Scottish agate hei toki adze style pendant.

This Hei Toki pendant is shaped from Scottish agate, a stone deeply tied to the rugged landscapes and ancestral bloodlines of Scotland. Agate has long been valued as a grounding companion — a stone of endurance, clarity, and quiet inner resilience. Pair that with the Hei Toki form, traditionally symbolising strength, skill, and mastery, and you’ve got a piece that carries a double lineage of meaning.

Hand-carved and finished by me in the workshop, this pendant keeps things honest: clean lines, natural patterns, and the stone’s own character leading the way. The colours shift from earthy warmth to subtle translucence — very much in keeping with Scottish agate’s reputation for looking like it holds weather and coastline inside it.

Perfect for someone who connects with Celtic ancestry, Scottish heritage, or simply appreciates the symbolism of the adze shape. Whether worn as a protective talisman, a grounding piece for ritual or meditation, or just as a meaningful everyday pendant, it carries a quiet strength without needing to shout.

A piece for someone who values real material, real craft, and real story.

This Hei Toki pendant is shaped from Scottish agate, a stone formed over millions of years within ancient volcanic cavities. As mineral-rich water slowly deposited microscopic layers of silica (mainly chalcedony and quartz), distinctive banding and colours emerged — the natural fingerprint that makes every piece of agate unique. Scottish agate is especially prized for its durability (Mohs hardness 6.5–7), its fine-grained structure, and the way it holds light within those layered bands.

Carved into the Hei Toki form — a traditional adze shape symbolising strength, skill, capability, and the ability to carve one’s own path — this pendant blends geological history with cultural symbolism. The agate’s natural patterns shift from earthy tones to subtle translucence, typical of Scottish agate, which is shaped by Scotland’s volcanic past and glacial erosion.

Spiritually, agate is often seen as a grounding stone: steady, protective, and supportive of emotional balance. Pair that with the ancestral weight of both its Scottish origins and the Hei Toki shape, and you’ve got a talisman that bridges land, lineage, and craft.

Mineral family:
Agate is a variety of chalcedony, which is itself a microcrystalline form of quartz.

Crystal structure:
• Chalcedony = fibrous microcrystalline quartz
• Structure: Trigonal crystal system (same as quartz)
• The fibres interlock in microscopic bands — that’s what creates agate’s characteristic stripes and patterns.

Chemical composition:
• Silicon dioxide — SiO₂
• Trace elements (iron, manganese, chromium, etc.) create the colours and banding variations.

Mohs hardness:
• 6.5 – 7
Hard enough for daily wear, resistant to scratches, and tough because the microcrystals interlock tightly.

Lustre:
• Waxy to vitreous (depending on polish and density of chalcedony layers).

Formation:
• Forms in gas bubbles within ancient volcanic rock.
• Silica-rich water percolates through the rock over millions of years, depositing layer after layer.
• Each band is essentially a geological “time stamp,” reflecting small chemical changes in the water as it flowed and cooled.

Density / Specific gravity:
• Typically 2.58 – 2.64

Fracture:
• Conchoidal (classic quartz-style shell-like break).

Transparency:
• Translucent, sometimes semi-transparent depending on purity and band thickness.