On this page
UnderstandWhat it is, what people ask, how far this page goes
Natural inorganic gem materials · Trade name: colour / appearance variety · Natural identity; treatment status unknown
Crazy Lace Agate
Also known asMexican crazy lace agate
A trade variety name for banded chalcedony; the Chinese name is often applied loosely to agates with various patterns, and it does not guarantee origin. This page compares how the major standards and institutions name it, what must be disclosed when selling it, whether it can be worn every day, how it is treated and identified, and which source each conclusion comes from.
Price, rarity and origin are outside the scope of this wiki.
What this page can answer
This page covers
- How Crazy Lace Agate forms and what gives its colourFormation setting, process and timescale; where its colour and optical effects come from, each finding graded and sourced
- How to identify Crazy Lace AgateIdentification points from the research literature; how far lab testing can go
- Treatments and enhancements of Crazy Lace AgateThe enhancements and treatments the GB/T and JJA/AGL tables list
- Hardness, density and refractive index of Crazy Lace AgateEach value with its source and check date
- Crazy Lace Agate in English, Chinese and Japanese; national standard namesNames in four languages, the GB/T standard name and the suggested listing name; and: Has any of GIA, FTC, CIBJO or Gem-A put a name for it on record here?
- Listing and disclosing Crazy Lace AgateThe listing name to use; what must be disclosed before sale
What we cannot conclude
- Whether one particular bead is natural, treated or synthetic — only a laboratory report can settle that.
- Geographic origin, unless an origin report accompanies the item.
- Price, rarity or investment value: this wiki covers naming and disclosure only.
Material research: formation, causes and history
What authoritative sources say about how this material forms, what causes its colour and optical effects, where its name comes from and how people have used it. Each statement carries an evidence grade and its sources; it describes the material in general, not any specific piece.
How it forms
Crazy horse agate is a market trade variety name for agate showing distinctive banded or landscape-like patterns; it is essentially banded chalcedony (agate), not a distinct mineral species. By the prevailing hypothesis, silica-rich fluids enter a volcanic void through microfissures and fill it in cycles from rim to center, precipitating bands. Zone width and shape, and the overall pattern — which may resemble landscape, stalactite or pipe forms — are governed by the silica concentration together with temperature, pressure and the timing of the influxes, whereas Fe, Ti, Mn and other elements serve only to colour the bands. The trade name has no authoritative mineralogical definition.
Scope: Covers the layered growth mechanism of agate with banded/landscape patterns and the origin of the patterns; does not constitute a mineralogical definition of the trade name "crazy lace agate".
Sources G&G Fall 2013
Where it forms
Gas cavities or voids in volcanic rock (e.g. basalt) reached by silica-rich fluids through microfissures or infiltration canals.
Sources G&G Fall 2013
Cyclic hydrothermal influx setting: repeated fluid pulses create banding and landscape-like patterns.
Sources G&G Fall 2013
How it forms, step by step
Silica-rich fluids penetrate a volcanic void through microfissures or infiltration canals.
The fluids fill the void in repeated cycles from rim to center, precipitating silica in successive bands.
Zone shape, width and overall pattern are controlled by silica concentration together with temperature, pressure and influx timing, producing landscape, stalactite or pipe-like appearances.
Trace elements colour the individual bands, and at the final stage idiomorphic quartz may crystallize in the centre.
Link to appearance
Superimposed bands from multiple cycles create landscape, stalactite or pipe-like patterns; colour differences between adjacent bands reflect the distribution of Fe, Ti, Mn and other elements.
Sources G&G Fall 2013
Timescale
The cited agate study states that band crystallization lasted millions of years and took place in stages (Sidi Rahal, Morocco), but gives no absolute age for crazy horse agate itself.
Sources G&G Fall 2013
Related base materials
- Agate (banded chalcedony): trade-name-of | Crazy lace agate is a commercial variety name for agate with particular banded/landscape patterns
Supporting findings
Under the prevailing hypothesis, agate's banded structure arises as silica-rich fluids enter a volcanic void and deposit material in rim-to-centre cycles.
Evidence grade AScope: General agate layering hypothesis, evidenced mainly by Sidi Rahal samples.
Zone shape, width and overall pattern are controlled by silica concentration together with temperature, pressure and influx timing, and may appear as landscape, stalactite or pipe forms.
