Gemstones and Findings are listed Alphabetically.
Abalone is a common name for any of a group of small to very large edible sea creatures in the family Haliotidae. The thick inner layer of the shell is composed of nacre (mother-of-pearl), which in many species is highly iridescent, giving rise to a range of strong changeable colors, which make the shells attractive to humans as decorative objects, and jewelry.
Adventurine (see Quartz)
Agate is a variety of silica, chiefly chalcedony, characterized by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks. Agate occurs in wide range of colors and patterns. Although some colors occur more commonly than others, almost all agate will be multicolored due to unique banding process as the stone built up in layers inside cavities in the volcanic rocks.
Blue Lace Agate Blue Lace Agate is a variety of banded Chalcedony, a mineral of the Quartz family. It is usually banded in layers of predominantly light blue, striped with brighter blues, whites, and even brown threads of color.
Crazy Lace Agate comes in many colors naturally. Each stone has unusual colors swirling in a opaque background.
Dragon Vein Agate like other agates is a hard stone of the quartz family. Dragon Vein Agate has rich auburn tones with darker veins running through it.
Fire Agate has beautiful iridescent rainbow colors, similar to opal. It is found only in certain areas of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Approximately 24-36 million years ago these areas were subjected to massive volcanic activity. The fire agates were formed during this period of volcanism when hot water, saturated with silica and iron oxide, repeatedly filled cracks and bubbles in the surrounding rock.
Amethyst (see Quartz)
Amazonite is a form of potassium feldspar. The name is taken from the Amazon River but it is doubtful that any of this gem was mined near the river. It is actually mined in many locations around the world including: Colorado USA, Russia, Madagascar, China, Brazil, Africa, Ethiopia and Australia. The schiller in amazonite is the result of inclusions of very thin crystalline plates, causing a scattering of light between the layers, or an iridescence.
Amber is fossilized tree resin (not sap), which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since antiquity to the present as a gemstone. Amber is made into a variety of decorative objects and jewelry.
Cherry Amber is a more saturated cognac amber. It it a rich beautiful and captivating color. The amber jewelry using this cherry amber has a passionate enticing feel.
Cognac Amber as the name implies, is the color of cognac. It can vary slightly in lightness/darkness but in general the color is unmistakable.
Green Amber is not the green that most people have seen in stores. The natural green is very light in color and almost looks yellow. The green amber jewelry that is most commonly sold is created through a process that the jewelry makers keep very secret. We know that a paste is applied to the back of the gemstone then heated but the exact details of this application are a trade secret.
Honey Amber as the name implies is the color of honey. Like honey, it can vary in lightness/darkness but in general it't lighter than Cognac Amber.
Raw Amber is in it's original state and is unprocessed. It makes interesting jewelry and can be used as a teething aid given to babies in the form of a necklace. It's claimed that it sooths and has medicinal properties.
Apatite is a calcium phosphate mineral. Its crystal system is hexagonal (trigonal). It is found in Brazil, Burma, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, India, Mexico, Greenland, Canada and the USA. Its name is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘to deceive.’ This is because of the variety of colours and formations in which this stone occurs, making it easy to mistake it for other minerals. It can be yellow, blue, green, brown, grey or colourless.
Bone is a natural materials that is often used in jewelry making. Bone beads were first popularized in Native American designs and have now found their way into contemporary jewelry.
Carved Bone beads in tribal, ceremonial, and ethnic designs are hand-carved and colored by skilled craftspeople,
Chalcedony is not scientifically its own mineral species, but rather a form of Quartz in microcrystalline form. However, the name is an old name, and almost all mineral reference guides and collectors distinguish Chalcedony separately from Quartz. In the gem trade, the name Chalcedony usually describes only white or blue Chalcedony, to distinguish it from the multicolored banded variety Agate and other unique varieties of this mineral.
Carnelian a semiprecious stone, is an orange-colored variety of Chalcedony, a mineral of the Quartz family. Its color varies from pale pinkish-orange to a deep rusty brown, though it is most known for its brilliant orange and red-orange crystals. Its name comes from a Latin word meaning "flesh."
