Stone Information

 

Amethyst

A variety of quartz that ranges from light to dark purple colour. Often found in Brazil and parts of Africa.

Blue Topaz   

Topaz can be found in a variety of colours, but we only use the very popular light blue version called Sky Blue Topaz. Raw material can come from countries including Brazil, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

 

Botswana Agate 

A variety of agate with considerable banding in white, cream and brown colours.

 

 Bronzite 

Bronzite has a metallic appearance and can display chatoyancy. It comes from various countries including India, Austria and the USA.

 

 Charoite 

This rare purple mineral is only found in Siberia and has an attractive fibrous appearance.

 

Chrysocolla 

One of our favourite stones! A very pretty blue/green copper based mineral which often comes from Arizona in the USA and Peru.

 

Citrine 

A variety of quartz with a yellow/golden colour, often from Brazil.

 

Crazy Lace Agate

This variety of agate comes from Mexico and can have considerable banding. It is predominantly a white/ cream colour with red, brown or yellow additions.

 

Diamonds

Diamonds can be found in Africa, Australia, Russia and other countries and because of the sheer cost our stones are small 2mm rounds of moderate quality. Our white diamonds are entirely natural and our black and blue diamonds are natural diamonds which have been subjected to high pressure heat treatment.

 

Emerald

Found in a variety of countries including Colombia and Zambia, Emeralds almost always contain inclusions. Our emeralds are not dyed or synthetic and in purchasing them for silver jewellery we concentrate on the best possible colour for the price.

 

Fluorite

Lots of different colours with this stone. Rainbow fluorite is particularly striking.

 

Fossil Coral

Agatized fossil coral can come in a variety of subtle colours with the best pieces showing patterns similar to exploding fireworks! Indonesia is a major source.

 

Fossilized Dinosaur Bone

Our cabochons are cut from ancient material collected from the Utah, Arizona and Colorado area. The cellular structure has become agatized, in other words, replaced by quartz. We don’t know exactly which dinosaur your cabochon came from but it is certainly fun to imagine the possibilities.

 

Garnet 

A wide ranging group of minerals in predominantly red or orange colours. Sources include Africa and India.

 

Green Amethyst

A variety of quartz ranging in colour from pale to medium green.

 

Hemimorphite

Our completely natural drusy cabochons often have a startlingly beautiful ice blue colour. This very hard to find material is from Yunnan Province in China.

 

Jasper 

Jasper is an opaque variety of chalcedony and comes in a full range of colours. It can often exhibit very interesting patterns which can make a particular stone most desirable. Many fine examples come from the USA, especially the North and West of the country.

 

Labradorite

A perennially fascinating mineral with flashes of blue, green and sometimes, other colours. Madagascar is a major source.

 

Lapis Lazuli 

Used for thousands of years from ancient Egypt to modern times, this royal blue stone may be flecked with golden pyrites. It is still mined in Afghanistan and also comes from Chile.

 

Leopardskin Jasper/ Agate 

A stone from Mexico with splendid red, brown and mustard coloured spots.

 

Mahogany Jasper 

A variety of jasper exhibiting brown and black colouring.

 

Montana Agate

A subtle variety of agate, sometimes with interesting inclusions. The name reveals the provenance! 

 

Morganite 

A variety of Beryl, a family which includes emerald and aquamarine. Like it’s siblings it is found in Brazil.

 

Ocean Jasper 

This variety of jasper can come in a very wide variety of colours and often contains contrasting orbs. It comes from Madagascar. Some of our cabochons are particularly large and sparkly drusies.

 

Onyx 

Onyx is a variety of chalcedony with a wide range of colours. Sources include India, Brazil and the USA.

 

Opal

Another of our favourite stones, it has traditionally mainly come from Australia until the recent discovery  of fine material in Ethiopia. We use solid rough pieces of this opal in claw settings. These wonderfully exotic looking stones will have natural matrix, (other material growing naturally with the opal,) which is evident on the surface. Before the recent discovery in Ethiopia we would not have been able to offer such colourful, solid  opal in sterling silver jewellery at  such a good price. All our other opal is Australian and in the form of doublets, natural slices of opal with an ironstone backing.  

 

Pearl

Our pearls are cultured freshwater pearls that come from mussels. China is now the main commercial producer.

 

 Peridot 

Found not only in such countries as Brazil and China, but also in certain types of meteorite. The best material has a distinctive Spring green colour.

 

Picasso Stone

Sometimes called Picasso Jasper, this stone exhibits interesting patterns in grey and black, occasionally of an abstract nature similar to the art of Pablo Picasso!

 

Pietersite

Discovered in the early 1960’s in Namibia and more recently in China, pietersite may contain a range of colours exhibiting extremely fine chatoyancy.

 

Psilomelane

Also known as black hematite our Silver Crown psilomelane is only found in the mine of that name in Mexico. Though difficult to cut and polish it can produce some very striking patterns in cabochons.

 

Rainbow Moonstone

The name given to more colourful specimens of moonstone, often coming from India. Blue and golden varieties can be extremely attractive with their flashing iridescence.

 

Rhodochrosite

When banded this mineral is often compared to streaky bacon. Argentina  is the source of some superb stalactitic material, including an old Incan silver mine.

 

Rose Quartz

A variety of quartz with a distinctive light pink colour, found in many countries of the world.

 

Ruby

Traditionally mined in Burma and Thailand this stone is now found in Africa. Our material is not fracture filled, dyed or synthetic. As with other precious stones we endeavor to buy the best material we can for the price. 

 

Rutilated Quartz/ Quartz with Rutiles

Rutile is a mineral composed mainly of titanium dioxide and may be found in quartz. Colours are usually black, gold, or copper. Brazil is a major source.

 

Sapphire

Sapphires come in many colours and can be found in Africa, Thailand, Australia, etc. As with our rubies, the sapphires we buy are subject only to natural heating, a common and completely accepted practice within the trade. We do not buy sapphires which have been subjected to diffusion treatment, dyed or are synthetic.  

 

Seraphinite

The name derives from it’s resemblance to bird feathers and angel wings. This chatoyant stone comes only from Siberia.

 

Smoky Quartz

A pale to dark grey brown type of quartz often from Brazil. 

 

Spectrolite

Another of our favourites, but can be expensive and is difficult to source. Only found in Finland on the border with Russia, it is a highly directional stone showing considerable colour when seen from a certain angle. 

 

Sugilite

Mainly found in South Africa this attractive purple stone has become increasingly expensive over the last number of years. 

 

Tanzanite

This purple blue stone was discovered in Tanzania in 1967 and has become extremely popular in a relatively short space of time. Like sapphire, ruby and emerald it is heat treated in the standard manner. Considering the price of this stone our quality and depth of colour is tremendous value!

 

Tiger Eye

A chatoyant member of the quartz family found in South Africa and Australia.

 

Tourmaline

Comes in an extraordinary range of colours, including watermelon and bi colour varieties. It can be very expensive. Fine material comes from Brazil and parts of Africa.

 

Turquoise

A popular and historical copper based stone found in Iran, the USA and China. It is often imitated and the stone is sometimes oiled or stabilized to improve colour and durability.