Wondering about the differences between dragon blood jasper and bloodstone?
You're in the right place. In this learning guide, we'll compare these two "blood" gemstones and answer questions like:
- What are the healing properties of bloodstone?
- How is dragon blood Jasper different from other Jasper stones?
- Which stone is more durable?
Main Differences Between Dragon Blood Jasper vs Bloodstone
Here are the main differences between dragon blood jasper vs bloodstone:
- Dragon blood jasper would have a dull olive green body color, whereas bloodstone comes with a more vibrant green.
- Dragon blood jasper is ironically not jasper but a mix of epidote and red piemontite, whereas bloodstone is actually jasper.
- Dragon blood jasper is mined in South Africa and Western Australia, whereas bloodstone is mined in United States, Madagascar, Russia, and Brazil.
- Dragon blood jasper, as an energy crystal, enhances self-love and courage, whereas bloodstone is used for bringing inner calm and balance.
Dragon Blood Jasper vs Bloodstone: Origins
Dragon Blood Jasper
Mined in South Africa and Western Australia, a dragon blood jasper stone is recognizable for its dark green body color and red blotches with brown and white streaks. Despite it being called a jasper, it's not from the jasper mineral family.
Dragon blood jasper is a combination of two stones: epidote and red piemontite. It is a favorite stone for healing crystals and is called the stone of courage. It is said that the green color represents dragon's skin with its unique patterns. It may also be called "dragon stone" to help those confused by its jasper title.
Read also: Best Green Gemstones
Dragons are associated with bravery, courage and strength. It is said to be a powerful stone The healing properties of dragon stone are said to bring joy and instill life in that person. It encourages self discovery, self confidence, vitality, and growth to your life. Meditating with a blood jasper crystal can invoke passion and creativity out of the user.
Bloodstone
Bloodstone and dragon blood jaspers are often confused because of both their names and appearance. And ironically, a bloodstone is a real jasper from the jasper mineral family. Dragon blood jasper is not.
Bloodstone is classified as chalcedony, one of the biggest mineral species. It is made up of microcrystalline quartz. Chalcedony is responsible for jaspers and agates, with jaspers comprising the opaque stones and agates being transparent ones. You can find bloodstone mined in the United States, Madagascar, Russia, and Brazil.
credited: Coyoteprince
Dragon Blood Stone vs Bloodstone: Appearance
Dragon Blood Jasper
You already know the basis of dragon blood jasper and its appearance. The red color veins against an olive green body color are the result of two gemstones mixed together. Green epidote crystals are normally a dark green color, similar to emerald. Blood jasper doesn't have a rich green color.
Synthetics and Imitations
This is stone isn't widely popular, nor is it valuable. It's not often imitated by other stones. However, it's confused with bloodstone, obviously. There are no lab-created versions for this gem variety.
There's an off chance you could run into dyed chalcedony crystal, but it's unlikely.
Bloodstone
Many people could swear that bloodstone and blood jasper were the same stone. They both have a green body color with red throughout the stone. However, the origins of the red specks in bloodstone are due to pieces of red jasper and may be intensified by iron oxides.
Blood stone may be called heliotrope, which comes from the Greek language. Helios meaning "sun", and tropos meaning "toward the sun". The dark green color and red flecks of the stone resembled heliotrope plants.
Synthetics and Imitations
Because bloodstone's value isn't high either, there's no need to synthesize this material. You shouldn't really worry about imitations either. Confusions? Absolutely.
Though the two stones look close to the same stone, there are differences. A blood jasper is more likely to have a lighter, duller green body color. The reddish orange veins run throughout the stone in desirable pieces.
Read also: Best Orange Gemstones
But with a bloodstone, you're likely to see brighter greens. Instead of prominent veins, bloodstone's red color is flecks and spots rather than spindly veins.
Healing Properties
For healing crystals, both dragon blood jasper and bloodstone are associated with the Root and Heart Chakra. While they may look like the same stone, the bloodstone has its own properties.
While the dragon blood jasper represents self-love, bloodstone is better for healing and bringing calm. It's said that this stone helps to lift away negative environmental energy and has the power to heal mental blockages. A bloodstone is said to be good for bringing an inner calm and balance to the user.
Price and Value
Dragon's blood jasper doesn't have a high price tag. You can purchase large slabs of the material for under $20. Many people on Etsy sell dragon blood stone in bulk for an affordable price. Larger crystals of this stone increase in price, but not much.
The cost of a bloodstone is very low, if you're looking for a small crystal like a tumbled stone. However, you should expect bloodstone to increase in price if you're buying a heavier crystals, like a bloodstone tower or crystal sphere.
Nicely polished tumbled stones weighing around 4 carats are usually under $15. Towers and bigger crystals can go for $50+. In comparison, larger pieces of bloodstone tend to go for more than blood jasper.
However, the price largely depends on the cutting, polishing, and the patterns of the stone. Stones with more prominent red piemontite or red jasper and iron oxides will command slightly higher prices.
Both stones are microcrystalline quartz minerals, which means you're more likely to run into them as cabochons rather than faceted pieces. Both stones are used more for their properties than high-end jewelry. Boho pieces like wire wrapped pendants are often found. Many also use beaded bracelets.
If you want to wear it for ring jewelry, you should know the care for both dragon blood stone and bloodstone. Many people are learning about the Mohs scale of hardness, which determines the stone's resistance to scratching. Both stones hit a 7.5 on Mohs hardness scale.
Image by the National Park Service. Public Domain.
Bloodstone is considered to have good wearability, like many other microcrystalline quartz varieties. It has no gemstone cleavage and conchoidal fractures. These factors indicate the stone should not easily break or chip. Dragon blood jasper also has the same wearability.
Even if neither of these two stones had good wearability, they still wouldn't be expensive to replace. That alone, increases their longevity value as a stone. Still, like mentioned before, neither of them are very popular for extravagant jewelry pieces, despite it being a super cool stone.
Conclusion
It's easy to see why many think dragon blood jasper and bloodstone are the same stone. They have many similarities. They have identical colors of red and green, though the origin is different. They both have the same hardness and general durability as a microcrystalline quartz mineral. Neither of them commands high prices in the gem industry. And obviously, they both have blood in their names.
But that's about where the similarities stop. Blood jasper is made up of epidote and red piemontite, while bloodstone is real jasper. Their optical and physical properties may be similar, but their chemical properties differ.
Either one of these would make a great stone to add to your crystal collection today.
