Types of Stones
Agate
Agate
A fine-grained variegated chalcedony (a member of the quartz family, named in 1570), usually with colours arranged in stripes, blended in clouds or showing moss-like forms. It is found throughout the world, Brazil, Uruguay, USA & Europe. Agates are generally formed by water seeping into cavities in volcanic rocks and depositing mineral salts in layers which over centuries have hardened into varied-coloured bands of chalcedony. These bands are often concentric, producing beautiful patterns.
Agate Blue Lace
Agate Blue Lace
A fine-grained variegated chalcedony (a member of the quartz family, named in 1570), usually with colours arranged in stripes, blended in clouds or showing moss-like forms. Agates are generally formed by water seeping into cavities in volcanic rocks and depositing mineral salts in layers which over centuries have hardened into varied-coloured bands of chalcedony. These bands are often concentric, producing beautiful patterns.
Amazonite
Amazonite
A variety of feldspar, which is the most abundant and common material known, amazonite can vary from a green jade colour to turquoise. It is formed in usually large crystals, some up to a ton in size, in the pegmatite stage of granite. Named in 1879 after the Amazon River.
Amber
Amber
A 14th century organic gem, amber is the fossilised resin from prehistoric pine trees. These now-extinct plants produced enormous quantities of resin which fell to the ground or filled large cracks and holes in the trees where it eventually became fossilised. It is hard and golden to yellow-brown in colour.
Amethyst
Amethyst
A variety of crystallised quartz that occurs in colours ranging from deep purple to pale lavender. The presence of manganese in clear quartz produces amethyst, while the amount of iron content varies the strength of the purple colouration. The name derives from the Greek word amethystos, meaning remedy for drunkenness.
Apatite
Apatite
Apatite came from the Greek word†'apatao'†(1780s), which means 'to deceive' as it was often confused with Aquamarine, Beryl or Emerald. The typical colours of apatite range from tropical blues to shades of greens and yellows. Although colours such as pinks, purples and browns have been found.
Beryl
Beryl
Named in the 14th century, this very hard mineral consists of a silicate of beryllium and aluminium. Beryl occurs in a number of differently coloured stones of which emerald is one. Colourless, it is named goshenite, golden it is called heliodor, pink is known as morganite, and the well-known blue variety is aquamarine.
Bronzite
Bronzite
Bronzite is from the pyroxene group of minerals along with enstatite and a closely related gem Hypersthene. Rather then a specific species, Bronzite is rather a variety of enstatite. A green to brown colour with a golden metallic glow. Found mainly in Brazil.
Calcite, Blue
Calcite, Blue
A widespread mineral. Crystals are relatively common and display a large variety of shapes ranging from short stubby crystals to long needle-like forms. As they are found in so many areas and are associated with such a wide variety of minerals, they are one of the most sought after minerals for collectors.
Calcite, Clear / Optical
Calcite, Clear / Optical
A widespread mineral. Crystals are relatively common and display a large variety of shapes ranging from short stubby crystals to long needle-like forms. As they are found in so many areas and are associated with such a wide variety of minerals, they are one of the most sought after minerals for collectors.
Calcite, Green
Calcite, Green
A widespread mineral. Crystals are relatively common and display a large variety of shapes ranging from short stubby crystals to long needle-like forms. As they are found in so many areas and are associated with such a wide variety of minerals, they are one of the most sought after minerals for collectors.
Calcite, Orange
Calcite, Orange
A widespread mineral. Crystals are relatively common and display a large variety of shapes ranging from short stubby crystals to long needle-like forms. As they are found in so many areas and are associated with such a wide variety of minerals, they are one of the most sought after minerals for collectors.
Calcite, Pink Mangano
Calcite, Pink Mangano
A widespread mineral. Crystals are relatively common and display a large variety of shapes ranging from short stubby crystals to long needle-like forms. As they are found in so many areas and are associated with such a wide variety of minerals, they are one of the most sought after minerals for collectors.