Citrine (See Quartz)
Crystal Beads are naturally occurring substances. However, other crystals are synthetically made. Either way, crystal is defined by its organic makeup, which features set patterns in the atomic structure. This gives crystal a unique shape with large planes and sharp angles. Because of this, some people have also discovered that crystal can be the perfect accent for jewelry and other crafts. Crystal beads became popular in the 1600s. During this period, more people started to make crystal synthetically using glass and lead. This allowed more people to buy crystal items, making crystal far more accessible than ever before. Since that time, crystal beads have remained popular for their sparkling elegance. When it comes to selecting beads that give a project an added boost of class, there are few beads that can get the job done like crystal.
Czech Glass Crystals have been produced for centuries. This unique glass is considered a crystal due to the way it is made and its overall appearance and is often chosen for its elegance. Because of this, they may carry a higher price tag, especially for those who are buying vintage.
Lead Glass is another crystal bead that is synthetically produced with a mixture of lead and glass. This combination makes these crystal beads retain the expected sparkle of crystal without breaking the budget.
Stone crystal beads are made from naturally occurring crystals, many of which are gemstones. These beads are naturally transparent and may feature the varied inconsistencies of stone. However, stone crystal beads may be artificially refined to standardize their appearance. Quartz is a popular choice for stone crystal beads.
Swarovski Crystal Beads have played a key role in designer jewelry and accessories based on complex yet flawless faceting that refracts light and sparkles like no other crystal on the market. In fact, many jewelry makers will only use Austrian crystal beads, pearls and components in their designs.
Fluorite has many industrial uses. Natural fluorite mineral has ornamental and lapidary uses also. Fluorite may be drilled into beads and used in jewelry, although due to its relative softness it is not widely used as a semiprecious stone. It is also used for ornamental carvings. It has an unusual property that causes some specimens to be "fluorescent" in black light. It come is many colors and is in fact one of the most colorful stones.
Garnet is a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones. They occur in shades of green, red, yellow, and orange.
Pyrope Garnet is a magnesium aluminum silicate, typically red with a brownish tint.
Glass Beads are a fascinating and beautiful creation. They have functioned as currency, gifts, works of art and symbols of high status. They are recorded as being created, traded, and worn as jewelry by the earliest civilized societies, from Egyptians to Romans, Vikings to Native Americans. There are nearly as many types of glass beads as there are colors in the spectrum.
Ceramic Beads are often handmade from a variety of clays or porcelain or stoneware. They may be pressed into molds, glazed, and fired in a kiln. Some are hand-painted with care to make exquisitely detailed patterns.
Czech Glass Beads and Crystals come from the Czech Republic and their manufacture is an age old cottage industry. These glass beads and crystals are still made in small quantities by hand and are the most consistent, beautiful glass beads and crystals available
Goldstone is a type of glittering glass. The most common form of goldstone is reddish-brown, containing tiny crystals of metallic copper that require a low-oxygen reducing atmosphere during it's creation. The initial batch is melted together from silica, copper oxide, and other metal oxides to chemically reduce the copper ions to elemental copper. The vat is then sealed off from the air and maintained within a narrow temperature range, keeping the glass hot enough to remain liquid while allowing metallic crystals to precipitate from solution without melting or oxidizing. Each batch is cooled as a single mass, which is then broken out of the vat for selection and shaping. Goldstone also exists in other color variants. Cobalt or Manganese can be substituted for copper; the resulting crystals have a more silvery appearance and are suspended in a strongly colored matrix of the corresponding ionic color, resulting in Cobalt Blue Goldstone or Purple Goldstone respectively.
Iridescent Glass Beads owe a debt to glass artists of the late 19th Century, such as Louis Comfort Tiffany who admired the iridescence of Roman glass. He and other artists devised ways to produce it deliberately by placing the glass piece while still very hot in an oven filled with vapors (tin and iron chlorides) that would alter the surface and create a thin film of different composition. The caused an iridescent effect that did not require a thousand years to develop. Another method encapsulates metal foils inside the bead adding an iridescent shimmer.
