, at Whisperingtree.net, we are very careful about our Moldavite, and restrict any Moldavite purchases to artists sourcing from the Czech Republic.

If you want to know more about the properties of Moldavite and why I call it the 'New Yorker' of the stone world, check out our previous blog post Moldavite, Stone of Transformation.