[3][4] It is named after its type locality, the Geisspfad serpentinite, Valle Antigorio in the border region of Italy/Switzerland[5] and is commonly used as a gemstone in jewelry and carvings.

[6] Serpentines are commonly found in the ultramafic greenschist facies of subduction zones, and are visible on the Earth's surface through secondary exhumation.

[7] Olivine under hydrothermal action, low grade metamorphism and weathering will transform into antigorite, which is often associate with talc and carbonate.

Bowenite, known for George T. Bowen from Rhode Island (the variety's type locality), who first analyzed the mineral, is translucent and light to dark green, often mottled with cloudy white patches and darker veining.

[14] Antigorite's basic composition has a smaller ratio of octahedral to tetrahedral cations (relative to lizardite and chrysotile),[15] allowing the structure to compensate for the misfit of sheets through periodic flipping of the curved tetrahedra layers, and subsequently their polarity.

[17] The sheets of tetrahedra allow the platy, fibrous crystals to separate parallel to the 001 (basal) plane, giving antigorite its perfect cleavage.