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carnelian - venerable stone of antiquity
Varying amounts of iron oxide impurities -- ferric oxides -- are responsible for carnelian's range of red tints. If the ferric oxides become hydrated -- that is, combine with water -- the stone will be more yellow or brown. Conversely, if excess moisture is removed, it will become more red, increasing its value.
Fairly light, carnelian weighs only about 2 and a half times as much as an equivalent volume of water.
One of carnelian's most distinctive characteristics is its fluorescence. Normally white blue under ultra violet light, some specimens from India exhibit a yellow, green fluorescence.
A lot of carnelian on the market is stained chalcedony from Brazil or Uruguay.
A relatively inexpensive gem, carnelian is most commonly made into beads, cabochons, and carvings.
All carnelian is translucent and is thus distinguished from jasper of similar color, which is always opaque.
 the survivor stone
A translucent orange to red variety of chalcedony, carnelian can be uniformly colored or faintly banded. Forming in cavities, cracks and crevices of volcanic rocks, carnelian is a "survivor stone" -- as the more porous volcanic "host" rock disintegrates, eroding away, the harder carnelian is left as round nodules eventually swept away into streams and watersheds.
Originally a translucent reddish-brown material, carnelian is typically placed in the sun to change its brown tones to ones more reddish-orange (a natural, technology-free heat treatment that affects color by removing excess moisture).

home of the choicest carnelian

The area around the town of Ratanpur, in the state of Madhya Pradesh � "the heart of India" -- approximately 95 miles south of Allahabad, is acknowledged to have the best quality carnelian. Blocks of carnelian weighing over 3 pounds have been found on the lower reaches of the sacred Narmada River which originates in the same state, emptying into the Arabian Sea on the west coast of India.
Other significant deposits are found in the Campo de Maia area of Brazil, where much of the material is stained with ferrous nitrate to improve the color.

sard ring, jupiter, mercury and cupid, mars and neptune surrounded by zodiac signs, 16th century, italy
photo: the hermitage museum

At a certain point, when the brown color in carnelian becomes predominant it is known as "sard" (sardonyx).
Very dark brown carnelian can even be classified as jasper. The distinction is very fine and relies more on visual appearance than on scientific analysis. As a result it's very possible that one man's carnelian may be another man's sard or jasper.

symbolic attributes

metaphysical
astrological gem Virgo
energy projective / yang
planet Sun
element air and fire