Please Note: Take care when sourcing Bluestone for healing or spiritual purposes. If it doesn't have spots, it doesn't come from Carn Meini, and therefore does not have the same properties. For more information, see the Bluestone02 article, under the 'Suitable Stones' healing. Follow the links for an insight into the metaphysical and spiritual associations of Bluestone.

This is what Bluestone looks like when it is freshly quarried and what the Bluestones of Stonehenge would have looked like when they were new.

It has a light blue/grey appearance and is dotted with white spots or 'stars'. Colour varies from a light, slightly turquoise blue grey like this one, to a darker grey with less signs of blue.

The stars in this example are very large and dense. This formation is considered desirable for quarried altarpieces, (if you are lucky enough to get one). Also favoured for cut and ground altar pieces and geological slices.

This is how we see the Preseli Bluestone standing stones today. After several thousand years of weathering Bluestone develops a crusty outer layer. Standing stones and altar pieces which make a feature of both the crust and the stars are very popular.

When Bluestone is cut with a diamond disc it becomes a lighter shade of it's natural colour and the figure is less apparent. This piece would be ideal for jewellery as the craftsman would be able to select the figure to include nicely sized stars in each piece.

Cutting for jewellery sometimes involves a lot of waste to feature the stars. It would be of no use to make jewellery from a piece with no stars as the stone would be hard to distinguish from common dolerite and possess little appeal.

When Bluestone is polished it no longer looks blue/grey. Polishing reveals a deep green/black colour and the stars become more apparent. Getting a high polish on Bluestone involves a lot more work than with other stones used for jewellery.

For independant confirmation of the appearance of genuine Preseli Bluestone (spotted dolerite) visit The National Museum of Wales geological information page.