Malachite is always a shade of green.
Amethyst is a type of Quartz that is purple due to iron and aluminum impurities.
Don't you want the cute bunny to have his treats?!
This pendant is about 2.5" long, and has a very cool looking Bronzite stone bead in the middle that moves!
A length of soft brown sude cord really compliments the pendant and works well with the color scheme.
Goldstone is actually a manmade glass that can to some effect resemble natural stone.
Other than knowing that goldstone is created by the precipitation of copper in glass, the process is a fairly guarded secret. It is known that the process is a slow one, and must be created in small batches, hence why it is more valuable than many other glass beads. There are several varieties of goldstone to be found, based on color. The most common is the reddish-brown goldstone, which gets its color from the copper – the glass itself has no color. Another type is the blue/purple color, which does have colored glass to give the blue and purple colors, with sparkles that take on a silver color. The rarest is the green goldstone, which is made with a dark green colored glass and has light green sparkles.
Goldstone comes in several colors: reddish brown (most common), blue, purple, and green (rarest).
Since the actual process of creating goldstone has been kept pretty secret, there is some debate as to how it was initially created. Some say it was discovered in Venice, Italy by the Miotti family, and has since continued to be a desirable element in jewelry work. Myth has it that Italian monks accidentally discovered it centuries ago. It is said that while working on creating glass windows, copper shavings were spilled into the vat of glass. At first they thought the batch was ruined, but the result was this beautiful sparking glass instead! (Sadly, someone has decided to scam people using this myth in conjunction with the misinformation that goldstone is a natural stone, by setting up a “tour” of an old monastery in Italy where people can go in and pick pieces of goldstone up off the ground!)
Goldstone can be manipulated much like natural stone, creating chips, beads, and figures.
If there's a stone you would like to know more about - drop me a line! Have a mystery stone? Feel free to post a comment about it, including a link to a picture, and it could be featured on this blog!
Goldstone Facts:
Chemical composition: Glass and Copper (SiO2 with Cu)
Color: reddish brown (most common), blue, purple, green (rarest)
References
Wikipedia – Goldstone. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aventurine_glass
Lapidary Digest. http://www.gemcutters.org/LDA/Archive/html%20files/LD029.htm
Copper is mined and has a vareity of uses, particularly as jewelry components.
Copper is a great alternative metal to use in jewelry work and is useful for practicing techniques as it is cheaper than Sterling Silver or Gold filled metal.
Copper has made a popular entrance into jewerly work recently as well. Although a slight greenish tint can occur when wearing Copper, numerous people have no reaction to it or don't wear the jewelry long enough for this to be a concern. Should this occur it can be easily washed off; additionally, some also try to coat the metal to protect both it and the person wearing it such as clear nail polish.
If there's a stone you would like to know more about - drop me a line! Have a mystery stone? Feel free to post a comment about it, including a link to a picture, and it could be featured on this blog!
Copper Facts:
Chemical composition: Cu, plus various alloy compounds
Color: Brown to coppery red
Habit: Branching and dendritic, can be massive
Fracture: Rough
Cleavage: None
Luster: Metallic
Hardness: 2.5-3
Specific Gravity: 8.9
Streak: Red-brown
Occurrence: Worldwide, some of the largest deposits in N. America and the UK
References
A Guide to Rocks and Fossils by B. Busbey III, R. R. Coenraads, P. Willis, and D. Roots. Published 2002 by Fog City Press. ISBN: 1877019518
Rocks, Minerals, & Fossils of the World by C. Pellant and R. Phillips. Published 1990 by Little, Brown and Co. ISBN: 0316697966
Wikipedia – Copper. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper
Geodes can come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, due to variations in the mineral content. These geodes are all mostly some variety of quartz. The one in the back right is chalcedony, which is a microcrystalline form of quartz. In front of it you can see a nice geode with lovely agate banding around it. To the left of it is one that has pyrite in it - more on this one later. Back and to the left of it is another quartz geode, with little black crystals inside of it. And in the back is a large geode of beautiful quartz crystals.Geodes are found in igneous or sedimentary rock. Cavities form within gas bubbles of lava; the material around the void hardens to form the outer layers of the geode. They can also form within sedimentary rocks, often limestone, that has been dissolved (usually be acids such as carbonic or sulfuric acid). Minerals are carried in by water into the cavities, resulting in the growth of crystals. When the rock surrounding the geode erodes, these geodes are left behind.
