Spinel crystallizes in the isometric system; common crystal forms are octahedra, usually twinned. It has an imperfect octahedral cleavage and a conchoidal fracture. Its hardness is 8, its specific gravity is 3.5–4.1, and it is transparent to opaque with a vitreous to dull luster. It may be colorless, but is...

Sodalite crystals are vitreous and transparent to translucent, however massive specimens can appear opaque. Although Sodalite appears similar to Lapis Lazuli, Sodalite is a royal blue rather than ultramarine and rarely contains Pyrite, a common inclusion in Lapis. It is further distinguished from similar minerals by its white streak of Calcite....

Dinosaurs have been more popular than ever since their starring role in the movie Jurassic Park. A more surprising result of the movie's popularity has been a worldwide surge in demand for amber jewelry. Although amber's use in adornment is probably as old as mankind, in recent history it has...

The color pink is associated with love and other matters of the heart, and pink tourmaline is the quintessential heart-chakra stone. It is a representative of the feminine, or yin energies. It is unsurpassed as a gemstone aid in healing old emotional wounds, particularly those of childhood. It emanates a...

Malachite is copper carbonate formed from very small crystals. It is usually found with alternating layers of light green and darker green. These color layers give malachite its distinctive appearance.Malachite is sometimes called the stone of transformation for its ability to help you on your path to spiritual growth. It...

Ancient and yet always at the height of current fashion: that is Turquoise for you. Its brilliant sky-blue belongs to the all-time favourite trend colours in the world of fashion and jewellery.In many cultures of the Old and New World this gemstone has for thousands of years been appreciated as...

A pyramid is any man-made structure where the upper surfaces are triangular and converge on one point. The base of a pyramid may be either quadrilateral or trilateral, meaning that a pyramid may have either three or four vertical sides, but all pyramids must have trilateral sides. The measurements of...

Sugilite, a fairly recent discovery (1944) is found in Japan, Canada and India. The most important occurrence was found in 1975 in the Kalahari Desert, Northern South Africa. In 1979 a large deposit of gem grade sugilite was found 3200 feet below the original discovery. Sugilite is named for the Japanese...

Lepidolite is an uncommon mica and has only in the past decade become available on the mineral market in large quantities. Lepidolite is an ore of lithium and forms in granitic masses that contain a substantial amount of lithium. The lithium content in lepidolite does vary greatly however and low...

This form of Cryptocrystaline Quartz contains inclusions of small crystals that reflect light and give a range of colors - depending on the nature of the inclusion. Hence aventurine may be green, greenish-brown, blueish-white, bluish green and orange. Aventurine has a hardness rating of 7. Aventurine has been confused with amazonite...

The name "topaz" is derived from the Greek topazos, "to seek," which was the name of an island in the Red Sea that was difficult to find and from which a yellow stone (now believed to be a yellowish olivine ) was mined in ancient times. In...

Coral makes jewellery of a very special fascinating charm: the perfect embodiment of mankinds yearning for summer, sun and faraway seas. The name as such, however, is still puzzling to linguists. Some are convinced that the Greek wordkoraillon is the root, as this signifies the hard and calcareous skeleton of...

Rose Quartz is a form of quartz that ranges in color from pink to deep red. The pink can be almost rose red and some African verities border on lavender. The color seems to be caused by iron and titanium impurities. However the color of rose quartz is still not completely...

A very common, coarse-grained variety of the silica mineral quartz that ranges in colour from nearly black through smoky brown. No distinct boundary exists between smoky and colourless quartz. Its abundance causes it to be worth considerably less than either amethyst or citrine. Heating bleaches the stone, the colour sometimes...

Larimar (misspelled: lorimar) is a rare blue variety of pectolite found only in the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean. Its coloration varies from white, light-blue, green-blue to deep blue Larimar

Tiger Eye is a durable quartz composite. It begins as the fibrous blue mineral called crocidolite, which is comprised of iron & sodium. Most of us known crocidolite as asbestos. The transformation begins when quartz becomes imbedded between the fibers of crocidolite. This process will result in one of two...

The many colors of fluorite are truly wonderful. The rich purple color is by far fluorite's most famous and popular color. Fluorite Pebble with Silver BraceletClick to view this item   It easily competes with the beautiful purple of amethyst. Often specimens of fluorite and amethyst with similar shades of purple are used in...

Following is a simple correspondence chart of chakras, colors and notes. Energy Center Location Element Issues Right Color Note 1 st Root Base of spine Earth Physical needs To have Red C 2nd Sacral Lower abdomen Water Sexuality, emotions To feel Orange D 3rd Solar Plexus Solar plexus Fire Power, vitality To act Yellow E 4th Heart Heart Air Love To love Green F 5th Throat Throat Sound Communication To speak Blue G 6th Third Eye Brow Light Intuition To see Indigo A 7th Crown Top of Head Thought Understanding To know Violet B

Peridot is an ancient and yet currently very popular gemstone. It is so old that it can be found even in Egyptian jewellery from the early second millennium BC. The stones used in those days came from an occurrence on a little volcanic island in the Red Sea, about 70...

This gemstone is called the gemstone of the Vikings, Iolite is also very often mistaken for Tanzanite. It derives it's name from the Greek work 'ios' which means violet. This gemstone is bluish violet in color, Iolite with prominent blue color tones resembles blue sapphire and in lighter blue violet...