Gemstones

Cat’s Eye Tourmaline Gemstones

Tourmaline with tiny parallel inclusions sometimes
displays a strong cat’s eye effect when polished.

Cat’s Eye
Tourmaline

Chalcedony Gemstones

Chalcedony is the fine-grained variety of the silica mineral quartz.
It has a waxy luster and appears in a great variety of colors.

Chalcedony

Charoite Gemstones

Charoite is a new gem on the market, first
appearing in 1978. It is found only in one location in Siberia, Russia. The
swirling shapes of lavender and violet are quite unique.

Charoite

Chrome Diopside Gemstones

Chrome diopside is colored by chromium and displays a rich forest green
that has similarities with tsavorite garnet and chrome tourmaline.

Chrome Diopside

Chrome Tourmaline Gemstones

Chrome tourmaline is a distinct variety of tourmaline colored by chromium.
It is sometimes referred to as chrome dravite and is known for its rich forest
green color.

Chrome Tourmaline

Chrysoberyl Gemstones

Faceted chrysoberyl is a beautiful gem which is
not as well known as it deserves. Apart from the very good hardness (8.5 on the
Mohs scale), it has excellent luster.

Chrysoberyl

Chrysoberyl Cat’s Eye Gemstones

The most famous and valuable cat’s eye gemstone is chrysoberyl cat’s eye. It is valued for
its excellent hardness (8.5) and sharp cat’s eye.

Chrysoberyl Cat’s
Eye

Chrysocolla Gemstones

Chrysocolla is hydrous copper silicate. Often confused with turquoise,
chrysocolla is found in unusual multicolor combinations as well as blue or
green.

Chrysocolla

Chrysoprase Gemstones

Chrysoprase is a gemstone variety of chalcedony or cryptocrystalline
quartz, colored by trace amounts of nickel. Its color varies from apple-green
to deep green.

Chrysoprase

Citrine Gemstones

Named after the French word for lemon, citrine is yellow, gold or orange-brown
transparent quartz.

Citrine

Clinohumite Gemstones

Clinohumite is a rare mineral and an especially rare gemstone. Only
three sources of gem-quality clinohumite material are known; in Tajikistan,
Siberia and Tanzania.

Clinohumite

Color-Change Diaspore Gemstones

Diaspore, sometimes marketed under the name zultanite
or csarite, is a natural color change gemstone mined from Turkey, which was
recently introduced to the international market.

Color-Change
Diaspore

Color-Change Garnet Gemstones

Color-change garnet is a mix of spessartite and pyrope garnet. This garnet
presents a color change from brownish in daylight to rose pink in incandescent
light.

Color-Change Garnet

Color-Change Sapphire Gemstones

Some rare sapphires exhibit a color change under varying
lighting conditions. Color change sapphires are typically blue in natural light and
purple under incandescent light.

Color-Change
Sapphire

Coral Gemstones

Precious
coral is a species of
coral that grows in rocky seabottoms. Coral exhibits a range of warm
reddish-pink colors ranging from salmon pink to deep-red.

Coral

Danburite Gemstones

Danburite gets its name from Danbury, Connecticut,
where it was first discovered in 1839. It is quite hard, with a rating of 7 to
7.5 on the Mohs scale.

Danburite

Demantoid Garnet Gemstones

Demantoid garnet is the rarest and most valuable of the garnets. Found in
green to emerald green, demantoid garnet is scarce and is typically only seen in
small sizes.

Demantoid Garnet

Dendritic Agate Gemstones

Dendritic agate is a whitish-gray or colorless chalcedony with fern-like
inclusions known as dendrites. The inclusions look like plant material, but
they are actually iron or manganese.

Dendritic Agate

Diamond Gemstones

Diamond, the hardest known natural material, is a
transparent carbon crystal. Diamond is famed not only for its superb hardness,
but also for its high refractive index and dispersion.

Diamond

Dumortierite Quartz Gemstones

Dumortierite quartz is an unusual quartz that is intergrown with the mineral
dumortierite. The inclusions of dumortierite give it a deep blue color that is
unique in the world of quartz.

Dumortierite Quartz

Emerald Gemstones

Emerald is the most precious stone in the beryl
group. The wonderful green color of emerald is unparalleled in the gem world.

Emerald

Enstatite Gemstones

Enstatite is a rare gemstone that belongs to the
pyroxene group of minerals. It is typically brown-green with a vitreous luster
and is a collector’s gem.

Enstatite

Fire Agate Gemstones

Fire agate is a type of opaque, limonite-bearing chalcedony with an
iridescence caused by the diffraction of light in its layered structure.

