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Gemstone Information
Click on the title to view information about each gemstone including its Mohs hardness scale.
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Ranges in color from transparent to opaque. It is often dyed to produce brilliant colors such as blues and greens. Agate is named after the Achates River in Sicily which is still a major source for this stone. Hardness: 6.5-7
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Amazonite is a microcline feldspar. It is usually light green to blue-green, mottled and sometimes contains light striations. Hardness: 6-6.5
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Amber is the hardened, fossilized sap or resin from ancient pine trees. It is an organic gem. Amber often contains bubbles and other inclusions such as small plant or animal fossils. It’s color and transparency can vary, but most commonly it is orange, yellow and brown. Hardness: 2-2.5
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Amethyst is purple in color and ranges from a deep purple (highest quality) to a light lavender shade. Amethyst is the best known and most valuable form of quartz. Hardness: 7
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| 1st | Peridot |
| 2nd | Red garnet |
| 3rd | Jade |
| 4th | Blue zircon |
| 5th | Pink tourmaline |
| 6th | Turquoise |
| 7th | Yellow sapphire |
| 8th | Tanzanite |
| 9th | Amethyst |
| 10th | Blue Sapphire |
| 11th | Citrine |
| 12th | Opal |
| 13th | Moonstone |
| 14th | Agate |
| 15th | Rhodolite |
| 16th | Red Spinel |
| 17th | Carnelian |
| 18th | Aquamarine |
| 19th | Garnet |
| 20th | Yellow Diamond |
| 25th | Tsavorite |
| 30th | Pearl |
| 35th | Emerald |
| 40th | Ruby |
| 45th | Cat’s Eye |
| 50th | Imperial Topaz |
| 60th | Star Ruby |
| 65th | Blue Spinal |
| 70th | Smokey Quartz |
| 75th | Diamond |
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Apatite is a calcium phosphate that is typically green, but also can be blue, yellow, reddish-brown, violet, yellow-green, colorless or multicolored. These colors often form due to natural irradiation or the presence of rare earth elements. Hardness: 5
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Aquamarine is a member of the Beryl family (same as the Emerald). It is a light blue colored gemstone that sometimes has a slight greenish tint. The stone gets its name from the two Latin words "water" and "sea". Aquamarine is usually heat treated to remove yellow components thereby producing a purer blue color. Hardness: 7.5-8
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This is a quartzite gemstone composed of interlocking grains of quartz and small mica crystals. The color is most commonly a light to mossy green, but is sometimes seen in a dark forest green. Hardness: 7
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| January | Garnet |
| February | Amethyst |
| March | Aquamarine |
| April | Diamond or Cubic Zirconia |
| May | Emerald |
| June | Alexandrite or Pearl |
| July | Ruby |
| August | Peridot |
| September | Blue Sapphire |
| October | Opal or Pink Tourmaline |
| November | Citrine or Topaz |
| December | Blue Zircon or Turquoise |
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It is red/orange in color. It gets its name from the Latin word cornum (cornel berry or cornelian cherry). The stone’s redness comes from iron. Hardness: 7
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Chalcedony is a finely crystallized or fibrous quartz that forms rounded crusts, rinds, or stalactites in volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Chalcedony is a precious stone that occurs in many forms, colors, and shapes. Hardness: 7
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The gemstone Chrysocolla is often confused with turquoise. It is a copper bearing mineral found wherever copper deposits occur. Hardness: 2-4
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The gemstone Chrysoprase is an opalescent apple green colored variety of chalcedony (quartz). The name chrysoprase is derived from two Greek words, meaning golden leek, and describes the colour of the stone. Hardness: 6.5-7
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This stone belongs to the quartz family. The name citrine comes from the French word "citron" referring to it’s yellowish color which comes from the presence of iron. The coloring of Citrine ranges from light to medium gold. The larger the stone, the more golden the tone. Hardness: 7
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Diamond is the hardest known natural material. The name diamond derives from the ancient Greek adamas. Hardness: 10
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Emeralds are members of the beryl family. They come in many shades of green and bluish green. There is a wide spectrum of clarity, dependent upon the inclusions and fractures in the crystal. Hardness: 7.5-8
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Fluorite has extremely variable color with some zoning. It is a translucent to transparent stone with coloring in shades of greens and purples. Rainbow Fluorite contains a mix of all shades. Fluorite should be handled carefully because of it’s softness. Hardness: 4
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This stones gets it name from the Latin word "granatum" (pomegranate) referring to it’s color and seed like crystal formation. Garnet is one of the world’s most ancient gems. Garnets come in many forms and range in color from very dark red to a rose color. Hardness: 6.5-7.5
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Its natural color is white. Dyed, it looks like lapis lazuli, red coral or turquoise. This versatile stone is named for Henry How, a 19th century mineralogist, who found it first in Nova Scotia. Hardness: 2.5-3.5
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Its name comes from the Greek meaning violet stone and has been referred to as water sapphire. Iolite is sometimes called Dichroite referring to its dichroic properties. The gemstone changes colors depending which angle it is viewed from. It displays colors ranging from deep blue, to violet and light blue to greyish blue. Hardness: 7-7.5
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Jade is the term applied to forms of jadeite and nephrite. Jades appear in mottled green and white, and the rarer colors of yellow, pink, purple, and black. The range of greens are light to dark, creamy, grayish, and also white. Hardness: 6.5-7
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Jasper is a variety of microscopically crystallized quartz that is heavily pigmented with colorful minerals. There are many types of Jasper. Leopard Poppy, Red ,Picture and Dalmation are some. Dalmation Jasper has dark spots against a pale, creamy background which resembles Dalmatian spotting. Hardness: 6.5-7
