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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.
Read the checklist →Journal · Field notes
Field notes for understanding materials, comparing stones, choosing size, and caring for what you wear.
01
How to read a crystal bracelet before you buy it: ten checks, in order, with the reasoning behind each. A4 PDF included.
Read the checklist →
73
How long crystals actually take to form — million-year timescales for quartz, decades for opal, and what time tells you about a mineral.
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74
A geology-first guide to hematoid quartz: quartz with iron oxide inclusions, why colours range from rust to dusky red, where it forms and how to read a strand.
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75
A geology-first guide to emerald phantom quartz: how the green phantom forms, what a finished bead can and cannot prove, and how to read a strand.
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76
A geology-first guide to rose quartz — what gives quartz its pink colour, why some pieces show asterism, where the best material forms, and how to read a...
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77
A geology-first guide to prehnite: calcium-aluminium silicate formation, why some pieces show dark needles, top deposits and how to read a strand.
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78
A geology-first guide to clear quartz — its lattice, why some specimens are flawless and others milky, where the best material forms, and how to read a strand.
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79
The garnet family, its colours and documented localities, with a short film and a guide to observing a finished strand.
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80
The chemistry of crystal colour — Fe / Mn / Cr / Cu / Ti trace elements and how each shifts mineral hue across the gem spectrum.
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81
A geology-first guide to obsidian — volcanic glass formation, black/snowflake/rainbow/sheen varieties, top deposits, and how to read a strand.
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82
A geology-first guide to green crystals — what makes a stone green, the mineral families involved, top deposits, and how to choose a strand.
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83
A geology-first guide to red and orange crystals — Fe³⁺ vs Mn vs Cr chromophores, mineral families and top deposits for warm-toned stones.
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84
A geology-first guide to amethyst — what gives quartz its purple colour, why origins vary, where the best material forms, and how to read a strand.
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