Entry № 208
Golden Sheen Obsidian
Volcanic Glass with Gas-Bubble Sheen
Black glass with a golden hush trapped inside it.
Chakra
Solar Plexus · Root
Element
Fire · Earth
Zodiac
Leo · Scorpio

I. The Metaphysical Reading
How the stone has been held.
Golden sheen obsidian is worked with as a stone of hidden authority, held during work that requires influence rather than display. Practitioners hold that its sheen only reveals itself at the right angle — a reminder that power does not need to announce itself continuously.
- Chakra
- Solar Plexus · Root
- Element
- Fire · Earth
- Zodiac
- Leo · Scorpio
- Keynote
- Black glass with a golden hush trapped inside it.
II. The Scientific Reading
What the lattice actually does.
Golden sheen obsidian is a rhyolitic volcanic glass in which planes of aligned microscopic gas bubbles were preserved during rapid cooling. When the glass is cut across those planes and polished, light scattered off the layered bubbles produces the characteristic golden schiller — a purely optical effect from internal structure, not from any golden mineral inclusion. The bulk material remains ordinary obsidian.
- Formula
- SiO₂-rich volcanic glass (roughly 70 – 75% SiO₂)
- System
- Amorphous
- Hardness
- 5 – 6 (Mohs)
- Provenance
- Mexico, USA (Oregon), Iceland
References & Sources
Independent mineralogical references used to verify the scientific details above.
Mineral Profile
Fact Sheet
- Chemical Formula
- SiO₂-rich volcanic glass (roughly 70 – 75% SiO₂)
- Crystal System
- Amorphous
- Mohs Hardness
- 5 – 6 (Mohs)
- Density
- 2.35 – 2.60 g/cm³
- Refractive Index
- 1.48 – 1.51
- Provenance
- Mexico, USA (Oregon), Iceland
- Color Origin
- Jet black with a golden metallic sheen across the polished surface
Related Crystals
Stones that share this lattice
Next in the Atlas
Grandidierite
One of the world's rarest gem-quality minerals.