Evidence grade AScope: Pattern types agree with Sidi Rahal sample observations; details may differ at other localities.
Causes of colour and optical effects
Colour differences between bands are caused by elements such as Fe, Ti and Mn carried in the fluids, which affect only colour.
Evidence grade AScope: General rule for silica agate zones.
How it is identified
For crazy-lace agate, colour and banding by themselves do not reveal whether the hue is natural or produced by dyeing or heating, so visual appearance cannot settle naturalness or treatment; a trustworthy identification and any treatment ruling call for instrumental examination at a qualified gem laboratory, and this entry is no basis for self-testing.
Evidence grade AScope: Appearance cannot replace identification; naturalness, dyeing or heat treatment must be determined at a qualified gem laboratory, and this entry is not a self-testing basis.
Sources G&G Summer 2014 · CIBJO Gemstone Book 2022
Other research findings
“Crazy horse agate” is a market trade variety name with no authoritative mineralogical definition; it is banded chalcedony, not an independent mineral species.
Evidence grade CScope: The source defines agate as banded chalcedony but gives no standard definition of “crazy horse agate.”
Limits of this research
- Research status: Formation, occurrence or other material-specific findings found in authoritative sources
- “Crazy horse agate” is a commercial variety name with no authoritative definition; this record uses general agate mechanisms by analogy.
- The sources do not describe localities or typical patterns of crazy horse agate; the pattern correspondence is inferred.
- No absolute age or growth duration is available for this material.
Methodology
- Origin determination and its limits
- Quality grading and value factors
- How gemmology became a technical discipline
Evidence grades
- A
- Standards bodies, government geological surveys, peer-reviewed research and museum records
- B
- Institutional educational material
- C
- Specialist databases or cautious readings
A statement is never graded above its strongest source.
This section is LumaLark's own factual restatement of public authoritative sources, credited item by item; it contains no verbatim excerpts, images or third-party logos.
DecideListing name, disclosure, care and treatments
- Suggested listing name
- Crazy Lace Agate
GB/T 16552—2017 5.1.1 c)
Construction or treatment status
Natural identity; treatment status unknown
Treatments recorded for this material: Heated / Heat-treated (via parent material), Filled / Fracture-filled (via parent material), Dyed (via parent material)
Related:Disclosure and cautions
This page cannot answer
Natural? · Origin · Price
A lab report settles these; this wiki covers naming and disclosure.
Related:What this page can answer
Answer at a glance
"Crazy Lace Agate" is a market name rather than a mineral species name; before using it, verify: Trade name rather than a mineralogical species name.
What this means for you
Before buying, check the recommended listing name "Crazy Lace Agate" and any disclosed treatments on this page, and ask the seller for a grading report if in doubt.
Known uncertainty
- This entry's exact material identity is not fully settled.
- See “Disclosure and cautions” above
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-01
Trade-name ruling
- Trade name rather than a mineralogical species name.
- Suggested listing name
- Crazy Lace Agate
Care and wear
No care facts are recorded for this entry itself. Its parent material has care records: see Quartz.
Treatments and identification leads
One row per treatment, with three standards side by side: how often it occurs and how stable it is (CIBJO), its category in GB/T 16552—2017 Table B.1 (this site's paraphrase) and how the JJA/AGL 2025 table lists it. Each CIBJO value links to its entry under “Testing and market”, where the wording and source are given in full.
This table scrolls sideways on narrow screens.
| Treatment | Market frequency (CIBJO) | Stability (CIBJO) | GB/T 16552 category | JJA/AGL listing | Identification leads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heating | — | — | Optimization | — | — |
| Filling | — | — | Graded — see §5.4.1, Table 1 | — | — |
| Dyeing | — | — | Optimization | — | — |
“—” means the cited source gives no value for that item, not “none”. Source: GB/T 16552—2017 Table B.1 (row for Chalcedony)
Whether a treatment has to show in the name differs between the two rule sets (this site’s paraphrase):
- GB/T 16552—2017: a method classed as treatment has to be stated in the name itself — the method put before the name, or added in brackets after it; a method classed as optimization does not need to appear in the name, though one marked “Optimization (annotation required)” still has to be noted in the quality documents. Source: §5.4.2.1 a), b); §5.4.2.2 a)
- CIBJO Gemstone Book 2022: no longer splits treatments into ones that need specific disclosure and ones that need only general disclosure: every treatment is to be disclosed, and the seller tells the buyer which treatment was used and what special care it calls for. Source: §4.2.5 Note 2, §4.2.5.1, pp.14–15
What this table covers
What this page can give
- Registered treatments, their stability and how often they occur (see the table above)
- Identification leads for each treatment, for use when sending a stone for testing
VerifyNames, standards, technical facts, clauses and sources
Names
Besides Crazy Lace Agate, the name register records "Mexican crazy lace agate", for which no restriction on use as a name is recorded.
