Category Archives: Stone Jewelry

It Isn’t Diamond, It’s Moissanite

Moissanite Gemstone

Moissanite

Diamonds may be a women’s best friend, but moissanite might be able to be the closest one. This hard and brilliant gemstone has several qualities that make it superior to diamonds to some people, while others say it is cheap-looking and tacky. Regardless of individual opinions of the gemstone, it does have its uses and its brilliance.

Moissanite looks very similar to diamonds and is created to be a diamond substitute. Unlike zirconia, you can’t easily tell the difference between Moissanite and diamonds. In fact, when they first came onto the market, they sometimes confused professionals. However, there are sure fire ways to figure out which is which.

Moissanite is said to be a rival to all other gemstone because of its brilliance, hardness, weight and scratch resistance. It possesses all the romance and passion of rubies, sapphires and emeralds. It is only found in meteorites and in a very limited areas beneath the earth’s surface.

Moissanite was discovered by a French chemist and Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Ferdinand Henri Moissan. He found it at Diablo Canyon, also known as Meteor Crater, in Arizona (USA). The synthetic moissanite is known as silicon carbide because of its chemistry and the trade name, carborundum.

Moissanite’s essence was the potential for an absolutely shimmering brilliance, fire, luster, and incredible hardness. Unfortunately, the supply of natural moissanite wasn’t large enough even to create a pair of earrings.

Naturally occurring moissanite is extremely rare and found only in microscopic crystals that are too small to use in jewelry. Only after years of research a breakthrough discovery enabled the production of moissanite crystals large enough to produce an uncommon combination of science and art.

Moissanite usually comes in either one of two colors. When Moissanite crystals are very small, let’s say less than a carat, they are always clear. However, as the crystal increases in size, it has a green tinge to it.


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Marcasite

Marcasite Jewelry

Marcasite

The mineral marcasite, sometimes called white iron pyrite, is iron sulfide. Marcasite is often mistakenly confused with pyrite, but marcasite is lighter and more brittle.

Marcasite has been known to the world since the beginning of civilization. For instance, the Greeks used it as a talisman and the Chinese mined it quite frequently. Mayans and Aztecs also used the stone, which today is still used to create certain types of ornaments.

The name of Marcasite has been very popular, especially when associated with silver, however for the most part, when most people are referring to Marcasite in silver and other gems, they are actually referring to Pyrite with is a polymorph of Marcasite.

Polymorphs are very interesting, a polymorph of a mineral is when two minerals are made of exactly the same chemical compounds; however they are arranged or structured differently. This structure might have a lot of similarities, but the two minerals are ultimately different. Another common polymorph are diamonds and graphite.

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The Purity Of Kunzite

Kunzite

Kunzite

Kunzite is a pink to lilac colored gemstone, a variety of spodumene with the color coming from minor to trace amounts of manganese.

Kunzite is one of the newer gems to be found. In fact, it just a little over one hundreds years old. Kunzite, while new to man is intensely beautiful, feminine and great for making ornamental jewelry. Kunzite comes in many colors, some of them more popular than others. For instance, Kunzite can come in a beautiful and intense pink or violet. It also comes frequently as colorless. Kunzite can be found with other mineral inclusions such as Hiddenite which makes the Kunzite look green or yellow. Other colors include gray and in some rare cases blue.

Kunzite was discovered at the Pala Chief Mine near San Diego, California and named after gemologist GF Kunz, who first described it after the turn of the twentieth century. kunzite is still a very young gemstone. It was not until 1902 that the New York jeweller and gemstone specialist George Frederick Kunz (1856 – 1932) became the first person to give a comprehensive description of this stone, which had just been discovered in California. And since newly discovered gemstones are usually given the name of their discoverer or patron, this new pale pink discovery was called ‘kunzite’.

Kunzite is one of the few minerals to have the attribute of pleochroism. Pleochroism means that the mineral can two or more colors present, usually depending on how you look at the gemstone. For instance, Kunzite in many cases can be found being pink, violet and colorless. In other cases, it can be yellow, green and colorless.

Wear kunzite to be blessed with good fortune. Its soft pastel color symbolize purity. It can also be a sign of new life and it is sometimes regarded as a symbol for pregnancy.

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The Precious Ivory

Elk Ivory

Ivory

Ivory is one of the most well known materials that are used in high quality precious jewelry. It should be noted that Ivory is not a gemstone or a mineral from rock, it is an organic mineral created by certain mammals with specific types of characteristics.

