Flint is a very durable material that accepts a bright polish and often occurs in attractive colors. It is occasionally cut into cabochons, beads, and baroque shapes for use as a gemstone. It is also used to produce tumbled stones in a rock tumbler.

Most people have heard of a gem material called “jasper”. Jasper is an opaque variety of cryptocrystalline quartz. It obtains its color and opacity from a large amount of included mineral particles. Flint and jasper are similar materials and both are varieties of a gem material known as “chalcedony”.