Gemstone Guide

Core Quartz Stones

• Amethyst

  Royal purple stone of wisdom; the Greeks carved wine goblets from it.

• Rose Quartz

  Soft pink stone of compassion and emotional harmony.

• Ametrine

  Amethyst and citrine meeting in a single crystal.

  Article coming soon
• Aventurine

  The stone of opportunity, named for a happy accident in Venetian glass.

• Clear Quartz

  Crystal of clarity; the Greeks believed it was ice frozen by the gods.

• Citrine

  The gem of sunlight: warm, golden and optimistic.

• Smoky Quartz

  Quartz in smoky browns and greys, from translucent to nearly black.

  Article coming soon
• Lemon Quartz

  Bright, clear lemon-yellow quartz.

  Article coming soon
• Aura Quartz

  Clear quartz given a fine metallic coating for a rainbow sheen (a treated stone).

  Article coming soon

Specialty Optical Quartz

• Tiger Eye

  Golden-brown stone of quiet strength, with a band of light that moves.

• Hawk's Eye (Blue Tiger Eye)

  The blue-grey cousin of tiger eye, with the same shifting band of light.

  Article coming soon
• Cat's Eye Quartz

  Quartz with a single bright line of light, like a cat's eye.

  Article coming soon

Chalcedony Subgroup

• Chalcedony

  Soft, glowing stone of serenity, named in the Book of Revelation.

• Agate

  Banded story stone of grounding and balance, named for a river in Sicily.

• Carnelian

  Fiery orange-red; Romans used it for seal rings because wax would not stick.

• Chrysoprase

  Apple-green jewel of renewal, colored by nickel.

• Onyx

  Black or banded stone of quiet power and refined elegance.

• Sard

  Brownish-red chalcedony, carved into signet seals since antiquity.

  Article coming soon
• Bloodstone

  Dark green chalcedony spotted with red, also called heliotrope.

  Article coming soon

• Moonstone

  Stone of intuition; the Romans believed it was solid moonlight.

• Amazonite

  Aqua-green stone of courage and truth, found in ancient Egyptian tombs.

• Labradorite

  Grey stone that flashes blue, green and gold; Inuit legend says it holds the northern lights.

• Sunstone

  Feldspar with a warm, glittering shimmer from tiny metallic flecks.

  Article coming soon

• Jade

  The stone of heaven: two minerals, nephrite and jadeite, share the name.

• Turquoise

  Sky-blue to green stone treasured from ancient Persia to the American Southwest.

  Article coming soon
• Lapis Lazuli

  Deep ultramarine flecked with gold pyrite, mined in Afghanistan for millennia.

• Jet

  Fossilized wood polished to a deep black, famed in Victorian mourning jewelry.

  Article coming soon

• Pearl

  The queen of gems; over 99% of pearls today are cultured.

• Mother of Pearl

  The iridescent nacre that lines the inside of a mollusk shell.

  Article coming soon
• Amber

  Sunlight preserved: fossilized resin whose Greek name gave us electricity.

• Coral

  Organic gem built by tiny marine animals, prized most in red.

  Article coming soon

• Garnet

  Fiery stone of passion and protection; legend puts one in Noah's lantern.

• Fluorite

  Nature's prism; the word fluorescence comes from this mineral.

• Peridot

  Sunlit olive-to-lime green, found even in meteorites.

• Spinel

  Long mistaken for ruby, including in Britain's crown jewels.

  Article coming soon
• Opal

  Flashes of rainbow color that shift as the stone moves.

  Article coming soon
• Topaz

  November birthstone, best known in blue and golden shades.

  Article coming soon
• Rhodonite

  Rose-pink with black veins, a stone of grounded compassion.

  Article coming soon
• Rhodochrosite

  Raspberry pink banded with cream, treasured in the Andes.

  Article coming soon

• Elbaite

  The prism of nature, and the source of most gem tourmaline.

• Tourmaline

  A family of more than 40 species in nearly every color, often several in one stone.

  Article coming soon
• Rubellite

  Red-to-raspberry tourmaline.

  Article coming soon
• Indicolite

  Rare blue tourmaline.

  Article coming soon
• Paraíba Tourmaline

  Electric neon blue-green tourmaline colored by copper.

  Brazil/Nigeria, highly localizedArticle coming soon

• Serpentine

  Soft green stone often mistaken for jade.

  Article coming soon
• Jasper

  Storytelling stone, once used as a touchstone to test gold.

• Picture Jasper

  Jasper patterned like desert landscapes in browns and tans.

  Article coming soon
• Dalmatian Jasper

  Creamy stone with black spots.

  fun + approachableArticle coming soon
• Unakite

  Pink feldspar and green epidote blended in one stone.

  beautiful earthy blendArticle coming soon
• Mookaite

  Australian jasper in mustard, red and mauve.

  Article coming soon
• Hematite

  Heavy iron mineral polished to a metallic silver-black.

  Article coming soon
• Obsidian

  Natural volcanic glass, glossy black and once shaped into blades.

  Article coming soon

• Chrysocolla

  Copper stone of earth and sky, blending blue and green.

• Howlite

  Porcelain white with grey veins, the zen master of gemstones.

• Variscite

  Rare apple-green stone.

  rare, similar to turquoiseArticle coming soon
• Malachite

  Banded green stone that records the Earth's movement; prized in imperial Russia.

• Aquamarine

  Water of the sea: pale sky blue to sea-foam green.

• Kyanite

  Blade-like blue crystals with a streaky sheen.

  Article coming soon
• Sodalite

  Royal blue with white veins.

  lapis alternativeArticle coming soon
• Iolite

  Violet-blue stone that changes color with the angle of view.

  Viking compass storyArticle coming soon
• Andalusite

  Shows different colors from different angles.

  color-shifting, uniqueArticle coming soon
• Apatite

  Bright, saturated blues and greens.

  bright neon blues/greensArticle coming soon
• Prehnite

  Soft, translucent green, often with dark needle-like inclusions.

  Article coming soon
• Azurite

  Deep azure copper mineral, once ground into blue pigment.

  Article coming soon

• Larimar

  Caribbean-blue dolphin stone, found only in the Dominican Republic.

• Tanzanite

  Violet-blue stone found in just one place, northern Tanzania.

  Tanzania onlyArticle coming soon
• Charoite

  Swirling violet stone found only in Siberia.

  Russia onlyArticle coming soon
• Moldavite

  Forest-green glass formed by a meteorite impact.

  Czech Republic, meteorite glassArticle coming soon