Basically, Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing.

Elephant ivory has been the most important source, but ivory from many species including the hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal has been used.

Ivory usually comes in two colors, white and whitish yellow, many people usually call it off white. The whiter the Ivory, usually the higher the price, usually Ivory can turn a tinge of yellow if it is an older piece, but for the most part, it is extremely exquisite and beautiful.

Humans have carved ornamental ivory since prehistoric times. An Ivory figurine of the Pharaoh Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza, is a notable masterpiece in the art of ivory carving.

The quality of Ivory is very malleable in contrast to gemstones that are usually rigid surfaced. The size of Ivory depends upon the size of the animal.

Ivory has been banned since 1989 to save the mammals that were literally killed to obtain their beautiful tusks. Factual information is there that in 40 years, 97% of the 300,000 elephants found in certain African countries were butchered to obtain the Ivory, and this practice would make the species extinct. After the ban, Ivory has become rare as now only after the natural death of the animal, ivory can be obtained, so today there are plastic substitutes of Ivory available in the market that look equally exquisite and beautiful like the original material.

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Iolite The Compass

Iolite Gemstone

Iolite

Iolite is a wonderfully warm bluish violet mineral that is quite common and found in many parts of the world. Iolite has had along history and was known since the times of the Ancient Greeks.

To an inexperienced gemstone buyer, Iolite and Tanzanite might look alike but these two gemstones are quite different. Ioilite is more sturdy and durable as compared to Tanzanite but yet cheaper than Tanzanite.

This gemstone is called the gemstone of the Vikings, it derives it’s name from the Greek work ‘ios’ which means violet. Iolite, known as the Vikings’ compass, due to it’s ability to determine the direction of the sun on overcast days. When the legendary Viking mariners sailed the wide ocean, they used thin pieces of iolite as the world’s first polarizing filter. Looking through an iolite lens, they could determine the exact position of the sun, and navigate safely.
The natural mineral has little commercial use. When clear, iolite is cut as a gem.
Synthetic magnesium iolite has a low thermal expansion and is used as a semirefractory material because of its resistance to thermal shock.

The Iolite gemstone posesses a very important feature that is called pleochroism. This property posessed by a few other gemstones too, causes the gemstone to show different colors when viewed from different angles and sides. Iolite is a fascinating stone with an interesting past. Ancient mariners used iolite as a compass to guide their way to sea. They noted that it would show different hues of blue-violet when held to the northern and southern skies. Ancients believed that it could unlock creativity in an artist.

Use this stone to discover the lost parts of self and your inner treasures. It is an excellent stone for shamanic journeying or to assist in recovering information from past lives.

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Feldspar, The Real Earth

The Mineral Of Feldspar

Feldspar

Feldspar is a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth’s crust. From the perspective of the gemstone world, it would seem like quartz is the most abundant mineral in the world. The many quartz varieties include citrine, amethyst, ametrine, chalcedony, aventurine, onyx, agate, tiger’s eye, smoky quartz and rose quartz.

But from the point of view of mineralogy, it is feldspar that is the most common mineral. Feldspar is a group of minerals distinguished by the presence of aluminum and the silica ion in their chemistry. This group includes aluminum silicates of sodium oxide, potassium oxide, or calcium oxide.

Feldspar is derived from the German Feld, “field”, and Spath, “a rock that does not contain ore”. “Feldspathic” refers to materials that contain feldspar. The alternate spelling, felspar, has now largely fallen out of use. The mineral was officially given its name by Johan Gottschalk Wallerius in 1747.

There are two main subgroups of feldspar that produce gem-quality material: the potassium feldspars and the plagioclases, a series that ranges from calcium to sodium feldspars. Among the well-known feldspar gemstones are moonstone, orthoclase, amazonite, andesine, labradorite and sunstone.

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Cat's Eye Gemstone

Cat’s Eye

The Cat’s Eye is one of the most unique looking gemstones available and comes in many colors and sizes. If you are looking for ornamental jewelry that is unique, mystical looking and fashionable, look into the Cat’s Eye.

Cat’s Eye gets its unique look due to the presence of fibrous mineral inclusions. The fibers in a Cat’s Eye form tubes that are parallel to one another deep within the quartz stone. These fibers are not that pronounced when in a square or rectangular form, however when in a sphere or oval shape, the fibers are more pronounced and extremely fascinating to look at.

