AGATE
Agate is a variety of chalcedony (a family of microcrystalline quartz). Agate is a very common stone that is often used in jewelry. It is found in a wide range of colors, including black, gray, brown, reddish, green, pink, blue, and yellow. According to Theophrastus, the agate (achates) was named from the river Achates, now the Drillo, in Sicily, where the stone was first found.
AMETHYST
Quartz. Ranges in color from violet to dark purple. Amethyst is associated with increased nobility, spiritual awareness, meditation, balance, psychic abilities, inner peace, healing and positive transformation. This stone brings an understanding of death and rebirth and relieves stress. Amethyst is a teacher of all things spiritual, mystic and psychic. This stone is very healing of body, mind and soul.
AQUAMARINE
A blue-green member of the Beryl clan. Associated with cleansing, meditation, serenity, peace, prophecy, inspiration, tranquillity, strength and the wise use of inner power. This stone is attuned to the ocean and helps us to get in touch with the nature spirits of the sea. It is traditionally used to soothe, calm and alleviate fears and phobias. Promotes safe travel on water.
CUBIC ZIRCONIA
Cubic zirconia is a mineral that is extremely rare in nature but is widely synthesized for use as a diamond simulant. The synthesized material is hard, optically flawless and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors. Because of its low cost, durability, and close visual likeness to diamond, synthetic cubic zirconia has remained the most gemologically and economically important diamond simulant since 1976. Its main competition as a synthetic gemstone is the more recently cultivated material moissanite.
CORAL
Coral is formed from the skeletons of tiny sea creatures. WHITE CORAL is linked with balance, relaxation, protection, safe travel on water, appreciation of nature, and emotional balance. PINK CORAL is associated with platonic love, friendship and community. RED CORAL promotes creativity, passion, romantic love, wisdom, optimism and enthusiasm. BLACK CORAL grants serenity and peace while absorbing negative energy.
DIAMOND
The color is clear. The CLEAR DIAMOND is said to bond relationships, and encourage innocence, love, longevity, balance, clarity, profundity, abundance, courage, purity, hope and discernment. This stone helps us get to the essence of things. BLACK DIAMONDS grant us the courage to look within without illusion. BLUE DIAMONDS inspire us to take better care of our health and strengthen will power. PINK DIAMONDS foster creative expression. YELLOW DIAMONDS make us more thoughtful and considerate.
DIOPSIDE
Diopside was first described about 1800 and derives its name from the Greek dis - "two kinds" or "double" and opsis - "opinion" or "appearance" in reference to the two ways of orienting the vertical prism. Diopside is a monoclinic pyroxene mineral. Gemstone Jewelry quality diopside is found in two forms: the black star diopside and the chrome diopside. At 5.5-6.5 on the Mohs scale, chrome diopside is relatively soft to scratch. Mohs scale of hardness does not measure tensile strength or resistance to fracture.
EMERALD
A green member of the Beryl clan. Emeralds promote love, romance, joy, cleansing, clairvoyance, clear vision, memory, faith, intuition, serenity, intelligence and communication. This is a truth-promoting stone, inspiring deep knowing from within.
GARNET
Garnet is a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Today, it is widely known as the birthstone for January. Garnets are most often seen in red, but are available in a wide variety of colors spanning the entire spectrum as orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, and colorless.. There are six common varieties of garnet are recognized based on their chemical composition: pyrope, almandine or carbuncle, spessartite, grossularite, uvarovite and andradite.
JADE
Most often green, but can come in a variety of colors. All jade augments longevity, fertility, serenity, wisdom, practicality, tranquillity, balance, peace, harmony, moderation, perspective, equilibrium and stability. This is a stone that helps us understand our dreams and teaches us to live in harmony with the laws of nature and spirit. BLACK JADE offers protection from negativity and fosters the wise use of power. BLUE JADE inspires meditation. BUTTERFAT JADE brings relaxation. LAVENDER JADE inspires love, optimism and beauty. ORANGE JADE enhances energy and protection. WHITE JADE fosters practical application of spirituality. YELLOW JADE is linked with assimilation, digestion, understanding and empathy.
LOLITE
Lolite has different colors in different directions in the crystal. A cube cut from lolite will look a violetish blue almost like sapphire from one side, clear as water from the other, and a honey yellow from the top. This property led some people to call Lolite "water sapphire" in the past.
LAPIS LAZULI
LAPIS Lazuli also known as just Lapis is a rock and not a mineral because it is made up from various other minerals. To be a true mineral it would have one constituent only. Lapis has a hardness of 5.5; it chips and scratches easily. Lapis lazuli contains the minerals calcite (which decreases its value), pyrite (which can increase its value), and sodalite.
MARCASITE
Marcasite is a shiny, metallic semi-precious stone. Marcasite is generally faceted. Marcasite is often mistakenly confused with pyrite, but marcasite is lighter and more brittle. Specimens of marcasite often crumble and break up due to the unstable crystal structure, and it is this crystal structure that is the main difference between marcasite and pyrite.
ONYX
Onyx is a semi-precious stone that is black and white, generally arranged in layers. It is a form of agate with parallel banding. This structure lends itself to cameo making. Onyx is a species of chalcedony (microcrystalline quartz).