Fire Agate

Fire Opal Gemstones

Fire
opal is an unusual variety
of opal from Mexico, which can be yellow, orange or orange-red. Some fire opal
gemstones are clear enough for facets.

Fire Opal

Fluorite Gemstones

Fluorite is a mineral with a veritable plethora
of brilliant colors that include purple, blue, green, yellow, colorless, brown,
pink and orange.

Fluorite

Fossil Coral Gemstones

Fossil coral is a decorative material that is formed when ancient coral
is gradually replaced with agate. The proper name for this material is agatized
coral.

Fossil Coral

Gaspeite Gemstones

A recent discovery (1966), gaspeite is
a very rare nickel carbonate mineral named after the place in Eastern Canada
where it was first described.

Gaspeite

Goshenite Gemstones

The colorless precious beryl is known as goshenite.
It is named after the small town of Goshen in Western Massachusetts where it
was first describedGoshenite

Grandidierite Gemstones

Grandidierite is a rare greenish-blue gemstone named
after Alfred Grandidier. It is often listed as one of the top 10 rarest gems in
the world.

Grandidierite

Grossularite Garnet Gemstones

Grossularite (or grossular) garnet is a calcium-aluminium garnet. The
name grossular is derived from the botanical name for the gooseberry,
grossularia.

Grossularite Garnet

Hackmanite Gemstones

Hackmanite exhibits an unusual phenomenon known as reversible
photochromism, where a mineral changes color when exposed to sunlight.

Hackmanite

Hambergite Gemstones

Hambergite is one of the lesser-known gemstones. It is usually nearly
colorless, with the vitreous luster of glass when cut. It is quite a hard
material, with a hardness of 7.5.

Hambergite

Hematite Gemstones

Hematite is iron oxide that is typically
blackish-gray. When highly polished it can sometimes look like silver. Hematite
is a remarkably dense material.

Hematite

Hemimorphite Gemstones

Hemimorphite is usually found in aggregate form with blue and white
bands, or mixed with a dark matrix.

Hemimorphite

Hessonite Garnet Gemstones

Hessonite is an orange-brown variety of garnet colored by traces of
manganese and iron. It is sometimes known as cinammon stone.

Hessonite Garnet

Hiddenite Gemstones

Hiddenite is a form of spodumene containing
chromium. The green color varies from a yellowish to a bluish-green.

Hiddenite

Howlite Gemstones

Howlite is an interesting grayish-white mineral
that is sometimes referred to as white turquoise because of its distinctive
veining.

Howlite

Idocrase Gemstones

Idocrase is also known as vesuvianite, since it
was originally found on Mt. Vesuvias. The color is normally green, but it can
also be brown, yellow, blue or purple.

Idocrase

Imperial Topaz Gemstones

The most sought after of all natural topaz is called imperial topaz. Its rich golden color with reddish and orange overtones is
generally not enhanced by any kind of treatment.

Imperial Topaz

Iolite Gemstones

Pleochroism is very pronounced in iolite and is seen as three different color
shades in the same stone; violet, yellow-gray and blue.

Iolite

Jadeite Gemstones

Jadeite is found in most colors, including pure
white, pink, brown, red, orange, violet, blue, black and a range of greens.

Jadeite

Jasper Gemstones

Jasper is usually considered a type of
chalcedony, however, scientists put it in a group by itself because of its
grainy structure.

Jasper

Kornerupine Gemstones

Kornerupine is a rare transparent to translucent, typically
brownish-green collector’s gem. It was named after Danish naturalist, artist
and explorer, Andreas Nikolaus Kornerup.

Kornerupine

Kunzite Gemstones

Kunzite is the pale pink-violet to light-violet
species of the mineral spodumene. Kunzite is named in honor of the mineralogist
George F. Kunz.

Kunzite

Kyanite Gemstones

Kyanite is a layered crystal with a vitreous to
almost pearly luster that is usually found in a sapphire-like blue color.

Kyanite

Labradorite Gemstones

Labradorite is a member of the plagioclase feldspar group and displays
a distinctive schiller in lustrous metallic tints.

Labradorite

Lapis Lazuli Gemstones

Lapis lazuli has been used for thousands of years in jewelry and
ornamental objects. The unique deep blue color has never lost its attraction.

Lapis Lazuli

Larimar Gemstones

The blue variety of pectolite has become known as Larimar.
A very rare mineral, it has only been found in the Dominican Republic, where it
was first discovered in 1974.

