By Jill Lowe
“Malachite eyes sparkled, pale green in the light of the setting sun.”
G. M. T. Schuilling, The Watchmaker’s Doctor
One does not need to know all the many legends surrounding Malachite to be taken in by its beauty. One glimpse of its deep, hypnotizing shades of the iridescent green; its strong, characterful graining awakens the desire felt for this stone throughout centuries.
The actual Malachite stone is used in surfaces, jewelery, objects d’art, but the name can also refer to the color, (sometimes derived from pigments ground from Malachite).The color is found in fabrics, wall papers, paint colors, clothes and leathers. Often people with green eyes, found in perhaps 2% of the population, are said to have Malachite eyes.
The iridescent, swirling patterns have striking light and dark green marbling that is unmistakable.
The startling beauty of this stone has come to represent sensuality and beauty.
Malachite is a the bright green mineral formed by the weathering of copper orebodies, and actually containing approximately 58% copper. Mining of it is often a sidelight of copper mining.
How about the patterns?
Those characteristic swirling and concentric band patterns are a result of its formation process. Technically, Malachite is usually a “secondary mineral,” which means it’s created by a chemical reaction between minerals that have already formed, rather than by a simple one-step process. The luxuriant swirls and bands reflect the waxing and waning of the solutions necessary for formation.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the mineral has been mined and smelted to obtain copper at Timna Valley in Israel for more than 3,000 years.
Large quantities of Malachite have been mined in the Urals, Russia, but it is found worldwide including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Mexico, Australia, France; and the Southwestern United States, most notably in Arizona.
The first culture to use Malachite for adornment was ancient Egypt around 4,000 BC. The Egyptians used it as an ornamental stone in jewelry and art, it being imported from King Solomon’s infamous copper mines on the Red Sea.
The sophisticated courts of imperial Russia were great admirers of Malachite and in the early 1900s. Russian tsars and princesses dedicated national tales and entire halls of their palaces to this gemstone.
One of the grandest of all imperial palaces, the Winter Palace in St Petersburg features a stately salon decorated with Malachite, which was commissioned by Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna in 1830. It was in this room where the brides of Russia’s imperial family, the Romanovs, were traditionally dressed by the Tsarina before their weddings. Centerpieces of the room are the grand fireplace and an alley of columns along its sides, entirely made from this most stunning stone.
More breathtaking architecture featuring Malachite can be found in the St Isaac’s Cathedral in St.
Petersburg, Russia which includes these full columns.
More stunning examples in St. Petersburg
An old rotunda in the center of the Anteroom (waiting room before the royal reception).
Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
This room is in Versailles France
This gloriously ornate object is in the Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City
As described above, aside from imperial uses of the precious stone, the color is used for clothes, wall paper and objects d’art.
Popular in decorating in an Art Deco style, the material lends itself to bathroom sinks, bathtubs, tables, tiles, and paint colors.
Following are some examples of its use in various forms-
The MZ Wallace purse in this glorious color
Comments about wearing green, so called green perfumes and “being green”.
One of the funniest lines in Gosford Park (2001) was unscripted. And who else but Maggie Smith could come up with such a line and deliver it in such a way that would leave the wearer wondering if she had just been given a compliment or the rudest of insults! So when Claudie Blakley as Mabel Nesbitt arrived on set in a green dress, Maggie instinctively said, “Difficult colour, green… very tricky” and the associate producer, Julian Fellowes, burst out laughing. They decided to keep the line.
Green perfumes.
Some say that green perfumes are also difficult, if not tricky to wear..
Some perfumes contain Galbanum, a natural resin that gives a natural green effect. The scent is very green and quite sharp – green peppers and cut grass. Galbanum is a valuable and versatile perfumery ingredient that is used in many compositions. Of note Chanel No 19 is an example of perfume with the inclusion of galbanum.
The following perfumes are also considered green – Sisley’s Eau de Campagne, Chanel’s Bel Respiro, Devin by Aramis, Eau de Céleri by Montreal-based Monsillage.
Being Green
Well this expression belongs to Kermit the frog doesn’t it? “It is not easy being green.”
This beautiful model clearly has no trouble wearing green!
Green Sentiments
Recognizing that Malachite is not the only green, it however can be linked to overall sentiments associated with the color.
“To turn green with envy” has its origins in the association of the color green with jealousy and envy, which can be traced back to ancient times. Some key points about its origins:
*Color Symbolism: Green has long been linked to negative emotions, particularly jealousy and envy.
*Shakespeare’s Influence: The phrase is often attributed to William Shakespeare, who used the term “green-eyed monster” in his play Othello (1603). In this context, jealousy is personified as a monster.
*Medical Theories: In ancient and medieval medicine, the concept of bodily humors suggested that an excess of bile (often associated with the color green) could lead to feelings of jealousy and anger.
Green political party is a formally organized political party based on principles of green politics such as environmentalism and social justice.
Inexperienced Saying that someone is “green” means they are inexperienced or new.
More malachite images follow
This exquisite calendar clock, is part of a desk set shown at the Crystal Palace exhibition in 1851, and can be seen at the Met. Museum in NYC in Gallery 516.
Maybe you want to paint a room in Malachite?
Hmmmm…. this is one color which is worth using paint samples to view how the color looks in the room at various times of the day.
Advice is available but in the meantime here are some samples.
Malachite is a beautiful stone. Its rich, patterned coloration in shades of green is unique among gems. Its low hardness makes it easy to work, though it still takes a polish very well.
The Moh’s scale is a qualitative ordinal scale that ranks minerals from 1 to 10, with 1 being the softest and 10 being the hardest.
A low number means the stone is subject to scratches.
So for example a diamond ranks 10 on the Moh’s scale whereas a pearl ranks at 2.5 with malachite slightly harder at 3.5.
Malachite is very well suited for necklaces, pendants, earrings and brooches and not so much for rings and bangles because of its tendency to scratch.
What an intoxicating color!
Notes and Links:
Photo of Jill by Joe Mazza, Bravelux inc.
Photos copyright © 2025 Jill Lowe. All rights reserved
Images from Shutterstock license
