My personal suggestion when deciding which healing stones are right for you, consider getting one from each family. Covering all the different family types will give you the greatest range energies.
Beryl Family: •Aquamarine (Light blue, blue-green) •Red Beryl (Deep Red, Also known as Bixbite) •Heliodor (Name given to the greenish gold variety) •Yellow Beryl (Golden Yellow) •Goshenite (Colourless) •Green Beryl (Green) •Emerald (Green) •Morganite (Light Pink)
Topaz Family: •Swiss Blue (Light blue) •London Blue (Dark Blue) •Imperial (Golden or Pink) •White (Colourless)
Volcanic glass and Tektite Family: •Moldovidte (Green) •Obsidian (Black)
Corundum Family: •Ruby (Red, Reddish-Pink) •Sapphire (Blue, Green, Blue-Green and a wide variety of colours known as "Fancy Sapphires") •Padparadschah (Orange-pink variety of sapphire)
Garnet Family: Main Names: •Pyrope •Almandine •Andradite •Spessartite •Grossular •Andradite •Uvarovite
Garnet Continued: Trade names for different coloured varieties of main members: •Colour Change (Mixture of Pyrope and Spessartite) •Demantoid (Green Andradite) •Rhodolite (Rose pink to Red mixture of Pyrope and Almandine) •Gosseberry (Green Grossular) •Imperial (Pink to Orange Pink Grossular) •Malaya (Reddish orange mixture of Spessartite and Pyrope) •Leuco (Colourless Grossular) •Mali (Yellow,Yellow-Green,Yellow-Brown mixture of Grossular and Andradite) •Mandarin (Orange-Red-Yellow Spessartite) •Melanite (Very dark red Andradite) •Mint (Light Minty Green Grossular) •Mozambique (Deep Reddish-Pink mixture of Almandine and Pyrope) •Raspberry (Raspberry Red Grossular) •Star (A variety of Almandine that displays asterism)
•Tangerine (Orange, Orange-Yellow Spessartite) •Topazolite (Brownish Yellow, Yellow Andradite) •Tsavorite (Brilliant Forest green Grossular)
Tourmaline Family: •Watermelon (Pink and Green) •Rubelite (Rosy Reddish purple) •Indicolite (Light to dark Blue) •Canary (Bright Yellow) •Achroite (Colourless) •Cats Eye (Displays an iridescent line that moves when the stone is viewed from different directions) •Chrome (Deep Green) •Dravite (Brown) •Paraiba (Neon Blue) •Schorl (Black) •Siberite (Purple) •Verdelite (Green)
Quartz Family: The most commonly occurring crystal on earth. •Agate (Wide variety of colours) •Fossilized Wood (Wide variety of colours) •Chalcedony (Wide variety of colours but most commonly known as light purplish-blue) •Bloodstone (Green with red pattern specks) •Jasper (Wide variety of colours) •Carnelian (red-orange) •Onyx (Black) •Sard (Deep Orange) •Sardonyx (Orange-Red) •Amethyst (Purple) •Citrine (Golden-Yellow) •Aventurine (Green) •Rock Crystal (Colourless) •Rutilated Quartz (Transparent with gold needles) •Cats Eye (Displays an iridescent line that moves when the stone is viewed from different directions) •Smoky (Brown) •Rose (Pink) •Milky (White) •Tiger Eye (Yellow-Golden, Brownish-Red)
Opal Family: All members of the opal family come in an astounding array of colours and patterns. To learn more click here. •Black •White •Crystal •Jelly •Brazilian •Mexican •Leopard •Boulder "Yowah" Koroit •Mintabie
Jade Family: •Jadeite (Green) •Nephrite (Green)
Feldspar Family: •Labradorite (Grey with brilliant iridescent blue flashes) •Spectrolite (Grey with brilliant iridescent orange-yellow flashes) •Amazonite (Forrest Green) •Orthoclase (Yellow) •Moonstone (Light with blue iridescent flashes) •Aventurine Feldspar (Green)
Zoisite Family: •Tanzanite (Deep blue-purple, Blue-Green) •Thulite (Pink) •Saussurite (Green) •Ruby-Zoisite (Also known as Anyolite. Green and red)
Spodumene Family: •Kunzite (Light Pinkish Purple) •Hiddenite (Green)
Organic Family: •Pearl (Wide variety of colours) •Coral (Black, Red and Gold) •Fossil Coral (Light brown with interesting patterns) •Amber (Golden yellow and sometimes blue) •Jet (Black) •Ivory •Mother of pearl (Light off white that often displays iridescence)
Diopside Family: •Chrome (Deep vibrant green) •Star (Usually black and displays an iridescent star that moves when the stone is viewed from different directions)
Mineral Class: •Lapis lazuli (Deep Blue with flakes of gold (pyrite)
•Turquoise Sky blue; greenish blue (copper aluminum)
Spoting Fake Gemstones. First, let me start off by mentioning that fake gemstones are pretty rampant everywhere online, not just here on Ebay! Whenever shopping for Gemstones online you need to be very careful. This Guide will hopefully help you avoid the fakes and get yourself a good deal on that colored gemstone or diamond you have been searching for!
There are a few tips that can help you: 1. Make sure the Seller or Store has a good return policy. 2. Keep in mind the color you see on your computer monitor may actually differ from the actual color of the gemstone. This is typically due to the color calibration of your monitor from the factory. Each one differs from slightly to greatly! Sometimes it is editing done by the Seller/Store to falsely enhance the color and/or saturation of the gemstone. 3. Make sure to read up on the gemstone you are looking to purchase so you know exactly what it looks like and what the current market prices are on it as well! Remember, not all gemstones are created equal! Value depends on the quality of the cut, clarity of the stone, the color and saturation of color, and lastly carat weight, otherwise known as the 4 C's. 4. Make sure to check the Seller/Store's feedback!!!! I can not stress this enough!! Don't just look at the percentage or numbers either!! Actually look through and read some of them! Use a tool to view all the negatives and/or neutrals, like Toolhaus, to make sure you see the good with the bad!
Now, onto the fake gemstones. Diamonds The most widely spread gemstone that is faked is the Diamond. There are tons of Diamonds for sale out there that are being sold as Lab Created Diamonds. Please do NOT fall for this gimmick!!! The only man made/lab created Diamonds available on the market currently are being sold/made by Adia, Gemesis, and the most widely known Apollo. Gemesis only produces yellow diamonds and Apollo, while producing white diamonds, only sells through their very own storefront. Adia produces blue, yellow, and white diamonds but only sells through a single retail store. Most of what is being sold on Ebay as Lab Created Diamonds are actually nothing more then plain old everyday Cubic Zirconia (CZ). The most popular seeming to be Russian grown CZs. While there is nothing wrong with a good hand cut CZ, they are NOT lab created/man
made diamonds! In fact, calling them such is actually a rather large violation of the Federal Trade Commission's Guidelines for selling Gemstones! Lastly, true man made/lab created diamonds only sell for a little less then the real thing!!! So the odds of finding a lab created diamond anywhere else are very slim, especially very cheap!
Sapphires & Rubies (Corundumn) I would have to say the second most widespread problem is Synthetic/Lab Grown/Man made Corundum being sold as natural! Corundum, in case you do not know, is the family of gemstones that contains Sapphires and Rubies. A Sapphire is any color other then red. Red is reserved for a Ruby. With corundums there are two types, your normal Rubies and those that exhibit an Asterism (otherwise known as a star) effect. I would have to honestly say that there are more Synthetic Star Sapphires and Rubies being sold now then natural ones!! Once upon a time it was fairly easy to tell, as Linde was the only Company producing these special gemstones and those made by Linde always had the standard Linde L on the back of them and the star itself was fixed and did not move! But now the same process is being used by many manufactures to produce these rare (in nature) gemstones. One key to spotting these fakes is to look for a super transparent gemstone with a very distinct easy to see star n them, in most cases this stone will not be real and if it is it will be priced well into the thousands to tens of thousands depending on the carat weight!! These perfect (using the term loosely) synthetics were recently introduced onto the market and have been showing up online left and right over the past month or so! Most of the older synthetics were more translucent, at best, to opaque but still had those perfect stars!! Do keep in mind that there is a treatment done to natural Star Sapphires & Rubies, called Diffusion, that will enhance the Asterism/Star and make it much more pronounced!! But most of these stones are very dark and more opaque. The natural stones come in blue, red, purple, pink, white/clear, gray, and black (both silver and gold stars). The synthetics only come in blue and red. There are also natural stones that are sometimes mistaken, or used fraudulently, as Star Corundum. Those stones are Star Garnets (Idaho and India) and Black Star Diopside. The easiest way to tell these apart are the number of rays on the stone! Star Garnets have 4 or 6 rays on them, while Star Diopside has 4 rays. Star Corundum has either 6 or 12 rays to the star. There are other gemstones that show asterisms, like Spinel, but they are rare to find.
Alexandrite The next most widespread fake is Alexandrite. I see more fake Alexandrite for sale anymore then I see real! One has to be very very careful shopping for Alexandrite online, and even in person! One of the main, and hardest to tell, fakes is the Doublet. A doublet is made up of a real Alexandrite crown (top) and a synthetic (Alexandrite, Spinel, Corundum, etc) pavilion (bottom). For a trained Gemologist they are easy to spot though. The next would be the synthetic, or lab grown, Alexandrite. The lab grown Alexandrite can even have natural like inclusions in them! There are also Alexandrite Simulants out there as well! The most common simulant is synthetic corundum that has been treated to exhibit a color change. One of the sneakiest tricks though, is the one most common online, and that is calling the stone a 100% natural
untreated Czochralski Alexandrite. Czochralski is the name of one of the Laboratory processes to grow synthetic Alexandrite!! If it contains the word Czochralski in it, it is a lab grown /synthetic Alexandrite and NOT a natural one!!!!! This is a trick done by unscrupulous Sellers/Stores to deceive the buyer into thinking the stone is natural and mined Alexandrite!!! Most Alexandrite you will find for a reasonable price will be either heavily included or having a very poor color change! If the stone is cheaply priced and has a 90100% color change then there is a 99.99% change that it is synthetic and not natural!
I am not going to get into detail with the other lab grown stones out there. But remember there is NO such thing as lab created Topaz, Zircon, or Tourmaline!
This does not mean you need to be afraid to buy online, just that you need to be careful and educated about what you are buying! There are plenty of deals to be had, but this is one of those categories of shopping that usually holds true to that old saying, You get what you pay for! That does not mean that .99 cent auctions should be over looked or anything of the like! Many times Sellers use .99 cent auctions on a few products as advertisements for their Store or higher priced items, also they hope that the stone ends up going for more money, lol! It is chalked up to advertising costs if it does not. But in most cases you will not find an award winning flawless rare gemstone at a cheap price either. Just be smart about what you purchase and educate yourselves about the stone you are shopping for, not to mention make sure the Store/Seller has a good return policy, and you can and will find yourself some awesome deals!
I hope this guide helps you find that gemstone deal you have been looking for! If it does, please vote for it!
Also, make sure to take a look at my other Guides I have written. I have taken quite a bit of my time and put alot of effort into writing them to better educate all you buyers, and sellers, out there so we can make a better place for both buying and selling. Information Provided by: gemsbyjennifer Based in United
States, eBay member since Sep 23, 2006.
The History of Birthstones,
The idea of birthstones -- a gemstone assigned to each month of the year -- is thought to be an ancient one, and scholars trace it back to the Breastplate of Aaron described in the Bible in the book of Exodus. The Breastplate was a religious garment set with twelve gemstones that represented the twelve tribes of Israel. The gems were set in four rows of three: Sardius, Topaz and Carbuncle; Emerald, Sapphire and Diamond; Ligure, Agate and Amethyst; Andberyl, Onyx and Jasper.
So how did we get from gemstones representing the twelve tribes of Israel to birthstones? The writings of Flavius Josephus (1st century AD) and St. Jerome (fifth century AD) made the connection between the 12 stones in the Breastplate and the 12 signs of the zodiac. The idea was proposed that each of the gemstones had special powers associated with the corresponding astrological sign, and that wearing these stones at the right time would have therapeutic or talismanic benefits. But this was not quite the same idea as our concept of the birthstone. Based on this astrological model, one ought to own a collection of the 12 different gemstones assigned to the signs of the zodiac, and wear the appropriate gem during the ascendancy of the corresponding sign. This is more like the Vedic astrological tradition of India, which assigns 9 different gemstones to 9 planets, and prescribes the wearing of particular gems according to your health and the challenges you face in your life. The idea of each person always wearing a gemstone corresponding to the month of his or her birth is a distinctly modern idea that scholars trace to 18th century Poland, with the arrival of Jewish gem traders in the region. But the modern list of birthstones was not defined until 1912, by the National Association of Jewelers in the USA. The modern birthstone list has been unchanged since 1912. Only recently have we seen two attempts to change it, both curiously associated with the gemstone Tanzanite. In 2002 the American Gem Trade Association announced that they had added Tanzanite as a birthstone for December, though December already had two birthstones (Turquoise and Andzircon). The Jewelers of America went along with the idea and provided this sound bite for the AGTA press releases: "JA sees the addition of Tanzanite for December as a way to build business. Any step that helps retailers sell more jewelry is a good one." In February 2006, TanzaniteOne Ltd., the aspiring Tanzanite cartel, announced a marketing strategy to make Tanzanite a birthstone. But TanzaniteOne wasn't content for tanzanite to be just another birthstone. They wanted to go one better -- they wanted Tanzanite to be given on the birth of every child, regardless of month. With the slogan "Be Born to Tanzanite," they cited rather dubious connections to Masai tribal birth practices. At this point we can safely say that the commercialization of birthstones is complete. The Modern Birthstone list is the official list of birthstones in the U.S. Originally adopted in 1912 by the American national Association of Jewelers, it is the accepted list of Jewelers of America. The Traditional Birthstone list is a compilation of birthstones used in different societies dating back to the 15th century. The second listed is the traditional ancient Hebrew birthstone. If only one stone is listed, the Hebrew birthstone corresponds to the other traditional stones. The Mystical and Ayurvedic Birthstone lists both have roots dating back over a thousand years. The Mystical list of Tibetan origin and the Ayurvedic list is taken from Ayurvedic Indian Medicine.
Modern Birthstones
Month
Traditional Birthstones
Mystical Birthstones
Ayurvedic Birthstones
January
Garnet
Garnet
Emerald
Garnet
February
Amethyst
Amethyst
Bloodstone
Amethyst
March
Aquamarine
Bloodstone, Jasper
Jade
Bloodstone
April
Diamond
Diamond, Sapphire
Opal
Diamond
May
Emerald
Emerald, Agate
Sapphire
Agate
June
Pearl, Moonstone
Alexandrite, Emerald
Moonstone
Pearl
July
Ruby
Ruby, Onyx
Ruby
Ruby
August
Peridot
Sardonyx, Carnelian
Diamond
Sapphire
September
Sapphire
Sapphire, Peridot
Agate
Moonstone
October
Opal, Tourmaline
Tourmaline, Aquamarine Jasper
Opal
November
Topaz, Citrine
Citrine, Topaz
Pearl
Topaz
December
Turquoise, Blue Topaz
Zircon, Ruby
Onyx
Ruby
So What's your real Birthstone? Well I prefer to use the stones from thousands of years ago. When did a jeweler get to tell you what your birthstone is? Maybe this little bit of information will help you connect with your true self. I will save Zodiac Signs and how each gemstone is related to your birthday for another article. Your birth month and your birthday are completely different stories.