Larimar

Lepidolite Gemstones

Lepidolite is a lilac-gray or rose-colored lithium-bearing mineral of
the mica group. It is one of the major sources of the rare alkali metals
rubidium and caesium.

Lepidolite

Malachite Gemstones

Malachite is copper carbonate with distinctive
green veining. Though not a particularly hard stone, it takes an excellent
polish.

Malachite

Mali Garnet Gemstones

Mali Garnet is one of the hybrid garnets, a mixture of grossular and
andradite garnets. It gets its name from the African country where it was first
discovered.

Mali Garnet

Maw-Sit-Sit Gemstones

Maw-sit-sit is an unusual gemstone often classified as a member of
the jade family.
It was first discovered in 1963 and was named after a village in Northwestern
Burma.

Maw-Sit-Sit

Melanite Gemstones

Melanite is the black variety of the rare
andradite garnet. It is sometimes known as titanian andradite.

Melanite

Moldavite Gemstones

Moldavite is a bottle-green to brown-green
gemstone belonging to the tektite group. It is formed from condensed rock
vapors after a meteorite impact.

Moldavite

Moonstone Gemstones

Moonstone is a unique stone that reflects light in
a distinctive shimmering phenomenon known as adularescence.

Moonstone

Morganite Gemstones

The pink form of beryl was named morganite,
after the American banker and collector J.P. Morgan. A soft pink to violet,
morganite belongs to the same family as emerald.

Morganite

Moss Opal Gemstones

Moss
opal is a milky white
opal with unique inclusions of green hornblende in moss-like patterns.

Moss Opal

Mystic Quartz Gemstones

Mystic quartz is the product of a new high tech enhancement process,
whereby a coating is applied to colorless quartz.

Mystic Quartz

Mother of Pearl Gemstones

Mother of Pearl is an organic gemstone that comes from the inside of some
mollusk shells. Mother-of-pearl is made from nacre, which is mainly calcium
carbonate.

Mother of Pearl

Mystic Topaz Gemstones

Colorful mystic topaz is the product of a high tech enhancement process that is
stable and permanent.

Mystic Topaz

Nuummite Gemstones

Nuummite is an opaque metamorphic rock with an
iridescent play of color. Its chief constituent minerals are gedrite and
anthophyllite.

Nuummite

Obsidian Gemstones

Obsidian is naturally occurring volcanic glass.
It is formed when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools without crystal
growth.

Obsidian

Onyx Gemstones

Onyx is the black form of chalcedony, a
cryptocrystalline form of quartz.

Onyx

Opal Gemstones

More than any other gem, each opal is unique. No other stone has such rich
and varied folklore. Opals are also the most delicate gems commonly worn.

Opal

Opal Doublet Gemstones

An opal doublet consists of a slice of natural opal glued to a black
backing, which causes the color to become more vibrant.

Opal

Orthoclase Gemstones

Orthoclase is a transparent yellow feldspar resembling citrine quartz
or yellow beryl, found primarily in Madagascar.

Orthoclase

Paraiba Tourmaline Gemstones

Paraiba tourmaline is a rare copper-bearing gem with a vivid neon blue color.
First found in Brazil in 1989, similar material has since been found in Africa.

Paraiba Tourmaline

Peanut Wood Gemstones

Peanut wood is a variety of petrified wood, where the shape and
structure of the wood is pre- served when the original organic material is
replaced by quartz.

Peanut Wood Gems

Pearl Gemstones

Pearls are products of bivalve mollusks (mainly
oysters and mussels). They are built up of nacre, which is mainly calcium carbonate
in the form of aragonite crystals.

Pearl

Peridot Gemstones

Peridot belongs to the forsterite-fayalite
mineral series. It is an idiochromatic gem, meaning its color comes from the
basic chemical composition of the mineral itself, rather than impurities.

Peridot

Pietersite Gemstones

Pietersite is a breccia aggregate of hawk’s eye and tiger’s eye, with
swirling colors of blue, rusty red, gold and brown.

Pietersite

Prehnite Gemstones

Prehnite, a form of calcium aluminum silicate, has a
vitreous to pearly luster. Affordably priced for its size, prehnite makes
distinctive and interesting jewelry.

Prehnite

Pyrope Garnet Gemstones

Pyrope garnet is the most famous of the red garnets. Its dark, blood red
color often resembles the color of ruby.

Pyrope Garnet

Quartz Gemstones

Quartz is one of the most common minerals on
Earth and is well known in the gemstone world in its many forms including
amethyst, citrine and ametrine.

Quartz

Quartz Cat’s Eye Gemstones

Quartz cat’s eye is quartz in which inclusions of rutile create chatoyancy
(the cat’s eye effect). Usually found in white, green, yellow or brown.