Lamp Work Bead making techniques are the most labor intensive method of creating glass beads. This hands on process results in stunning miniature works of art. Each begins with a glob of molten glass on a mandrel. More glass is added in Swirl, Confetti or other patterns and the entire project is kept hot with a torch until it is put in an annealing oven to cool slowly. Small sculptures of animals, flowers or other items can also be created.
Millefiori Beads are made with a technique that involves the production of glass canes or rods with multicolored patterns which are viewable only from the cut ends. The rod are bundled and heated in a furnace, pulled until thin while still maintaining the cross section's design, and then cut into beads or discs when cooled. The term millefiori is a combination of the Italian words "mille" (thousand) and "fiori" (flowers) as the designs most often feature flowers.
Hematite is a mineral form of iron oxide. While many stones can look similar to an untrained eye, the black to steel or silver-gray shiny hematite's distinctive presence cannot be confused with any other stone.
Jade has been known for more than 7000 years. "The stone of heaven" has ignited emotions and obsession of the powerful in Asia for centuries and caught the rich and famous of the West in the 19th century. There are two types of Jade. Jadeite is much rarer than nephrite and therefore regarded as more precious. It comes in a variety of colors i.e. Celadon, White, and Emerald Green.
Celadon Jade is a pale grayish shade of blue/green.
Grass New Jade Beads are smooth and the colors are subtle and muted, but it adds life to a variety of other gemstones. Colors range from light (almost white) to medium green.
Green Jade is the most traditional and expensive color for jade. The green color varies from pale or yellowish green to Granny Smith apple green, its best color.
Lavender Jade is a variety of Jadeite. Despite its rarity, lavender jade has never enjoyed the commercial success associated with emerald-green jade. Part of the problem is due to often undetectable dyeing.
White Jade Beads, or "pure" jade, can be found in a chalky, opaque white to a translucent gray-white. A good polish is essential
Jasper (See Quartz)
Larimar, is a rare blue variety of pectolite found only in the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean. Although pectolite is found in many locations, none have the unique volcanic blue coloration of larimar. This sky blue color, distinct from that of other pectolites, is the result of copper substitution for calcium.
Magnesite is magnesium carbonite. The most common form of Magnesite is white, microcrystalline, porous masses that are dull in luster, and have the appearance of unglazed porcelain. Because they are porous, they adhere to the tongue when licked.
Crazy Horse is actually a type of magnesite. Every piece is incredibly unique with “crazy” designs and patterns in colors of light grays, mauves and wines; sometimes a golden tan and black.
Wild Horse is the name given to a form of magnesite that is a mixture of magnesite/hematite. A fairly new stone that was discovered in the mid-90’s near the Globe copper mine in the Gila wilderness area of southern Arizona. Some have called it Wild Horse Turquoise but it is NOT turquoise! Since so far, there only seems to be one source for Wild Horse and I've heard that mine is closed and also because of it’s beauty, it has retains a high value and is a remarkably popular. Wildhorse is named after the pinto, paint and appaloosa horses; as the stones mimic their amazing colors and spots.
Metal Beads and Findings
Precious Metal
Brass is a an alloy made from copper and zinc. This soft metal has a bright gold-like color and is fairly resistant to tarnishing. Antique brass has a finish made to look old.
Vintaj Natural Brass is eco-friendly, nickel free and lead-free compliant. Vintaj is a company that manufactures it's brass products in the U.S. The patine is achieved without dangerous chemicals. Vintaj recommends using only a mild soap with warm water to clean their products.
Pewter may or may not be a precious metal. It is characterized by a pleasing warm glow. Pewter used in jewelry is sometimes plated with Silver or other metals. It's often antiqued with black paint like substances that settle in the depression or texture. Bali Style Beads have a very intricate designs suggesting that a primitive tribe created them.
