Journal · Field notes
Field notes for understanding materials, comparing stones, choosing size, and caring for what you wear.
01
A gemstone inclusion is material or a material-filled cavity enclosed within a host gem. Contents, present phase state and texture or relative timing are separate evidence fields, not...
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02
Twenty-five material, structure, optical, durability and disclosure terms for reading crystal bracelet listings without marketing fog.
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03
Kyanite and sapphire can share a deep blue, but differ in composition, structure, directional hardness, cleavage, treatment and wear.
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04
Obsidian is volcanic glass; jewellery onyx is parallel-banded chalcedony. Compare structure, hardness, black colour, dye disclosure and safe checks.
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05
Smoky quartz is crystalline SiO₂; obsidian is natural volcanic glass. Compare structure, appearance, hardness, fracture and bracelet wear.
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06
Garnet is a silicate mineral group; ruby is red corundum. Compare identity, hardness, visual overlap and what to ask before buying.
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07
Identify an unknown bracelet by recording transparency, lustre, inclusions, optical effects, texture and drill-hole features, then follow the right material branch.
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08
Natural-colour citrine is rarer than amethyst, but citrine jewellery is widely available because heat treatment converts part of the abundant amethyst supply into yellow-orange quartz.
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09
Blue smoky quartz turns blue the way the sky does — by scattering light, not by pigment or a colour centre. What it is, how to tell it...
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10
Which crystal-bracelet stones are commonly heated, irradiated or dyed, how to spot treatment, and why honest disclosure matters. A by-stone reference chart.
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11
Amethyst and garnet both make deep-toned bracelets, but one is quartz and one a silicate group. Colour, hardness, care and price compared.
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12
Amethyst, citrine, smoky and rose quartz are all the same mineral. A family tree of nine quartz varieties, one formula, and the trace that separates each from the...
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