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APACHE TEARSOverview: Apache tears are a natural, rough, circular, or cylindrical form of obsidian. Apache tears is a volcanic glass that is usually black, but is occasionally red, brown, gray, green, dark with "snowflakes," or even clear. |
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APATITEOverview: The name Apatite comes from the Greek word "apate" that means "to deceive" in allusion to its similarity to other more valuable minerals such as olivine, peridot and beryl. Apatite is composed of three different minerals depending on the predominance of either fluorine, chlorine or the hydroxyl group. |
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APOPHYLLITEOverview: The name comes from the Greek word "apa", meaning 'off', and "phyllon" meaning 'leaf'. Apophyllite is hydrous calcium potassium fluorsilicate which is often found with a small amount of iron and nickel. Apophyllite is a classic mineral specimen but rarely found as a facetted gemstone, especially in clean material. |
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AQUAMARINEOverview : Aquamarine is a member of the Beryl family of stones as Emerald. Meaning - "sea water" it's not hard to figure out that it derives this name due to it's color being similar to that of the ocean. The color ranges from very light to medium light blue, frequently with a light touch of green. The most desired color is the deeper shade of blue. Aquamarine is often heated to enhance the coloration; this treatment is stable and permanent. |
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AVENTURINEOverview: The name aventurine comes from the Italian "a ventura," which means "by chance". Aventurine is a translucent to opaque variety of microcrystalline quartz. It contains small inclusions of shiny minerals which give the stone a sparkling effect known as aventurescence. |
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AXINITEOverview: The name Axinite is from the Greek acine (meaning “axe”) for the axe-like shape of the original crystal formations. Axinite is composed of several different ions. Good specimens of Axinite can have an extraordinary color and crystal habit and a nice luster that make them popular for collectors. Axinite is actually a series name for a group of isostructural minerals. |
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AZURITEOverview: Azurite is formed from the oxidation of copper ores. Azurite is sometimes coated with a colorless wax or impregnated with plastic in order to enhance the color and increase the hardness. Azurite is a minor gemstone, its main importance being that as an ore of copper. Azurite has become popular because of its unparalleled deep blue color. |
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BENITOITEOverview: Benitoite is a rare blue stone named after where it was found, the San Benito River. Benitoite is a rare gem that was first discovered in 1906 along the headwaters of the San Benito River in San Benito County, California. It was officially adopted as the California State Gemstone in 1985. Benitoite has a very unusual crystalline shape. It is the only known ditrigonal-dipyramidal crystal. Its sapphire-blue color is unusual, but it really comes out in ultraviolet light, where it shines with a bright blue fluorescence. |
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