Clinochlore was found and described by the famous Russian mineralogist Nikolai I. Koksharov (1818 – 1892) who was once the director of the Imperial Mineralogical Society. This mineral got its name from the Greek words for inclined and green since its structure is monoclinic and its common color is green.
Seraphinite which is the gem variety of clinochlore has silvery chatoyant fibers much like charoite. There is a common opinion that Seraphinite can be used only as a mineral specimen, because of its softness. We think it’s not true – we make various goods from Seraphinite, it looks great in jewelry. This material can keep polishing quite well, and it is not as fragile as it seems.