Hard Crystals and Stones suitable for a pocket

During the summer, I bought myself a lovely charoite thumb stone to carry about with me in my pocket. I really liked the stone and it travelled with me ever since. However, this week whilst I was at the swimming pool, it fell out of my pocket and broke. I feel bad, because I don't want to keep buying stones to replace broken ones - whilst I like crystals I don't like buying loads, and also because I was very fond of the stone itself! The stone is now 'in retirement', half buried in a plant pot so that the broken side doesn't show. However, before I get a replacement, does anyone have any recommendations for harder stones? Ideally I would like one for focus and/or absorbing negativity, but a tough cookie would be preferable to everything! since I swim daily, then realistically the chance of it slipping out of a pocket again is high. I've looked at a couple of sites which have a 'hardness' rating, but I don't know which number = hard, and which = soft, so that's not very helpful!

Thanks!

Apellis xxxx

Diamond is the hardest of all, at 10, beneath that you have carborundum (sp?) at 9, which includes sapphires, emeralds, and rubies....below that would be topaz at 8, and then quartz at 7.

I would suggest a quartz crystal. They are inexpensive and great for absorbing negative energy and focusing...also easily replacable.
But have you thought about a quartz pendant that can be worn around your neck while you swim?

http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/property/hardness.htm
a great scientific fact site!

ETA: maybe dumortierite? Although I think just about any stone could break falling on surfaces around pools.

Hiya,

Thanks for these suggestions - yes, I have tried pendants in the past but they bang against my neck when I'm turning to breathe! A bracelet would work, I think, but it was the feeling of being able to actually put my thumb into it (the stone I got had a groove in the shape of a thumb print). However, I eventually ordered a new one and decided to make sure I have deeper pockets! I agree that crystal vs swimming pool floor is probably just going to cause the odd accident...

I tend to carry stones around and I've found that anything from the quarts group wears well (including amethyst, citrine, etc.). My husband has an Aventurine that he's carried in his pocket for nearly a year, and since he's in construction I think it's safe to assume that's one tough stone (LOL).

You may also want to try a tumbled Apache Tear, which I've found to be specifically useful for absorbing negative energies.

Smaller, rounder pieces are harder to break because they require more force to break (relatively small surface area on the sides to apply said force, and a relatively large cross section in the middle that has to fault)

Some of the softer rocks may also be less prone to break because they dont have the same crystal matrix. The only problem that is instead of breaking off, they can get gouged instead.

It could be a matter of how brittle the stone is, compared to how hard it is, but they two go kinda hand in hand.

I find Jaspers aren't very brittle at all, any thing in the quartz family and Aventurine works well too, because it wants to turn into a little ball when it's tumbled.

Sadly, my beloved black Tourmaline, my panacea is really brittle. I get pieces that are less than a half inch round to carry in my pocket because it seems like anything larger wants to shatter on me. But that just goes to show a smaller stone can resist breaking when a large sample would be prone to exploding on you.