My younger brother is still in school. Yesterday, I wanted to put a candy in his bag to surprise him, but I accidentally found this inside. I’ve been looking at it for half an hour, but I still can’t figure out what it is.
You pull it out, confused. It looks vaguely like a handful of small, smooth, oval-shaped candies, perhaps like white-chocolate-coated almonds or polished mints. But as you inspect them closer, you realize they don’t smell like sugar, and they certainly don’t look like anything you’d want to eat. You stare at them for half an hour, turning them over in your palm, wondering what on earth they are doing in a student’s backpack.
If you’ve found yourself holding a handful of smooth, porcelain-white stones veined with striking black or charcoal streaks, don’t worry—you haven’t stumbled upon a strange new confection. You have likely discovered Howlite beads.
What Is Howlite?
Howlite is a fascinating borate mineral that is widely cherished in the world of lapidary arts and jewelry making. In its raw form, it is often found in large nodules, but it is most commonly encountered by the public after it has been tumbled, polished, and shaped into smooth beads or small, palm-sized stones.
The defining characteristic that likely made you think they were candy is their appearance. Howlite is naturally opaque and creamy white. What makes it truly beautiful—and what creates that “candy-coated” marbleized effect—are the erratic, dark veins of gray, brown, or black matrix that run through the stone.
Why Are They in a School Bag?
Finding these in a student’s bag is much more common than you might think. Because Howlite is a relatively soft and smooth stone, it is often utilized in ways that have nothing to do with traditional jewelry:
