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Beryl

Beryl

Beryl (beryllium aluminum cyclosilicate) is the name of a family of stones that includes Emerald, Bixbite, Aquamarine, Morganite, Goshenite, Golden Beryl, Heliodor, and Honey Yellow Beryl. It is found in a variety of colors and is quite durable (except emerald). Pure Beryl is colorless, but it is often tinted by impurities, giving you the gemstones listed above. Beryl is found in many parts of Europe, the United States, and other parts of the world.

Chalcedony

Chalcedony

A subset of quartz. Chalcedony refers to cryptocrystalline quartz, that is, quartz whose crystals are too small to be seen, and includes agate, bloodstone, carnelian, chrysoprase, jasper, and onyx. This can be contrasted with macrocrystalline quartz such as amethyst, citrine, clear quartz, rose quartz, smoky quartz, and tiger’s eye. Here’s a thorough explanation.

Cherry Quartz

Cherry Quartz

A manufactured stone that resembles strawberry quartz but is actually glass. photo credit

Cinnabar

Cinnabar

A soft stone composed of mercury sulfide, cinnabar is bright or brick red in color and is often carved in intricate fashion. Today, much jewelry called cinnabar is actually a heavy molded polymer made to resemble cinnabar beads, or red lacquered wood. photo credit

Coral

Coral

Precious coral beads are made from harvesting deap-sea coral beds that are formed from the exoskeletons of the coral sea creature, and forming that coral into beads. Other coral beads are harvested from other sources of coral and died red. Corals of all kinds grow very slowly, and harvesting has depleted the world-wide supply. Regulations are beginning to protect them, much like ivory, but many places where coral is harvested are still unregulated.

Cubic Zirconia

Cubic Zirconia

A synthesized mineral used as an affordable substitute for diamonds. While similar in appearance, diamonds are somewhat harder and lighter. Cubic zirconia gemstones have been made commercially since 1976. photo credit

Druzy

Druzy

Druzy (also called druse, drusy) is a layer of tiny quartz crystals that sometimes form on gemstones, giving them a striking sparkly appearance. Gemstones with this effect are often made into pendants and are sometimes coated with thin layers of metal to enhance the effect.

Freshwater Pearls

Freshwater Pearls

These form in freshwater mussels the way regular pearls form in saltwater oysters. They come in a variety of irregular or oblong shapes, and are rarely the perfect round shape of saltwater pearls. photo credit

Goldstone

Goldstone

Goldstone is a man-made glass with sparkling materials suspended within it. It is sometimes called aventurine glass, although it is not related to the naturally occurring quartz crystal called aventurine. Natural aventurine also sparkles from inclusions of mica, so there is a superficial resemblance. Goldstone comes in an reddish-orange hue with the sparkles coming from copper, and blue with the sparkles coming from cobalt or manganese.

Mohs Scale

Also known as the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, it was invented in 1812 by German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. It is a way to rate the hardness of a gemstone or mineral as compared to other stones and minerals. The Mohs scale ranges from one to ten, one being the softest, ten being the hardest. Diamond, the hardest natural substance rates as a ten, while talc rates as a one. It should be noted that the Mohs scale does not deal with the absolute hardness of a substance, just its hardness as related to the ten readily available minerals Friedrich Mohs initially analyzed.

Morion

A variety of smoky quartz that is opaque and dark brown or black in color.

Mother of Pearl

Mother of Pearl

Also known as nacre, mother of pearl is an inner shell layer produced by some mollusks. It is also what makes up the outer coating of pearls. It is iridescent, and typically a milky white with shimmery pastel yellows, blues, and greens. photo credit

Opalite

Opalite

Opalite is a man-made stone consisting of glass made to resemble opals. It is usually translucent or milky white, and tends to look blue against a dark background.

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Orgonite

Orgonite

Orgonite is a man-made material consisting of metal and crystal suspended in resin. Organite pieces are meant to collect and amplify orgone energy, which is similar to the concept of chi and prana in various Eastern spiritual traditions.

Paraiba

Paraiba is a type of tourmaline of a particular turquoise-blue color, originally found in Paraiba, Brazil. Since it was discovered, tourmaline of a similar color has been found elsewhere and also called Paraiba tourmaline. Since it is rare, Paraiba tourmaline is expensive. Soon, people began selling other blue stone of a similar color as “paraiba apatite” or “paraiba topaz”. This is creative marketing and has nothing to do with the original deposit of tourmaline found in Brazil.

Quartz

Quartz

A broad term meaning very hard mineral composed of silica. Many gemstones are quartz, including crystal quartz, citrine, opal, agate, rose quartz, amethyst, and tiger’s eye.

Rhodolite Garnet

Rhodolite Garnet

Garnet is not a single gemstone; it is a group of related silicate minerals. Pyrope is one type, and rhodolite is a type of pyrope. Rhodolite garnet is a purplish-red gem.