Name register
Every name recorded for this entry, with how it is classified, whether it may be matched to this entry automatically, whether it may be used as a product name, and the clause it rests on.
This table scrolls sideways on narrow screens.
| Name | Type | Matching | Use as a name | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no restriction recorded (1) | ||||
| Mexican crazy lace agateEnglish | market name | matched automatically | no restriction recorded | editorial ruling (no clause cited) |
How each authority words this name: see Names › Authority wording.
- GSJ (Japan) formal name
- クレイジーレースアゲート (not yet checked for this body — the entry's own Japanese name is shown)
- GB/T naming counterpart (this name is not in the standard)
- 玛瑙 (GB/T 16552—2017 §5.1.1 c))
- Mineralogical name
- Banded chalcedony; trade variety name
- Trade names and synonyms
- Mexican crazy lace agate (market name)
Four-language names
- 简体中文
- 疯马玛瑙
- 繁體中文
- 瘋馬瑪瑙
- English
- Crazy Lace Agate
- 日本語
- クレイジーレースアゲート
See also: Misleading and prohibited trade names · Supplementary name index
Classification
- Origin
- Natural materials
- Material domain
- Natural inorganic gem materials
- Browsing family
- Quartz and chalcedony materials
- Identity tier
- Trade name: colour / appearance variety
- Mineral chemical class
- Silicates
- Construction or treatment status
- Natural identity; treatment status unknown
Treatments listed by standards
Treatments for Crazy Lace Agate are classified by this site applying the “Chalcedony (Agate/Jasper)” row of GB/T 16552—2017, Annex B, Table B.1: heating is listed as an optimization; filling is graded under the cited standard; dyeing is listed as an optimization. The full row, with the effect notes, is on the Chalcedony page; what Table B.1 is and how the cited grades are defined are on the Gem treatments page.
GB/T 16552-2017, Annex B, Table B.1
Under the “Chalcedony (Agate/Jasper)” row of Table B.1: Heating Optimization; Filling Graded — see §5.4.1, Table 1; Dyeing Optimization. The full row, with the effect column, is on the Chalcedony page.
What Table B.1 is, and how the “see 5.4.1” grades are defined: see the GB/T 16552: optimization vs treatment page.
What it is and how it's identified
Among the material facts for Crazy Lace Agate, structure, Mohs hardness, cleavage, density, refractive index, optic character, birefringence, pleochroism and optical effects are given by the cited clauses for chalcedony (including agate and jasper, the whole class) and are not measured on Crazy Lace Agate separately; chemical composition, fluorescence, UV-visible spectrum, infrared spectrum and magnification are given for the same class in the Chalcedony entry. Values for chalcedony (including agate and jasper, the whole class): the structure is a cryptocrystalline aggregate with a compact, massive form; Mohs hardness 5–7; no cleavage; density 2.5–2.77 g/cm³; optic character that of an anisotropic aggregate; refractive index 1.535–1.539, with further sub-grades in the clause and the overall value registered; birefringence that cannot be measured on the aggregate; when untreated, pleochroism cannot be measured on the aggregate and the quality factor (lustre) is vitreous to greasy; both an optical effect (iridescence) and the cat's-eye effect can be seen.
Registered material facts
Each row carries its own source and check date and can be cited on its own; “—” means the cited source gives no value, not “none”.
Chemical composition, luminescence, UV-visible spectrum, infrared spectrum, magnification: these whole-class features are given in the cited clause for chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class), so they are not repeated on the Crazy Lace Agate page; see the material facts on the Chalcedony entry.
Items below that name the class they cover give the cited clause’s value for that whole class, not a measurement of Crazy Lace Agate (how to read class-level values).