Calcite, Yellow
Calcite, Yellow
A widespread mineral. Crystals are relatively common and display a large variety of shapes ranging from short stubby crystals to long needle-like forms. As they are found in so many areas and are associated with such a wide variety of minerals, they are one of the most sought after minerals for collectors.
Carnelian
Carnelian
A hard and tough translucent form of chalcedony (named in 1695) that usually occurs in a uniform colour of red, orange or red-brown.
Danburite
Danburite
The name originates from the Town of Danbury in Connecticut USA where the material was first discovered ì although most material today comes from Mexico. It ranges from milky white to pink but can also be brilliantly clear in wedge-shaped crystals with parallel striations like those of topaz. It is light and fairly fragile.
Howlite
Howlite
A white opaque calcium borate with grey/black veining. The best known locality is outside Los Angeles but the area has now become residential.
Labradorite
Labradorite
A type of feldspar with an uninteresting background colour but displaying an iridescence which gives the stone its value. The background colour is a dark smoke grey, but when light strikes it in a particular direction, it displays striking rainbow-coloured reflections (peacock blue, coppery red or dusky gold) known as labradorescence. The name derives (1814) from its main source, the Labrador peninsula in Canada.
Libyan Desrt Glass
Libyan Desrt Glass
Libyan Desert glass, also known as Great Sand Sea glass. It is a glassy object produced by the fusion of rock fragments by the heat developed from the impact of a meteorite on the earth’s surface. Libyan desert glass is found in areas in the eastern Sahara, in the deserts of eastern Libya, and western Egypt.
Magnesite
Magnesite
All the material on the market over the last 20-years has come from Zimbabwe either cauliflower-shaped nuggets (known as Turqureniteù when dyed to look like Turquoise) or in massive white form with grey blotching (incorrectly known as Howliteù, especially when dyed blue).
Moldavite
Moldavite
Moldavite belongs to the Tektite Group. Generally rough in shape in a pleasing green with a scarred surface and bubble-looking indentations. The most widely accepted theory behind the origin of moldavite is that it was formed by sand and rock particles melting as they shot through the atmosphere after a very large meteorite crashed into the earth’s surface. Everything around it vaporized except the minerals which boiled and came back as meteorite showers with the pull of gravity.
Mookaite
Mookaite
A form of opaque, usually patterned, chalcedony which is found in massive formations. The mineral is usually stained by impurities and occurs in various colours such as red, green, brown or yellow. The popular red variety is a fine-grained quartz, coloured by inclusions of haematite. The colours may be arranged in bands of red or a mottled mixture of many different patterns and colours. It was named in the 14th century.
Pyrite
Pyrite
A common mineral consisting of iron disulphide found in blocks, gravel and crystals , pyrite is a pale brass-yellow or golden-yellow colour with a metallic lustre. The paler coloured variety found in unusual shaped crystals is known as Marcasite. Named in 1588.
Rose Quartz
Rose Quartz
Generally, as the name suggests, a very delicate soft pink, rose quartz is always somewhat milky rather than transparent, and varies in colour from an off-white pink to a warm rose-pink colour. The pink colour is created by the inclusion of manganese and sometimes titanium in the quartz rock.
Sugilite
Sugilite
A recently discovered mineral, sugilite was named after Professor Sugi who discovered it in Japan in 1944. The first discovery of gem quality Sugilite was made 3200 feet below the ground in Wessels Manganese Mine in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. A single pocket yielded about 10 tons of gem material, and no other sources have yet been discovered. Although sugilite is one of the most popular of the "new age" stones, the best material is very rare and even the lower qualities are limited. The colour ranges from deep purple to light violet, frequently with black flecks. The material is either formed against or mixed with hard Black Manganese from which it cannot always be separated. it is also associated with other Manganese Minerals which causes it's variation in colour.
Tourmaline
Tourmaline
Apparently derived from the Sinhalese turamali (1759) referring to mixed-colour gems of unknown identity, this is a stone of variable colour that makes a striking gem when transparent and cut. the pink (rubellite), blue (indicolite) and the more common green are the most popular varieties.