Sterling Silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually copper.
Base Metal is sold in many colors and is created from copper or other base metals with various coating (silver toned or gold toned) to resemble those precious metals.
Copper is considered a base metal because it corrodes easily. It has been used for all sorts of things for centuries. Its warm glow and flexibility make it popular in the jewelry world. Copper (both shinny or with a variety of patinas) made into links, filigrees, and connectors are perfect for quick and easy jewelry projects. It has become more popular lately because of it's resemblance to Rose Gold.
Moonstone has been used in jewelry for centuries, including ancient civilizations. The Romans admired moonstone, as they believed it was born from solidified rays of the moon. Both the Romans and Greeks associated Moonstone with their lunar deities. In more recent history, the moonstone became popular during the Art Nouveau period; French goldsmith René Lalique and many others created a large quantity of jewelry using this stone. The most common moonstone is of the mineral adularia, named for an early mining site near Mt. Adular in Switzerland, now the town of St. Gotthard. The plagioclase feldspar oligoclase also produces moonstone specimens. Moonstone is feldspar with a pearly and opalescent schiller. An alternative name is hecatolite.
Patinas of various color can be created by treating metal surfaces with chemical or natural acidic solutions. There are also products available that can be painted on to create a patina effect.
Vintaj Patinas are colorful opaque inks that have been specially formulated to adhere to metal. They are fast drying and can be heat-set for added durability.
Pearls - Natural pearls are so rare to find in nature that most pearls sold today are cultured or artifical.
Swarovski Pearls have a heart of the finest Austrian crystal and are finished with multiple layers of highly luminous pearlescence. Swarovski crystal pearls capture the look of a fine South Seas pearl.
Glass pearl are made of glass bead dipped or sprayed with pearlescent material, or hollow glass bead filled with pearlescent material. Many of the rich and famous like Jackie Kennedy preferred to wear glass pearls.
Quartz is the second most abundant mineral found on earth’s continental crust, second only to the feldspar mineral group.
Adventurine is a variety of Quartz characterized by bright inclusions of Mica or other minerals that give a shimmering or glistening effect to the stone, referred to as aventurescence when polished. Its name is derived from the Italian a ventura, meaning “by chance,” and refers to the Italian glass from the 1700s, produced when a worker accidentally dropped metal filings into a vat of melting glass. Once cooled, the result was pleasing with randomly spaced iridescent sparkles, and it was used to make jewelry and other items. The name Aventurine was later given to the natural stone which looked like the industrial product. It is most commonly green, though it also forms in other colors.
Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz and owes its violet color to irradiation, iron impurities, and the presence of trace elements. The hardness of the mineral is the same as quartz, thus it is suitable for use in jewelry.
Citrine is a variety of quartz whose color ranges from a pale yellow to brown due to ferric impurities. Natural citrines are rare; most commercial citrines are heat-treated amethysts or smoky quartzes. However, a heat-treated amethyst will have small lines in the crystal, as opposed to a natural citrine's cloudy or smokey appearance. It is nearly impossible to tell cut citrine from yellow topaz visually, but they differ in hardness. Brazil is the leading producer of citrine, with much of its production coming from the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The name is derived from Latin citrina which means "yellow" and is also the origin of the word "citron." Sometimes citrine and amethyst can be found together in the same crystal, which is then referred to as ametrine. Citrine has been referred to as the "merchant's stone" or "money stone", due to a superstition that it would bring prosperity.
Jasper, an opaque rock of virtually any color stemming from the mineral content of the original sediments or ash. Patterns arise during the consolidation process forming flow and depositional patterns in the original silica rich sediment or volcanic ash. Hydrothermal circulation is generally thought to be required in the formation of jasper. Jasper comes in many colors and is sometimes colored artificially.