Structure
Crazy Lace Agate — structure (overall): a cryptocrystalline aggregate, dense and massive in habit; it may also form spherulitic, radial or finely fibrous aggregates.
GB/T 16553—2017
- Does this standard apply
- applies to this entry
- What this covers
- chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class)
Source & check 2026-09-26
- Source
- GB/T 16553—2017 Gems — Testing (GB/T): §5.2.5 (locator checked 2026-09-26)
- Fact checked on
- 2026-09-26
Durability
Crazy Lace Agate — Mohs hardness: 5–7
GB/T 16553—2017
Reference points on this site: Talc 1–3, Fluorite 4, Apatite 5–5.5, Orthoclase 6–6.5, Topaz 8, Diamond 10 (Source: GB/T 16553—2017); Gypsum 1.5–2, Calcite 3, Quartz 7 (Source: Handbook of Mineralogy); Corundum 9 (Source: GIA Gem Encyclopedia (care guide))
- Does this standard apply
- applies to this entry
- What this covers
- chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class)
Source & check 2026-09-26
- Source
- GB/T 16553—2017 Gems — Testing (GB/T): §5.2.5 (locator checked 2026-09-26)
- Fact checked on
- 2026-09-26
Crazy Lace Agate — cleavage: none
GB/T 16553—2017
- Does this standard apply
- applies to this entry
- What this covers
- chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class)
Source & check 2026-09-26
- Source
- GB/T 16553—2017 Gems — Testing (GB/T): §5.2.5 (locator checked 2026-09-26)
- Fact checked on
- 2026-09-26
Physical properties
Crazy Lace Agate — density: 2.5–2.77 g/cm³
GB/T 16553—2017
- Does this standard apply
- applies to this entry
- What this covers
- chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class)
Source & check 2026-09-26
- Source
- GB/T 16553—2017 Gems — Testing (GB/T): §5.2.5 (locator checked 2026-09-26)
- Fact checked on
- 2026-09-26
Optical
Crazy Lace Agate — optic character: anisotropic aggregate
GB/T 16553—2017
- Does this standard apply
- applies to this entry
- What this covers
- chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class)
Source & check 2026-09-26
- Source
- GB/T 16553—2017 Gems — Testing (GB/T): §5.2.5 (locator checked 2026-09-26)
- Fact checked on
- 2026-09-26
Crazy Lace Agate — refractive index: 1.535–1.539
GB/T 16553—2017
- Does this standard apply
- applies to this entry
- What this covers
- chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class)
- General note
- the clause has finer ranges
Source & check 2026-09-26
- Source
- GB/T 16553—2017 Gems — Testing (GB/T): §5.2.5 (locator checked 2026-09-26)
- Fact checked on
- 2026-09-26
Crazy Lace Agate — birefringence: not measurable on an aggregate
GB/T 16553—2017
- Does this standard apply
- applies to this entry
- What this covers
- chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class)
Source & check 2026-09-26
- Source
- GB/T 16553—2017 Gems — Testing (GB/T): §5.2.5 (locator checked 2026-09-26)
- Fact checked on
- 2026-09-26
Crazy Lace Agate — pleochroism: not measurable on an aggregate
GB/T 16553—2017
- Treatment state
- untreated
- Does this standard apply
- applies to this entry
- What this covers
- chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class)
Source & check 2026-09-26
- Source
- GB/T 16553—2017 Gems — Testing (GB/T): §5.2.5 (locator checked 2026-09-26)
- Fact checked on
- 2026-09-26
Crazy Lace Agate — optical effect (iridescence): seen
GB/T 16553—2017
- Does this standard apply
- applies to this entry
- What this covers
- chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class)
Source & check 2026-09-26
- Source
- GB/T 16553—2017 Gems — Testing (GB/T): §5.2.5 (locator checked 2026-09-26)
- Fact checked on
- 2026-09-26
Crazy Lace Agate — optical effect (chatoyancy): seen
GB/T 16553—2017
- Does this standard apply
- applies to this entry
- What this covers
- chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class)
Source & check 2026-09-26
- Source
- GB/T 16553—2017 Gems — Testing (GB/T): §5.2.5 (locator checked 2026-09-26)
- Fact checked on
- 2026-09-26
- CIBJO definitions
- chatoyancy
Quality factors
Crazy Lace Agate — quality factor (lustre): vitreous to greasy
GB/T 16553—2017
- Treatment state
- untreated
- Does this standard apply
- applies to this entry
- What this covers
- chalcedony, including agate and jasper (the whole class)
Source & check 2026-09-26
- Source
- GB/T 16553—2017 Gems — Testing (GB/T): §5.2.5 (locator checked 2026-09-26)
- Fact checked on
- 2026-09-26
Each row's “Source & check” expands to the full source; the date beside it is the fact check date.
