Metallic grey with a blood-red streak. And the one mineral whose imitation is exposed by a fridge magnet.
Brazil, England (Cumbria), the Lake Superior region, Australia5 field tests
Hematite is iron oxide, and it has the most memorable diagnostic property in common mineralogy: whatever colour its surface is — silver, grey, black, gunmetal — it always streaks red-brown. The name comes from the Greek for blood, and a specimen rubbed on an unglazed tile leaves a rust-red line that nothing else metallic-looking does.
It is also dense, at about 5.3 specific gravity, so a piece feels considerably heavier than it looks. That combination — heavy, metallic, red streak — is close to conclusive on its own.
The interesting part is what the market does with it. Almost every 'magnetic hematite' bracelet and 'hematite' magnet toy sold is not hematite at all but a manufactured barium or strontium ferrite, sometimes called hematine or magnehematite. Real hematite is only very weakly attracted to a magnet — it is paramagnetic, not ferromagnetic — so a stone that jumps to a fridge magnet or sticks to another bead has told you what it is.
Two tests, both free, and between them they settle hematite against every lookalike. The streak test is the primary one: drag the specimen firmly across unglazed porcelain — the back of a tile, the unglazed foot ring of a mug — and read the powder colour rather than the surface colour.
The magnet test is the secondary one, and it exists because of a specific commercial substitution rather than a natural confusion. Natural hematite may show a faint pull from a strong neodymium magnet; it will not hold a paperclip, and two hematite beads will not stick to each other.
| Property | Hematite | Magnetite | 'Magnetic hematite' (hematine) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Streak | Red-brown — diagnostic | Black | Grey to black |
| Magnetism | Very weak; will not hold a paperclip | Strongly magnetic | Strongly magnetic — manufactured to be |
| Specific gravity | About 5.3 | About 5.2 | About 5.0, variable |
| Mohs hardness | 5 – 6.5 | 5.5 – 6.5 | Variable |
| Habit | Botryoidal 'kidney ore', platy specularite, rosettes | Octahedra | Perfectly uniform beads and discs |
| Origin | Natural | Natural | Synthetic barium or strontium ferrite |
A grey metallic stone with a red streak that is not strongly magnetic is hematite. A grey metallic bead that sticks to another bead is a manufactured ferrite.
Ordered by how much each one proves. The decisive tests are worth your first two minutes; the supporting ones only matter once those agree.
This is the definitive test and it takes two seconds. Rub the specimen hard across the unglazed back of a tile or the foot of a mug. Hematite leaves an unmistakable red-brown line regardless of how silver or black the surface looks, because the powder colour is the mineral's true colour. Magnetite streaks black; galena streaks lead-grey; manufactured ferrite streaks grey to black.
Natural hematite is paramagnetic — a strong neodymium magnet may produce a faint tug, but the stone will not hold a paperclip and two pieces will not cling to each other. If a bead snaps to a magnet or sticks to its neighbour on the strand, it is a synthetic barium or strontium ferrite sold as magnetic hematite, which is a manufactured product rather than a mineral.
At about 5.3 specific gravity hematite is roughly twice as dense as quartz, and the weight is the first thing anyone notices. A light grey metallic-looking piece is more likely to be a coated or plated imitation, or a lightweight slag.
Natural hematite forms in characteristic shapes: smooth rounded botryoidal masses known as kidney ore, plates and micaceous flakes with a bright specular sheen, and iron roses. Perfectly uniform tumbled beads, discs and identical polished pebbles suggest a manufactured product, particularly when combined with strong magnetism.
Some inexpensive material is plated to achieve a bright mirror finish. Look at drill holes and worn contact points on beads: a plating shows a different, duller colour underneath. Genuine specularite's brightness is the mineral itself and continues through a broken edge.
There is no significant trade in fake hematite for value reasons — hematite is cheap. The substitution is functional: people want jewellery that clings, and hematite does not, so the industry made something that does and gave it hematite's name.
Hematine, magnehematite and 'magnetic hematite' are all synthetic ferrites. They are not frauds in the sense of being worth less than claimed, since hematite is worth very little either, but they are misnamed, and any health claim attached to the magnetism is outside what the house will comment on.
Each of these is checked differently. The ones with their own page have enough that is specific to them to be worth reading separately.
Hematite in bright micaceous plates, glittering like crushed metal.
Read within the checks aboveSpecimen figures rather than gem figures, for material in honest condition. Most finds are worth very little, and saying so plainly is more useful than encouraging you.
| Form | What it typically fetches | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tumbled hematite | $1 – 5 | Abundant iron ore |
| Kidney ore specimen, Cumbria | $20 – 120 | Classic locality; undamaged botryoidal surface |
| Iron rose (hematite rosette) | $30 – 300 | Habit, not material |
| 'Magnetic hematite' jewellery | A few dollars | Manufactured ferrite |
Hematite is one of the world's principal iron ores and correspondingly cheap. Specimen value sits entirely in habit — kidney ore, roses, bright specular plates — and in classic localities.
Lovenhall StoneThe tests tell you what it is. The instrument reads a photograph and offers a name to start from — then hands you back to the tile and the coin, which are what settle it.