Types:
There are 3 "types" of gemstones. Each type encompasses a certain number of varietys of gems.

Here is an example of GIA's (Gemological Institue of America) colored stone clarity types.

Type 1: Gemstones that are normally found to be clean.
Examples: Amethyst, Aquamarine, Blue Topaz, Citrine, Kunzite, Tanzanite,
Yellow Beryl, Yellow Chrysoberyl

Type 2: Gemstones that normally may have a few inclusions.
Examples: Alexandrite, Andalusite, Iolite, Peridot, Rhodoloite Garnet, Ruby,
Sapphire, Spinel, Tourmaline, Tsavorite Garnet

Type 3: Gemstones that normally do not come clean.
Examples: Emerald, Red Beryl, Pezzotaite Beryl, Paraiba Tourmaline, Rubellite Tourmaline

 GRADING:
Grading is based on varying levels of quality. Grades are relative to the quality of material that is being presented. Some stones are generally more included than others and may be suitable for different applications.

A Grade- AA Grade: Suitable for beading rough, carving rough (if the size and shape of the stone permits), wire wrapping, cabochon, collection and anytime jewelry sized stones are needed. Stones in these categories can be heavily included or opaque (A Grade), or have inclusions that are visible to the eye but can have sections of transparency (AA Grade).

AAA Grade: Suitable for beading rough, cabochon, carving rough (again if size permits), wire wrapping, collection and whenever these stones could be used for jewelry. Stones in this category will be of high quality with the sections of transparency becoming larger and the stone looking cleaner over all.

Gem Rough: Suitable for all jewelry applications, beading rough, wire wrapping, collection and gemstone faceting. Stones in this category will be very clean with the whole stone being transparent. These stones are very rare due to the precise nature in which they are formed. The temperature and pressure must stay at a constant level for this quality of gem to manifest. When you see these stones you can tell that they are very special and can yeild amazing results in finished works when coupled with complimentary colors.

SELECTION AND LOT PRICING:
All prices are determined by the weight of the stone(s) in grams. Selection prices are based on you finding the BEST stone(s) out of the parcel that is shown. Because you would only be selecting the best quality stone, the price is higher. If you were to buy the whole lot, the price would be cheaper by the gram and you would be able to save money by buying the whole lot. While some stones are ready to be bought just by themselves, others are in parcels. To select, you may pull up a picture and contact us to see which stones are still available or you can request that we send you more photos with updated specifications of the material that you are interested in.

TERMINOLOGY:

Habit: The habit is the way that any specific mineral grows. Quartz crystals generally tend to have a hexagonal crystal structure but can lend itself to a variety of different habits. For example, a Japan Law Twin occurs when two tabular quartz crystals will grow together at a 45 degree angle. A tabular Quartz crystal forms when two opposing sides grow much faster than the other four. This results in the crystal being very flat. This is not quite as rare as the Japan Law, but rare nonetheless.

Termination: This is where the mineral comes to a complete end. The termination could be described as the tip or point of a crystal. Literally the end of the crystals growing period, where all the molecules come to a point.

D-T: Stands for "doubly terminated". This is when the crystal has terminations on both ends of the stone. This is a more rare case and can sometimes demand a higher price than a singly terminated specimen because of it.

Face: A face is one of the sides that make up the termination. Quartz crystals will tend to have six faces on the termination while Tourmaline will have three.

Host Rock: This is what "hosts" the crystals growth. All crystals with good form must be allowed the room to fully crystallize, this takes place inside pockets of rock. The seed molecule of the mineral will be deposited in the pocket on the rock and the growth of the crystal will begin. Contact points are when the crystals growth is interuppted or obstructed by anything in the pocket (i.e. more host rock or other crystals), where the crystal and the obstruction touched.

Floater: A floater will occur only in special conditions. Sometimes the crystals seed molecule will be trapped in pocket material (i.e. clay or sand) while the temperature and pressures are conducive to crystalization. A floater can also be caused by the seed molecule being suspended in gasses for very long periods of time. These crystals can often times have very interesting orientations and be completely crystalized all the way around with no contact points at all since the seed molecule never touches the host rock.

Penetrator: This occurs when two or more crystals grow together and one literally "penetrates" into the other.

Manifestation: Sometimes smaller, fully formed crystals will be found suspended in larger crystals

Barnacle: In some occurences a crystal will fully form during a long, slow period resulting in a large crystal. After that there will be a secondary growth period where the temperature cools very fast after the second series of molecules are deposited on the larger crystal. Because the temperature drops fast the crystals don't have much time to form. This results in many small crystals that essentially used the larger crystal as the host rock. Sometimes the crystal can look like it was frosted with sugar because the secondary crystals are so small.

Lazer Wand: This is a specific habit that is found near the town of Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil. These crystals often have very intricate and elaborate etchings on the surace of the stone. The crystal will taper slowly until it is about to finish then it will terminate. The terminations are usually very small from this locality.

Jacare: "Jacare" in Portuguese means "alligator skin". This material has taken on this name due to the crystal faces over lapping. These crystals can actually have the appearance of alligator skin. Some may not but because of the locality that they are from, the trade term is Jacare.

Lemurian Seed: When strip mining for Quartz crystals in Serra do Cabral, Brazil, miners found an enourmous vein of quartz. When these stones got to the U.S., intuitive readers started working with these crystals. The information that they received from the crystals is that they were seeded by an ancient race from Lemuria. This race seeded the information within these stones so that we could find them now and unlock the ancient information to help us evolve. This material can generally be recognized by several series of striations on every other side. They are found with small triangles both on the faces as well as on the sides. These are called "record keepers" and are said to open up the doors to the Akashic Records.

Self-Healed: Self-Healed crystals are an interesting phenomenon that occurs when a crystal breaks during its growth and then continues to grow. Sometimes this will result in curved or bent stones. Other times a crystal will break completely in half. When this happens the molecules along all of the broken planes will try and continue to terminate. This can create some very interesting effects as each molecule that was along the broken plane can form a small triangle. When hundreds of these small triangles form you can truly see one of the more beautiful raritys that exist within the mineral kingdom.

Phantoms: These occur when pocket material like sand and dirt or chlorite cover the growing crystal during a stage in its life. The crystal will keep growing covering the material and trapping it inside. Temperature and pressure changes can cause the crystal to appear more milky. This may occur then the variables will revert back to their normal states which will make the crystal grow clear again. This can also cause phantoms.

Etched: Etching usually occurs after the crystals have completed thier growth. Acids can leach through the pockets and eat away the structure of the stone. Because the molecules in the stone will align themselves in geometric order, the etching will reveal some very interesting patterns. In the Beryl species for example, you may see several layers of haxagonal or rectangular patterns.

 

INCLUSIONS:
Inclusions will occur in special circumstances during the main crystals growth. Here are a few examples of more common inclusions found in gemstones.

Enhydro: Because certain mineral molecules are transported by hydrothermal solutions, there may be an abundance of water in the pocket. Because of this the water may become trapped inside the crystal. Enhydros will appear as a moving bubble inside the crystal.

Veil: Veils will occur when internal stresses cause the crystal to have thin cracks in the stone. Veils in Quartz crystals can cause rainbows to occur within the stone.