This material (RI / SG midpoints): 1.537 / 2.63; Closest values: 1Amethyst 1.548 / 2.67, 2Charoite 1.554 / 2.66, 3Changhua Stone 1.56 / 2.6, 4Shoushan Stone 1.56 / 2.7, 5Balin Stone 1.56 / 2.55
Show the full chart (330 registered materials)
Outside the full chart's range, drawn as triangles at the edge (RI / SG midpoints): Hematite 3.045/5.12, Synthetic Rutile 2.76/4.26, Rutile 2.753/4.23, Synthetic Moissanite 2.67/3.22
Testing and market
The CIBJO laboratory protocol covers Crazy Lace Agate under “Chalcedony” (§6.1.16): see identification on the Chalcedony entry; the required tests are listed on the CIBJO laboratory protocol table for Chalcedony.
How far testing can go
Each row's “Source & check” expands to the full source; the date beside it is the fact check date.
Evidence and sources
Authority basis and clause sources
Sources
Further reading
Related entries and topic cluster
Parent entry and related pages on this site. Rows marked “Planned” are suggested new content and have no link yet.
Related-entry tree for Quartz on this site: 74 entries listed by this site's parent-entry links; synthetic, treated and similar entries carry their recorded state after the name; this page (Crazy Lace Agate) is marked.
- Quartz
Sub-entries (57)
- Agate
Sub-entries (1)
- Amethyst
- Ametrine
- Aventurine Quartz
- Aventurine Quartz / Green Aventurine
- Banded Agate
- Black Agate
- Bloodstone / Heliotrope
- Blue Lace Agate
- Carnelian
- Chalcedony
Sub-entries (2)
- Chrysoprase
- Citrine
- Clear Quartz / Rock Crystal
- Coated Quartz
- Colourless to White Quartz (brand name: Azeztulite)
- Crazy Lace Agate
- Dendritic Agate
- Dyed Agate (Treated: dyed)
- Elestial Quartz / Skeletal Quartz
- Eye Agate
- Flower Agate / Cherry Blossom Agate
- Green Quartz
- High-clarity quartz with golden needle-like inclusions
- Included Quartz
- Jasper
Sub-entries (1)
- Madeira Citrine
- Malachite Agate
- Morion / very dark Smoky Quartz
- Moss Agate
- Moss Chalcedony
- Multi-inclusion Quartz
- Onyx (banded chalcedony)
- Phantom Quartz
- Prase
- Prasiolite / Green Quartz
- Quartz Cat’s-eye
- Quartz claimed to be from the Himalayas
- Quartz Crystal
- Quartz with dark needle-like inclusions
- Quartz with fine fibrous inclusions
- Quartz with flower-like inclusions
- Quartz with golden needle-like inclusions
- Quartz with green needle-like inclusions
- Quartzite Jade
- Quartzose Jade
- Red Agate
- Rock Crystal
- Rose Quartz
- Rutilated Quartz
- Sard
- Sardonyx
- Silicified Asbestos
Sub-entries (2)
- Hawk’s Eye
- Tiger’s Eye
Sub-entries (1)
- Smoky Quartz
- Smoky Quartz (brown variety)
- Strawberry Quartz
- Yellow-green Quartz
- Agate
This table scrolls sideways on narrow screens.
| Page | Content | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Browsing family | Quartz and chalcedony materials | Live |
| Treatments recorded for this material | Heated / Heat-treated (via parent material), Filled / Fracture-filled (via parent material), Dyed (via parent material) | Live |
| Related articles | To be added (placeholder) | Planned |
Who maintains this page
The material facts in the Crazy Lace Agate entry are maintained by the LumaLark wiki and matched one by one to the standard clauses or institutional sources they cite: every fact carries its source (with a clause or page locator) and a check date, so it can be traced back to the original. The entry exists so that buyers and sellers can check naming, disclosure and material facts item by item.