Dalmatian Jasper isn't really jasper. It's a white to cream-colored material with black spots that is produced in Chihuahua, Mexico. It reminds people of the Dalmatian breed of dogs – and that is where it gets its name. It is very easily polished to a bright luster and is a familiar semi-precious stone that is cut into beads, spheres, cabochons and carvings. However, Jasper is a microcrystalline variety of quartz but the composition of Dalmatian "stone" is much more interesting. It is a mixture of minerals and therefore it is a "rock". The types of minerals in the rock are those that crystallize from a melt. So, instead of being a jasper, Dalmatian stone is an igneous rock.
Picture Jasper is an opaque, microcrystalline variety of Quartz with extraordinary color banding, veining and depositional flow patterns created by petrified or silicate mud and sometimes dendritic inclusions. On cut or polished stones, these variations appear as detailed images or “scenes.” Because of its unique landscape patterns and wide range of colors, Picture Jasper is one of the most sought after and famous varieties. It occurs in nodules or as fillings in fissures and may be found the world over, usually named for the specific localities where it is mined. Picture Jasper’s earthy colors are due to high iron content and other minerals or impurities that create its artistry. It forms most often in shades and combinations of brown, gold- to reddish-brown, black, blue, tan or ivory, though other colors may be present.
Lemon Quartz is the lemon yellow variety of quartz. It is more lemon in color than a citrine, which has tones of orange in it. Lemon quartz is created by heating amethyst, yellow quartz and iron together at extremely high temperatures. This heating process is what gives lemon quartz its brilliant, yellow color. The radiant beauty of lemon quartz is truly dazzling, particlarly when light catches the facets and it truly comes to life.
Rose Quartz is a silicon dioxide crystal, It is one of the most common varieties of the Quartz family. It is found in abundance around the world and occurs only in massive form, with no crystal faces, edges or terminations. It is hazy to translucent, and is usually found in the cores of granite pegmatites. Its name is derived from its soft rose color, which ranges from very pale pink to deep reddish-pink and is due to trace amounts of titanium, iron, or manganese in the massive material. The color of Rose Quartz is very stable and will not fade with heat or direct sunlight.
Smoky Quartz is the national gem of Scotland, a country with the longest historical association with the stone. The Celts, who began colonizing the British Isles around 300 B.C., mined the brownish-gray Quartz in the Cairngorm Mountains of the Scottish highlands, calling the dark brown to black crystals they found Morion, and the yellow-brown to grayish-brown crystals Cairngorm after the mountains where they were located. These stones eventually became prominent adornment for Highlander apparel in the form of jewelry, shoulder brooches and kilt pins, and as power stones on the handles of weaponry, especially the Scottish dagger sgian dubh, a “sock knife” which is still part of a proper kilted dress uniform. The term “Smoky Quartz” was first reported to the gem world by J. S. Dana in 1837 and was named for its color which had been likened to smoke. Smoky Quartz is readily found in many locations around the world. A variety of Quartz, it is a silicon dioxide mineral ranging in color from pale, smoky gray to deep brown and black, sometimes yellowish-brown. It forms as crystals, drusy or in massive form, and its color is caused by impurities of aluminum and natural irradiation of the stone. Though Smoky Quartz can be nearly opaque, it is almost always transparent to translucent. Many gems on the market are Clear Quartz that have been artificially treated with radium or x-rays to turn the crystals dark, and are usually very dark and unnatural looking, often lacking in transparency. Though Scottish named, the origin of the word morion may have come from the Greek term for “baneful or hideous,” or from the French moreau, meaning “black.”
Tiger's Eye (also called Tiger Eye) is a chatoyant gemstone that is usually a metamorphic rock with a golden to red-brown colour. It is a form of Quartz. Its silky lustrous appearance is from the parallel intergrowth of quartz crystals and altered amphibole fibres that have mostly turned into limonite.
Rhinestones are a diamond simulant made from rock crystal, glass or acrylic.
Ruby in Fuchsite - Fuchsite is a green variety of muscovite mica. Chromium is the source of the green color. Occasionally, Corundum crystals are found in Fuchsite. A gemstone-quality specimen of Corundum with a red color is known as "Ruby" so when these red corundum crystals are present, the material is known as "Ruby in Fuchsite". This material attracts a lot of attention at rock and gem shows because of the contrasting colors of the Fuchsite and Ruby.
