With a value of only 5 on the Moths scale of hardness, apatite is seldom faceted as a gemstone, expect for collection. However, when cut correctly, stones are bright with strong colors. Transparent to opaque, apatite occurs as colorless, yellow, and blue, coiled, or green hexagonal primes or tabular crystals.

Apatite is an abundant mineral, found in many types of rock, but most gem-quality materials is associated with pegmatite's. Blue Burmese apatite is strongly dichotic, and shows colorless or blue when viewed from different directions. Fibrous blue apatite from Burma and Sri Lanka may be cut en cabochon to show a cat's-eye. Chatoyant stones are also found in Brazil, along with yellow, blue and green varieties. Other localities include the Kola Peninsula (Russia), Canada, East Africa, Sweden, Spain, and Mexico.

Spanish apatite is often called "asparagus stone", due to its yellowish green color.