Results for “null”

One of the most desirable of all tourmaline varieties, rubellite is the pink to red variety of elbaite tourmaline, but crystals may also include brownish, orangey or purplish hues. Stones that exhibit pure red or slightly purplish red color are considered the most valuable. With the exception of ruby and red spinel, rubellite is the only other gem known to occur in such a rich, dark red color. Incredibly scarce, with 'eye clean' material even rarer, rubellite is one of those special gems that demands a place in your gemstone collection!

Hematite is a dark gray to black mineral known to various cultures throughout history. Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were a few of the civilizations that made use of this mineral. Hematite derives its name from a Greek word for blood, an allusion to the reddish powder produced during the fashioning process due to the presence of iron.

A pastel dream, this variety of quartz boasts a beautiful soft green color. Sometimes incorrectly referred to by the misnomers "green amethyst" or "lime citrine," prasiolite is rarely found in nature, so most material available on the market is produced by heating or irradiating amethyst. Prasiolite is an exciting gem in that it is readily available in large sizes with high transparency and great durability.

Datolite is a phyllo-borosilicate commonly forming as nodules in igneous rocks. Facet-grade material rarely yields gems larger than 10 carats, with most being significantly smaller. Colorless, transparent datolite gems can be found in several locations worldwide, but many come from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia. Copper-stained, opaque nodules from Michigan are typically fashioned into cabochons.

Andalusite, an aluminum silicate, derives its name from the southern Spanish province of Andalusia, long believed to be the site of its original discovery. The actual locale was a different province in Spain, El Cardoso de la Sierra, but the name Andalusite endured. Andalusite's color play has been compared to alexandrite, but this is technically incorrect, as andalusite is trichroic rather than color changing. Andalusite displays different colors in different directions and features all its colors at once, whereas color change gems like alexandrite only change color when exposed to different light sources.

Grandidierite is a greenish blue or bluish green mineral named after French explorer and naturalist Alfred Grandidier. The mineral was originally discovered on the southern coast of Madagascar in the Andrahomana area. A new gem quality deposit was found near Tranomaro, Madagascar in 2014.

Natural pink opal has no play of color and is a mixture of opal, palygorskite and chalcedony. Nicknamed the 'pink Andes opal', the soft pinks of this opal are appreciated as an environmentally friendly alternative to conch pearls as well as pink coral. Today, Peru is the major producer of this most feminine opal variety that is often carved into beads and occasionally faceted into gems.

The word "drusy," is a mineralogical term used as both a noun and an adjective. The noun refers to a mineral coating of thin layers of tiny, tightly-packed crystals that resemble glittering sugar granules. The adjective refers to any such granulated crystal layers in reference to a given mineral; in this case, drusy quartz. Drusy quartz is usually found in the inside of geodes. When fashioned into loose gemstones and jewelry, it is often coated with a metallic color to capitalize on the glittering natural crystal facets and give it a more bold appearance.

A rare and beautiful mineral, taaffeite is a lilac to mauve, brown to red, bluish green crystal that may be transparent to translucent in appearance. Interestingly enough, this gem was first discovered as a faceted gemstone that was thought to be spinel. Eventually, the mineral was found in Sri Lanka.

Rose quartz is the pink variety of quartz. Rarely transparent, facet grade gems will usually display a beautiful misty appearance. This gem can be found in large sizes, and is often carved into ornaments and figurines.

Found in several worldwide locations that are often zinc-rich environments, most hemimorphite crystals are white to grayish white, yellowish or totally colorless. But when the robin's egg blue hues are found, miners know they have hit a pocket of true gem-quality material. Not only is fine quality hemimorphite geologically scarce, but there are few locations that have the right combination of trace minerals that create this stunning blue color. This gem is often appreciated as natural specimens due to its almost bubbly botryoidal crystal habit.

A rare beryllium mineral, phenakite was named in 1833 from the Greek word for "deceiver," alluding to its similar appearance to quartz. Its crystals are predominantly rhombohedral, and less commonly short and prismatic. Phenakite's rarity, hardness, lack of cleavage and high clarity make it a great option for collectors.