Bloodstone Warrior Tumble.

Deep green, nearly black in low light, scattered with small flecks of iron-red: bloodstone looks like something that has seen a battle, and in a sense it has. Warriors of the ancient and medieval world carried it into the fray, believing it steadied the nerve of whoever held it.

Its older name is heliotrope, Greek for sun-turner, after an ancient belief that the stone could turn the sun's reflection blood-red when dipped in water. A later Christian legend placed its origin at the foot of the cross, the red flecks said to be drops of blood that fell on green jasper, which gave it another old name still in use: the martyr's stone. The green base is a form of chalcedony, and the red flecks are jasper, trapped in the same mass as it formed.

This tumble was cut from rough sourced in India, among the largest producers of gem-grade bloodstone, where it forms in basalt alongside agate and other chalcedonies. It is hard and tough as tumbles go, and stands up to a pocket or bag without the scratches softer stones collect.

Details

• Stone: bloodstone (heliotrope), green chalcedony with red jasper flecks
• Origin: India
• Tumbled; hard enough for daily carry

How to use

Carry it on a day that calls for nerve: a hard conversation, a long drive, a first day at something new. An old, plain-spoken stone with a longer story than almost anything else in the cabinet.