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Jet is one of the organic gemstones. It is fossilized wood and related to coal. Hardness: 2.5-4
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Kyanite is commonly a deep blue, similar to sapphire, and for this reason is named from the Greek word kyanos for "dark blue." The stone also appears in green and black, and more rarely, yellow, white or gray. The color is not always uniform; it can be blotchy or in streaks. Hardness: 4.5-5; 7
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The name labradorite comes from the province of Labrador in Canada, which is a famous locality for labradorite with an iridescent play of colors. Iridescent labradorite is sometimes referred to as spectrolite. Labradorite shows an iridescent play of blue, green, orange, yellow or red colors. Hardness: 6-6.5
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Lapis lazuli is a semi-precious stone prized since antiquity for its intense blue colour. Hardness: 5-6
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Malachite is an opaque, banded stone. The colors in the bands range from a very light green to almost deep green. Hardness: 3.5-4
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This Australian jasper is a warm, earthy flood of reds, yellows and browns. It is formed as a sediment in erosion zones and as a filler in cracks. Mookaite is named for where is was first found — in outcrops, principally on Mooka Station on the west side of the Kennedy Range in Western Australia. Hardness: 7
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Moonstones come in a variety of colors, ranging from colorless to white, gray, brown, yellow, orange, green, or pink. Clarity ranges from transparent to translucent. The moonstone is named for its resemblance in color to the moon. Hardness: 6-6.5
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Onyx is a type of opaque chalcedony that comes in various colors. Black onyx is one of the most popular stones on the market today. The stone occurs naturally in black, but it is generally dyed to achieve a more uniform color. Onyx also comes in other colors including green and blue. Hardness: 7
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The main types are White opal, which is translucent to semi-translucent with play-of-color against a white or light gray body color, Black opal, which is translucent to opaque with play-of-color against a black or other dark body color and Fire Opal, which is transparent to translucent with brown, yellow, orange, or red body color. Hardness: 5.5-6.5
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Peridot is the gem variety of Forsterite, a magnesium rich member of the olivine series. Peridot ranges in color from apple green to an olive green color. Hardness: 6.5-7
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The pink color of rhodochrosite is caused by the element manganese and it is formed when manganese is dissolved by ground water and combines with a carbonate material and then drips off the ceiling of caves and crevices deep underground. Hardness: 4
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Rhyolite consists mainly of feldspars and quartz. It includes a wide range of colors that form intricate patterns. These all have a green matrix. Hardness: 6-7
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Ruby is the red variety of the corundum (aluminum oxide) mineral, a family that also includes sapphire, and takes its name from the Latin rubeus or ruber, meaning red. Hardness: 9
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Sapphire is the non-red variety of corundum. Blue is by far the most popular color for sapphires, but they can be almost any color, including yellow, green, white, colorless, pink, orange, brown, and purple. Padparadscha is the name for a rare orange-pink variety of sapphire and has a higher value than blue sapphires. Hardness: 9
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Sodalite is characterized by its dark, intense blue color with white and sometimes yellow streaks. It is a member of the feldspathoid group (minerals with similar chemistries to feldspar but which have poor silica content). Its name probably is culled from its sodium content, though some say it comes from the Latin solidus ("solid") since it was a solid used in the process of glassmaking. Hardness: 5.5-6
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This gemstone varies from golden to orange to red-brown, and can be transparent or translucent. This bright, sparkling stone is a feldspar crystal formed in molten lava and then discharged onto the surface of the earth by a volcano. Sunstone gets its name from the ways its inclusions reflect the sun's light. Hardness: 6-6.5
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Tanzanite is part of the Zoisite mineral species and is only found in East Africa. While Tanzanite is often a blue color when first mined, it can also be brown and is routinely heat treated to permanently draw out its exotic bluish-purple color. Hardness: 6.5-7
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It is a variety of quartz with very fine, similarly oriented fibrous inclusions. When the stone is cut properly you can see the brilliance of it’s changeable luster. The most common Tiger Eye is a golden brown color. Red Tiger Eye is a mahogany/dark chocolate color. Hardness: 6.5-7
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The name topaz is thought to be derived from the Sankrit word tapas meaning fire. However, more likely, it probably derived its name from the Island of Topazos, in the Red Sea. Topaz comes in many colors such as blue, yellow, pink, brown, green and clear. Orange-red "Imperial" topaz is rare. Hardness: 6.5-7
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Ten mineral species comprise the tourmaline family. Pink Tourmaline has a lovely color that comes from the presence of manganese. Green tourmaline comes in varying shades of green from light blue/green to dark olive depending on the presence of iron, chromium or vanadium. Watermelon Tourmaline is a stone with a mixture of these colors. Hardness: 7-7.5
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It is one of the first gems ever used to make jewelry and has been dated back to 5000 B.C. It often has a lovely blue color due to the presence of copper. The presence of iron will provide a more green tone. Turquoise sometimes has a rock matrix and varying shades of grey, brown or black veining due to inclusions or oxide stains. Natural turquoise is a mineral that has not been treated. Enhanced turquoise means it has been treated to improve its color. Stabilized means resins have been used to harden and darken the turquoise. Hardness: 5-6
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