Gemstone Encyclopedia

Topaz: The Gem of Purity, Strength, and Radiant Beauty

Topaz has spent two thousand years being mistaken for other stones, from the peridot of its naming island to a Portuguese crown diamond. Learn what Imperial topaz means, how Sky, Swiss and London B...

Tourmaline: The Gem of Infinite Colors and Magical Energy

Tourmaline is a family of minerals, and every famous color name from rubellite to Paraiba is a label within it. Its full story, from Dutch ash pullers to the Chinese empress who moved a market.

Zircon: The Brilliant Gemstone with a Rich History

Zircon is a natural gem with fire approaching diamond and a pedigree reaching 4.4 billion years, sharing nothing with synthetic cubic zirconia but a syllable. Learn how radioactivity creates two ge...

Cabochon: The Cut That Turns Inclusions Into the Point

The dome is not decoration. It gathers light from inside the stone, which is why a star or a cat's eye exists only on a curved surface and why orientation of the rough is a permanent decision. What...

Chrysoprase Information

The nickel that makes chrysoprase green sits in microscopic clay inclusions suspended through the quartz. That single fact explains the inner glow of fine material, the fading that gave Silesian st...

Gem Silica: The Blue Chalcedony That Is Not Chrysocolla

The finest gem silica came out of an Arizona copper mine as a byproduct, and the supply ended when the copper economics changed. What the name gets wrong, why translucency sets the price, and how d...

Chalcedony Information

Chalcedony, the beautifully colored cryptocrystalline quartz that could be precisely carved into seals and amulets, was a treasured gem of the ancient world.