Quick answer: don’t store hard crystals loose with soft ones (quartz at Mohs 7 will scratch calcite, fluorite, selenite, or
Which Crystals Should Not Be Stored Together? The Real, Physical Reasons Read Post »
Quick answer: “amethyst” comes from the ancient Greek amethystos, built from a- (“not”) and methys (“wine”), so it means roughly
What Does “Amethyst” Mean? The Ancient Promise That It Would Keep You Sober Read Post »
Quick answer: amethyst lost its precious-gem status because of supply, not because it got any less beautiful. It was once
Why Is Amethyst No Longer Valuable? The Gem That Fell From the Crown Jewels Read Post »
Quick answer: chemically, quartz is silicon dioxide (SiO2), so in principle it is 100% silica. In practice, natural quartz is
Quick answer: among natural colors, the rarest quartz is natural green quartz (prasiolite), which Wikipedia’s mineral entry calls “exceedingly rare,”
What Is the Rarest Color of Quartz? Ranking Quartz Colors From Common to Almost Mythical Read Post »
Quick answer: clear quartz and diamond differ on almost every measurable property. Diamond’s refractive index is about 2.41 versus quartz’s
Quartz or Diamond? How to Tell a Clear Quartz Crystal From the Real Thing Read Post »
Quick answer: the mineral most often mistaken for quartz is calcite, followed by white feldspar in rocks, glass in shops,
What Rock Is Mistaken for Quartz? The Usual Suspects and How to Tell Them Apart Read Post »
Quick answer: the fastest reliable checks are (1) look for round bubbles with a 10x loupe: any spherical bubble means
Quartz or Glass? 7 Ways to Tell a Real Quartz Crystal From a Fake Read Post »
Quick answer: finding a Herkimer diamond is easy. Several pay-to-dig mines in Herkimer and Montgomery counties, New York, let visitors
How Hard Is It to Find a Herkimer Diamond? A Realistic Guide to the Dig Read Post »
Quick answer: a Herkimer diamond is worth what a fine quartz crystal is worth, not what a diamond is worth.
How Much Is a Herkimer Diamond Worth? What Actually Sets the Price Read Post »
