01
BE. Stone Buying Checklist
How to read a crystal bracelet before you buy it: ten checks, in order, with the reasoning behind each. A4 PDF included.
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Journal
Field notes for understanding materials, comparing stones, choosing size, and caring for what you wear.
Published records
91 records
01
37
The Rarest Quartz Varieties—and Why No Single Ranking Works
No single global quartz rarity order is defensible. This guide separates natural-rarity wording, commercial-source concentration, treatment substitution and documented cases.
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38
Why Quartz Is Everywhere
Quartz is widespread because of crustal chemistry, formation across several geological settings and relative persistence through weathering and recycling—not because free quartz exists in every rock.
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39
Where Crystals Come From: The Origins Map
An evidence-graded map of representative mineral occurrences and product source claims, with clear limits on provenance, quality, value and ethics.
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40
Why Geologists Use Garnet: Rock Histories and Diamond Clues
How measured garnet zoning helps reconstruct part of a rock's history — and why some mantle-derived garnets guide diamond exploration without proving diamonds are present.
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41
Garnet Through History: Ancient Egypt, Rome and Bohemian Jewellery
A material-first history of garnet, from a documented necklace in Tomb CC 24 at Thebes to Roman carved ring stones, medieval elite use and the nineteenth-century Bohemian pyrope...
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42
Optical Effects Hub: Sheen, Adularescence, Tyndall
Lustre is surface reflection; sheen is a broad appearance descriptor; adularescence is moonstone’s layered-feldspar interference effect; and the Tyndall effect is fine-particle volume scattering. The terms are not...
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43
What Is a Gemstone Inclusion? A Practical Primer
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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44
Crystal Bracelet Glossary: 25 Terms That Actually Matter
Twenty-five material, structure, optical, durability and disclosure terms for reading crystal bracelet listings without marketing fog.
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45
Kyanite vs Sapphire: Similar Blue, Different Mineral
Kyanite and sapphire can share a deep blue, but differ in composition, structure, directional hardness, cleavage, treatment and wear.
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46
Obsidian vs Onyx: What Is the Difference?
Obsidian is volcanic glass; jewellery onyx is parallel-banded chalcedony. Compare structure, hardness, black colour, dye disclosure and safe checks.
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47
Smoky Quartz vs Obsidian: Crystal or Volcanic Glass?
Smoky quartz is crystalline SiO₂; obsidian is natural volcanic glass. Compare structure, appearance, hardness, fracture and bracelet wear.
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48
Garnet vs Ruby: How to Tell Them Apart and Choose
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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