Quartz

Rainbow Moonstone Gemstones

A combination of orthoclase and albite arranged in layers cause
the lovely sheen. Despite the name, rainbow moonstone is actually a variety of labradorite with a multicolored
adularescence.

Rainbow Moonstone

Rainbow Pyrite Gemstones

Rainbow pyrite is a recent find from Russia. The material comes in the
form of druzy – a layer of miniature pyrite crystals coating a matrix.

Rainbow Pyrite

Rhodochrosite Gemstones

Rhodochrosite is usually found in an aggregate form with alternating
light and dark stripes in zigzag bands.

Rhodochrosite

Rhodolite Garnet Gemstones

Rhodolite garnet is the name applied to a mixture of pyrope and almandite.
Rhodolite tends to be lighter in color than most other kinds of red garnet.

Rhodolite Garnet

Rhodonite Gemstones

Rhodonite is a manganese iron magnesium calcium
silicate, and a member of the pyroxenoid group of minerals.

Rhodonite

Rose Quartz Gemstones

The unique soft pink color of rose quartz is thought to be derived from tiny traces of titanium.
Rose quartz crystals tend to be cloudy, which deepens its color.

Rose Quartz

Rubellite Tourmaline Gemstones

Vivid pink to red tourmaline, often with a violet tinge, is
known as rubellite. It is one of the most valuable
tourmaline colors.

Rubellite
Tourmaline

Ruby Gemstones

Ruby is the red variety of corundum, the 2nd hardest
substance on the Mohs scale, with a rating of 9. It is the combination of
hardness and rich color that makes fine ruby so valuable.

Ruby

Ruby-in-Fuchsite Gemstones

Ruby-in-fuchsite is a natural combination of ruby and fuchsite in the same
specimen. It is an interesting and colorful stone, with blue to emerald-green
fuchsite and pink, purple or red ruby inclusions.

Ruby-in-Fuchsite

Ruby-Zoisite Gemstones

Ruby-zoisite is the natural combination of ruby and zoisite crystals in
a single specimen. It is often used for carvings.

Ruby-Zoisite

Rutile Quartz Gemstones

Rutile quartz is clear or smoky quartz with inclusions of rutile
crystals.

Rutile Quartz

Rutile Topaz Gemstones

Rutile topaz is colorless topaz with inclusions that look like rutile
crystals. But the inclusions are actually thin channels of limonite staining.

Rutile Topaz

Sapphire Gemstones

Sapphire, with its excellent hardness, second only to
diamond, is one of the four traditional precious gemstones.

Sapphire

Scapolite Gemstones

As a gemstone scapolite is not well known, but it can be a very
attractive stone. Its color, which is usually a vibrant yellow, orange, pink or
violet, is its best feature.

Scapolite

Seraphinite Gemstones

Seraphinite is a trade name for a particular form of clinochlore. The
dark-green color of seraphinite is enhanced by a silvery and feathery shimmer
caused by mica inclusions.

Seraphinite

Serpentine Gemstones

Serpentine is a type of green magnesium silicate aggregate. It is
used as a decorative stone or for carvings.

Serpentine

Sillimanite Cat’s Eye Gemstones

Sillimanite is a type of aluminum silicate that is
related to both andalusite and kyanite. In fact, these three minerals share the
same chemical composition but have different crystal structures.

Sillimanite

Smithsonite Gemstones

Smithsonite is one of two zinc-containing minerals discovered by the
British mineralogist James Smithson. The zinc silicate was named smithsonite in
his honor.

Smithsonite

Smoky Quartz Gemstones

Smoky quartz is fast becoming a designer favorite for its earthy tone
and tribal look. It is one of the few gemstones that is gray or brown.

Smoky Quartz

Snowflake Obsidian Gemstones

Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass. In some
stones, the inclusion of white crystals of cristobalite produce a blotchy
pattern, known as snowflake obsidian.

Obsidian

Sodalite Gemstones

The mineral sodalite gets
its name from its sodium content. As a gemstone, sodalite is usually blue,
often with a violet tint, and frequently contains white veins of calcite.

Sodalite

Spessartite Garnet Gemstones

The most valuable spessartite garnets display a bright,
orange-red. The best specimens come from Namibia.

Spessartite Garnet

Sphalerite Gemstones

Sphalerite is a rare collector’s gem which has exceptional dispersion
(also known as fire). In fact its dispersion rating is three times as high as
that for diamond.

