The name of this stone probably originated from two Kalmyk
words. The literal translation is a river stone. In Mongolia, it is identified
with the sacred lotus flower. The ancient Egyptians associated cacholong with
the god Apis, who was represented as a bull - a symbol of fertility, wealth and
health, and in India it is still considered to be the hardened milk of a sacred
cow.
In addition to Mongolia and India, cacholong is found in
Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Armenia, Russia and Iceland. For the similarity with
milk it is associated with motherhood. He is considered a talisman of pregnant
and lactating women, giving them strength in childbirth and feeding.
It is a white or milky-white stone with shades of green,
blue, with a glass or pearl luster. According to the Mohs scale, cacholong has
a hardness of 6-7. It is one of the inexpensive varieties of opal. Organic
cacholong actively absorbs moisture and can turn into chalk. This type of stone
has a porous structure.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, vases and cups were made of
cacholong in Russia and in Europe; furniture was inlaid to them, widely used to
create panels and sculptures.
Despite the fact that cacholong does not apply to expensive
stones, however, in the shops you can find fakes. Under his appearance,
synthetic opal is often sold. To distinguish natural stone from synthetic
stone, it’s enough to twist it in front of the light source: the natural
cacholong has uneven reflections, and the synthetic glare appears evenly,
regardless of the angle of incidence of the light.
In the art of jewelry used cacholong, resistant to water. The
main methods of processing this stone are cabochon-cut, with further grinding
and polishing. Most often jewelers set this stone in silver. It makes charming
pendants, brooches, earrings, rings. Since cacholong, like other minerals, has
its own energy, it is recommended to wear a ring with this stone on the middle
finger, but it is not advisable to wear it constantly. It will be more useful
to change his clothes during the day from finger to finger.
During operation, it is not necessary to subject it to
ultrasonic cleaning. It is enough to wipe with a cloth made of wool moistened
with a small amount of olive oil and put in clean water from time to time for
several hours.