Like the eye of a sleek feline predator, the chrysoberyl cat’s eye winks at the astonished observer – a real miracle of Nature! That’s why only this attractive gemstone has the right to the short, fitting name of “cat’s eye”. This gem is really something special with its narrow, bright band of light on a shimmering golden background, which seems to glide magically across the surface when the stone is moved.

The Cat’s Eye comes in many different colors such as gray, grayish green, yellow, red, blue, brown, black and white. The luster of the Cat’s Eye gives it a chatoyant or vitreous look and it is usually opaque or translucent in transparency. The Cat’s Eye is pretty hard; measuring 7 on the Moh’s scale and the fracture should be noted as conchoidal. The Cat’s Eye is usually rounded, oval or spherish, and quite attractive on many types of ornamental jewelry.

For most Cat’s Eye lovers, it is worn on a ring, a charm or as part of a bracelet. Many people like Cat’s Eye because of its mystical qualities that are said to help the intellect, to foster wisdom and its connotation with a cat, meaning crafty or sly. If you are looking for a unique and interesting piece of ornamental jewelry, definitely consider the Cat’s Eye.

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The Bicolored Ametrine

Ametrine Gemstone

Ametrine

Ametrine is a rare gemstone made from quartz. Ametrine is a mix of two distinct minerals, the first being Amethyst and the second being Citrine.

Amethyst is the rarest form of quartz and has the distinction of giving off a beautiful violet or purple color. Citrine gives off a yellow orange color and is the same substance as Amethyst, but it has been superheated in the earth’s core. Both of these mineral properties are found in Ametrine.

Ametrine is sometimes referred to Trystine. Ametrine also has a commercial name called Bolivianite. Bolivianite was chosen because Ametrine is found mainly in specific mines in Bolivia, which is Anahi Mine located in the jungles of Bolivia. It should be noted that Ametrine has only been sold commercially since 1980.

It is an extremely useful tool for those in the healing profession to utilize, but is also very helpful for the average person to use to work on themselves at home. If you are working on losing weight, the energy of Ametrine will help you.

Like Amethyst crystals, it is useful if you have addictions. It will to help you in letting go of the compulsions associated with them. Moreover, it will clear stress and tension from the head.

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Chinese Writing Stone

Chinese Writing Stone

Chinese Writing Stone

Chinese Writing Stone is a limestone matrix with andalusite crystals. It is also called Porphory. It received the name Chinese Writing Rock or Stone because of the crystalline structure resembling the Chinese characters of the written language.

The stone is known to be found in the Auburn, California region of the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. It strongly resembles the Chrysanthemum stone, another limestone matrix and andalusite crystal stone from China, but the crystals in that stone spray out into a chrysanthemum pattern – hence the name. This stone comes from the Yangtze River Valley of the Hunan Province of China.

Chinese Writing Stone is a mineral that is used to help one access information from ancient texts and the Akashic Records. It is and excellent stone for dreaming, assisting one into a dream state. It is a stone of re-affirmation, re-alignment and re-commitment. It helps one to adjust to change, accept responsibility and stimulate originality.

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The Apple Green Of Chrysoprase

The Apple Green of Chrysoprase

Chrysophrase

Chrysoprase, chrysophrase or chysoprasus is a gemstone variety of chalcedony (a cryptocrystalline form of silica) that contains small quantities of nickel. Its color is normally apple-green, but varies to deep green. The darker varieties of chrysoprase are also referred to as prase.

Unlike emerald which owes its green color to the presence of chromium, the color of chrysoprase is due to trace amounts of nickel compounds in form of very small inclusions.

One of the reasons that Chrysoprase is so rare is due to the fact that it is a cryptocrystalline, this means that instead of being formed by large six sided crystals, the size of the crystals are extremely small and invisible to the naked eye. This attribute gives is much rarer in nature, as well as more beautiful.

Chrysoprase can come in many sizes. However, since it is rare is usually hard to come by and is generally used for smaller pieces of ornamental jewelry. During the Middle Ages, it was mined in Silesia (Northern Czech Republic and Southern Poland), the Chrysoprase that was mined were used as architectural decorations, mainly in major churches. One of the more popular places to find Chrysoprase is in Australia where it is mined (Queensland, Western Australia). It is usually sold as Australian Jade, due to its resemblance to this gemstone.

Chrysoprase helps to make conscious what was unconscious. It strengthens the workings of insight and the higher consciousness.It encourages hope and joy, helps clarify problems, it also has been used as a cure for restlessness and become a protection on sea voyages. Chrysoprase is said to be the favorite gemstone of Alexander the Great.

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