This is what geodes typically look like from the outside; often they are a gray or tan to brown color. Sometimes they even sort of look like a brain! Geodes can have many different minerals. Most contain some variety of quartz, including clear quartz, rose quartz, amethyst, jasper, agate, chalcedony, calcite, celestite, pyrite and so forth. Sometimes you even get minerals deposited on top of other minerals. The only way to tell what is inside a geode is to break it apart. There is no easy way of telling what the inside of a geode holds until it is cut open or broken apart, however, geodes from any one locality usually have a more restricted variety of interior mineralization.
Image from inside Crystal Cave, the largest known geode in the world, located in Put-in-Bay, Ohio, USA.Geodes are common in several locations in the United States, including Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Utah, and Iowa. Iowa even has the geode as the state rock, and has Geode State Park. The largest known geode was found in 1897 at Put-in-Bay located in Ohio. It is called Crystal Cave, and you can even go on a tour inside this 30 foot deep cave, with crystals as big as 3 feet (1m) wide.
Some creative person decided to fill this geode with pyrite! How can you tell it wasn't like this originally? Well, the pyrite is overhanging the edge of the cavity. Yet it was cut in half - if the pyrite had been there originally, there would be none sticking out beyond where the geode was cut! However its still pretty - just be aware geodes are sometimes modified.
Geodes are used for decorative purposes and jewelry. They are sometimes dyed, so if you see one for sale with very bright colors like neon pinks, blues, and purples, then it has been dyed. As seen in the above picture, other materials are stuck inside that don’t belong there! Sometimes objects are also placed inside, creating little landscapes. Geodes have been used both as slices and cut halves; care must be taken using the slices of geode as they can be somewhat fragile. But what wonderful and unusual jewelry they make!
Using geodes in jewelry work can be a bit tricky, but can have great results!
If there's a stone you would like to know more about - drop me a line! Have a mystery stone? Feel free to post a comment about it, including a link to a picture, and it could be featured on this blog!
This display at the National Museum of Natural History in the US shows some of the variety of color just within the grossular species. 
Uvarovite is a spectacular green garnet, and is often sought after for jewelry. Garnets are common world wide, particularly in metamorphic rocks such as marble and schist; pyrope garnets are usually associated with igneous rocks. They are abundant in the US, Brazil, South Africa, England, and Australia. Gemstone quality crystals are used in jewelry work, the most common being the red garnets. It is also the birthstone for January. Garnets have also been used as an abrasive for sand blasting, in cutting, and as part of some water filtration units.
Garnets can be found in nice crystal forms, such as the grossular garnets on the left. However the deep reds are a popular color found in jewelry.
If there's a stone you would like to know more about - drop me a line! Have a mystery stone? Feel free to post a comment about it, including a link to a picture, and it could be featured on this blog!
Garnet Facts:
Chemical composition: X3 Z2 (SiO4)3
Crystal System: Isometric/Cubic
Color: Varied – red, green, yellow, brown, black, blue, orange, clear
Habit: Well formed crystals are common, as well as massive and granular.
Fracture: Conchoidal
Cleavage: Indistinct
Luster: Vitreous, Resinous
Hardness: 6.5-7.5
Specific Gravity: 3.4-4.6
Streak: Colorless/White
Occurrence: Worldwide
References
A Guide to Rocks and Fossils by B. Busbey III, R. R. Coenraads, P. Willis, and D. Roots. Published 2002 by Fog City Press. ISBN: 1877019518
Rocks, Minerals, & Fossils of the World by C. Pellant and R. Phillips. Published 1990 by Little, Brown and Co. ISBN: 0316697966
Wikipedia – Garnet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garnet