OPAL
Quartz. Wide rage of colors. Opals foster love, passion, loyalty, faithfulness, emotional expressiveness, warmth, spontaneity and dramatic ability. Also associated with peace, and consciousness. Sometimes considered unlucky, but this is only because modern people fear their emotional side. A very emotionally responsive stone. BLACK OPAL promotes cosmic awareness and oceanic consciousness. BOULDER OPAL foster creativity and originality. FIRE OPAL inspires dynamic energy and intensity. SONOMA OPAL induces emotional stability. WHITE OPAL enhances competency and efficiency.
PERIDOT
The name of the gemstone is believed to come from either the Arabic word faridat meaning "gem" or the French word peritot meaning "unclear." Peridot also known as the "evening emerald" is a yellow-green semi-precious stone with an oily luster; peridot is a transparent, green form of olivine. Peridot exhibits double refraction; when you look through the stone, things appear double. Most peridots are from a volcanic island in the Red Sea, Zebergit/St. John, the "Serpent Isle."
PEARLS
A pearl is a hard, rounded object produced by certain animals, primarily mollusks such as oysters. Pearl is valued as a gemstone and is cultivated or harvested for jewellery. Pearls fit into two categories: freshwater and saltwater. As their name implies, freshwater pearls are formed in freshwater mussels that live in lakes, rivers, ponds and other bodies of fresh water. Most freshwater cultured pearls sold today come from China. By contrast, saltwater pearls grow in oysters that live in the ocean, usually in protected lagoons. Akoya, South Sea and Tahitian are the three main types of saltwater pearls. The pearl is also the birthstone of the month of June.
RUBY
A red member of the Corundum clan. Fosters integrity, devotion, happiness, healing, courage, passion, romance, enthusiasm and generosity. Also evokes warmth, generosity, inspiration, prosperity, high energy, power and leadership ability.
SAPPHIRE
Sapphire a mineral known as corundum. It can be found naturally as gemstones or manufactured in large crystal boules for a variety of applications. They exist in nearly every color except red, because red corundum is always called ruby. One of the hardest minerals, sapphires are durable gemstones that have been in demand since ancient times.
SWAROVSKI
Swarovski is the luxury brand name for the range of precision-cut crystal glass products produced by companies owned by Swarovski AG of Feldmeilen, near Zürich, Switzerland. Swarovski crystal contains approximately 32% lead to maximize refraction. The Swarovski Crystal range includes crystal sculptures and miniatures, jewellery and couture, home decor, chandeliers, and beads and rhinestones for manufacturers and artists.
TANZANITE
Tanzanite is the blue/purple variety of the mineral zoisite discovered in the Meralani Hills of northern Tanzania in 1967, near the city of Arusha. Tanzanite (strontium-rich Calcium-aluminum silicate) is a valuable, transparent, blue-violet type of zoisite resembling sapphire. Tanzanite is noted for its remarkably strong trichroism, appearing alternately sapphire blue, violet, and sage-green depending on crystal orientation. However, most tanzanite is subjected to artificial heat treatment to improve its colour: this significantly subdues its trichroism.
TITANIUM
Titanium was discovered at Creed, Cornwall in England by amateur geologist Reverend William Gregor in 1791. Titanium is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Ti. It is a light, strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant (including resistance to sea water and chlorine) transition metal with a white-silvery-metallic color. Titanium is used in strong light-weight alloys (most notably with iron and aluminium), and in powdered form to other materials, such as graphite composites.
TOPAZ
BLUE TOPAZ inspires leadership ability, psychic knowing, spiritual growth, tranquillity and psychic insight. CLEAR TOPAZ helps us communicate with Devas (Nature Spirits) and with all the animals and plants of the earth. GOLDEN TOPAZ builds generosity, happiness, humor, optimism, creativity, wisdom, inspiration, abundance and love. It also attracts love to us and teaches us about spiritual love. GREEN TOPAZ guides us towards forgiveness and understanding. PINK TOPAZ promotes honor and truth.
TOURMALINE
It is a complex silicate of aluminium and boron. Tourmaline comes in many different colors; it also appears to have different colors depending on the angle at which it is seen. Tourmaline has the greatest color range of any gemstone - the lighter colors are more valuable than the darker colors. It ranges in color from pink to green to red (rubellite) to purple to blue-green (indicolite) to colorless (achroite) to black. Tourmaline is distinguished by its three-sided prisms; no other common mineral has three sides.
TUNGSTEN
Tungsten also called wolfram is a chemical element that has the symbol W. A very hard, heavy, steel-gray to white transition metal, tungsten is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite and is remarkable for its robust physical properties, especially the fact that it has a higher melting point than any other non-alloy in existence. Its hardness makes it ideal for rings that will never scratch, and will in turn not need polishing.
TSAVORITE
Was discover in Kenya in the 1960s. Tsavorite is a rare, deep green variety of grossular garnet, a type of garnet, calcium-aluminum silicate. This fine green gemstone is one of the most prized members of the garnet family, often rivaling fine sapphire and the like in price. The color ranges through the green hues, but the finest are equal in color to a fine quality emerald.
TURQUISE
Turquoise is opaque, blue-to-green hydrated copper aluminium phosphate mineral. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been enjoyed as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue.
QUARTZ
Quartz is one of the most common minerals in the Earth's continental crust. It has a hexagonal crystal structure made of trigonal crystallized silica . The typical shape is a six-sided prism that ends in six-sided pyramids, although these are often twinned, distorted, or so massive that only part of the shape is apparent from a mined specimen. A quartz geode consists of a hollow rock (usually with an approximately spherical shape) with a core lined with a bed of crystals.