Ruby in Zoisite - is a stone that has been subjected to both heat and pressure. It's composed of intergrown green Zoisite, black to dark green Pargasite, and displays distinctive streaks of red-violet Corundum (Ruby). This combination of minerals is unofficially known as "Anyolite".
Sodalite is a light, relatively hard yet fragile mineral, sodalite is named after its sodium content. Well known for its blue color, sodalite may also be grey, yellow, green, or pink and is often mottled with white veins or patches. The more uniformly blue material is used in jewelry. Although somewhat similar to lapis lazuli, sodalite rarely contains pyrite (a common inclusion in lapis) and its blue color is more like traditional royal blue rather than ultramarine. It is further distinguished from similar minerals by its white (rather than blue) streak. It is sometimes referred to as "poor man's lapis" due to its similar color and the fact that is much less expensive. Most sodalite will fluoresce under ultraviolet light. It's sometimes called the blue jean stone as it resembles stone washed denim and goes great with blue jeans.
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminum. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue. Turquoise may also be peppered with flecks of pyrite or interspersed with dark, spidery matrix.
Blue Dyed Howlite - Dyed Howlite is an affordable turquoise substitutes. Howlite, a natural mineral often matrix-free, is dyed a stunning turquoise-blue color. Howlite is found in continental evaporite deposits with other borate minerals in the form of nodules that resemble cauliflower.
Blue Turquoise - Deep sky blue color Turquoise is among the most prized turquoise stones ever available. Different shades of blue with varying amounts of different colored matrix running through the stones is a clue to what mine the turquoise came from. Sleeping Beauty Mine (now closed) produced a pure blue that was almost matrix free.
Cripple Creek Turquoise - Miners looking for gold also found turquoise deposits, Cripple Creek. The area yields some greenish turquoise and some light to dark blue turquoise with brownish/gold matrix. There are two separate mines that are currently active in this are. Although different families operated them, both mines market their turquoise under the Cripple Creek name and supply a variety of colors and matrices primarily to the Indian jewelry industry.
Green African Turquoise - I was shocked to learn that this stone: while beautiful in its own right, is not true mineral Turquoise. Rather its the industry name given to a natural bluish-green Jasper found in Africa that has a very similar brown to black matrix structure.
Green Nevada Turquoise - beautiful and striking alternative to the more commonly known blue variety. Green turquoise is formed in areas with a higher concentration of iron. The vast majority of green turquoise comes from Nevada mines. Green turquoise really does belong in a class of its own. Its distinctive characters and beauty make it a prized addition to any jewelry collection.
Mine Number 8 Turquoise has character in its appearance and can easily be identified. Few gemstones have such a variety in appearance as to have individual character and personality as the Number 8 Turquoise. With its golden brown to black distinctive spider web matrix and unique bright powder blue and green background.
Purple Turquoise - It appears from my research that no purple turquoise is found in nature except from an unverified source in Chili. This industry name is currently being used on the market in different ways:
Since 2005 material called 'Purple Turquoise' has been offered for sale. It appears to be turquoise with a purple coloring. It is either dyed natural Turquoise or dyed reconstituted Turquoise. Either of these can be quite lovely when incorporated into jewelry. Another possibility is that it is the mineral similar in appearance but different in composition called Sugilite which is a naturally occurring purple gemstone.
Reconstituted Turquoise is the process of taking pieces of turquoise, chips, powder or low grade and mixing it with an epoxy resin. Dye is often added and it is compressed into blocks or other shapes.
Unakite, was first discovered in the U.S.in the Unakas mountains of N. Carolina from which it gets its name. Unakite is an altered granite composed of pink orthoclase feldspar, green epitote, and generally colorless quartz. It exists in various shades of green and pink and is usually mottled in appearance. A good quality unakite is considered a semiprecious stone, it will take a good polish and is often used in jewelry as beads or cabochons.