The name Hematite, from the Greek word for Blood, is apt as while the gemstone is a shiny metallic colour, when powdered it is blood red in appearance. Shiny Hematite crystals are also called Specularite for the Latin for Mirror.
In Hematite the main causal colour agent is Iron, imparting the stone with its metallic sheen when polished. Being a metallic ore the stone is opaque and therefore always cut as a cabochon.