Sphalerite

Sphene Gemstones

Sphene is a brilliant yellowish-green, green or
brown gemstone of high luster, unique color shades and, with brilliant cut, an
intense fire.

Sphene

Spinel Gemstones

Due to its excellent hardness and clarity, spinel is an excellent gemstone for all types
of jewelery. Spinel is never treated in any way.

Spinel

Spodumene Gemstones

Spodumene is a relatively new mineral to science,
with gem varieties discovered only in the last 120 years. Spodumene occurs in
white, gray, pink, lilac and green.

Spodumene

Star Diopside Gemstones

Diopside is best known for the vivid green chrome diopside, but the
black diopside exhibiting asterism (also known as the star effect) is also
important.

Star Diopside

Star Garnet Gemstones

Star garnet is a rare and unusual garnet, found only in Idado in the
USA and India. It displays a four-rayed star due to aligned inclusions of
rutile.

Star Garnet

Star Lemon Quartz Gemstones

Star lemon quartz is a lemon-yellow variety of quartz that displays asterism
(the star effect).

Star Lemon Quartz

Star Moonstone Gemstones

Moonstone is a combination of orthoclase and albite arranged in
layers which cause the lovely sheen. Star moonstone exhibits a stunning
four-rayed star effect.

Star Moonstone

Star Rose Quartz Gemstones

Rose quartz displaying asterism or the star effect is rare. The unique
soft pink color of rose quartz is thought to be caused by tiny traces of
titanium.

Rose Quartz

Star Ruby Gemstones

Star
ruby is a ruby that
displays asterism, a six-rayed star that shimmers over the surface of the stone
when it is moved.

Star Ruby

Star Sapphire Gemstones

Star sapphire is a sapphire that contains unusual tiny needle-like
inclusions. These needles produce a phenomenon called asterism.

Star Sapphire

Star Sunstone Gemstones

Sunstone is plagioclase feldspar with a unique glitter from
platelets of hematite. Typically it has a red glitter, and more rarely a blue
or green glitter. Star sunstones are known but rare.

Sunstone

Strawberry Quartz Gemstones

Quartz with red inclusions of lepidocrosite, hematite or
goethite is often sold under the name strawberry quartz.

Strawberry Quartz

Sugilite Gemstones

Sugilite is an obscure and quite rare mineral
named after the Japanese geologist, Ken-ichi Sugi, who discovered it in 1944.

Sugilite

Sunstone Gemstones

Sunstone is a type of plagioclase feldspar that
exhibits a spangled appearance, due to reflections of red hematite.

Sunstone

Tanzanite Gemstones

Tanzanite is a variety of zoisite. Colors of
tanzanite include blue, purple and green. The highly coveted color is deep
blue, which has a purple pleochroism.

Tanzanite

Tashmarine Diopside Gemstones

Tashmarine diopside is a brilliant yellow-green diopside from a recent
discovery in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Western China.

Tashmarine Diopside
Tiger’s Eye Gemstones

Tiger’s eye is a type of opaque macrocrystalline quartz with a fibrous
structure. It typically displays chatoyant stripes, because structural fibers
are crooked or bent.

Tiger’s Eye

Tiger’s Eye Matrix Gemstones

Tiger’s eye matrix is the name given to tiger’s eye that is cut and finished
with some of its host rock intact.

Tiger’s Eye

Topaz Gemstones

Topaz is an important gem due to its hardness
and high refractive index. Topaz comes in many colors and blue topaz is
especially popular.

Topaz

Tremolite-Hexagonite Gemstones

Tremolite is a rare gemstone sometimes known as
‘hexagonite’ or ‘tremolite-hexagonite’.

Tremolite-Hexagonite Gems

Tourmaline Gemstones

One of the most versatile of gems, tourmaline is found in every color. It can show every tone from
pastel to dark, and can display various colors in the same stone.

Tourmaline

Tsavorite Garnet Gemstones

The green species of garnet known as tsavorite was discovered in 1967 by
British geologist Campbell R. Bridges in the bush along the frontier between
Kenya and Tanzania.

Tsavorite Garnet

Turquoise Gemstones

Turquoise, the blue cousin of lapis lazuli, has been
known and valued for thousands of years. The early mines in Sinai, Egypt, were
already worked out in 2000 B.C.

Turquoise

Variscite Gemstones

Variscite is a relatively rare type of phosphate
mineral. High quality specimens are used as gemstones and for carvings.
Variscite is colored by traces of chromium.

Variscite

Verdite Gemstones

Verdite is light to dark-green serpentine rock
that is often spotted or variegated. Most specimens come from South Africa and
Zimbabwe.