Introducing a Few More Gems

There are few more gems and precious stones which are used world over.

ALEXANDRITE:  It is a wonderful stone used in the world of talisman and amulets.  It was discovered in Ural mountain range in Russia in 1830.  It is a marvelous stone that change colour twice in 24 hours.  When looked at it at night under the light of the candles sticks, the stones shine like living cinders just as the eyes of an owl.  During the bright daylight its colour changes to green.  The pictures of the same stone in shown here.  The time when this stone was discovered in the mountain, the King was Caesar Alexander II, the stone was, therefore, named after him and known as Alexandrite.  In Russia, these stones are considered very auspicious.

ADULARIA:  This stone can be used in lieu of diamonds.  These are transparent, almost   colourless.  These were first discovered in Switzerland’s Adulaar locality, hence the name.

AMAZONITE:  Fished out first from the Amazon river of America, these stones are light green or light blue colour, and used in lieu of turquoise.

AZURITE:  Violet in colour these gems belong to the category of opal, and acts in lieu of the joint influences of emerald and blue sapphire.  Green stripes run in the middle of these gems.

ARAGONITE:  These stone are available in various colours such as yellow, grey or blue always in broad stripes across its body. It belongs to the category of Akeek stones.

ALMANDINE:  It belongs to the garnet category.  It exudes flashes of red and yellow and thereby produces the imagery of rubies and can actually be used in place of rubies.  It can also be used while warming heart as a medicinal adjuvant.

OBSIDIAN:  It looks like a natural glass and it exudes glazes of sliver, but is opaque.  A find of the Stone age this stone was used to chisel out arrow-mouth or knives.

APATITE:  A very soft stone, this can be used in place of blue sapphire.  It is carved very carefully, often creates the image of blue sapphire and is transparent.

ANGLESITE:  It is a semi-jewel of the yellow sapphire group.  Yellowish shade is found in these stones.  Very soft, often has angles and is considered sacred.

ALBITE:  It belongs to the moon-stone group of stones, and is white.  Many times it is also found in colourless forms and creates the illusion of diamonds.

ADAMANTINE:  It is a semi-jewel of diamond, and can be found in blue, yellow and green tinges.

AVENTURINE QUARTZ: It is also called Aventurine.  It looks like simple glass and is found in red, grey and light yellow colours.  It was discovered in 1700 and a type of chemical gems.  It is worm in place of rubies.  It is also used as a medicament to warm the heart.

BRAZILLIANITE:  Found in the mines of Brazil, this gem is transparent and yellow in colour.  Not used for wearing on person.

BERILLONITE:  It is a semi-jewel of diamonds, colourless and transparent.  Very soft, however, not fit to wear.

BRONZITE:  Generally found in red or honey colours, this stone has much iron in it.  A semi-gem of the zircon group, it is also found many times in deep grey and black colours.

BARYET: It is found in grey, yellow and many different colours.

BLUE TOPAZ: It belongs to the topaz group, and blue in colour, which is why it is also worn in place of blue sapphire.

BLUE ZIRCON: It creates the illusion of blue sapphire and used in place of that stone.

BENITOITE: It also creates the illusion of blue sapphire, and found in colourless, blue and black shades

CHRYSOCOLLA:  It is one of the Opal group of stones.  Available only in green colour with grey polish on it.

CITRINE:  Similar to the topaz group of stones it is used in place of yellow sapphire, and often creates imagery of that.

CELESTINE:  A stone generally colourless, but also found with milky white, yellow, orange and blue tinges, it is very hard and is also used in place of diamonds.

CASSETERITE:  It also a transparent colourless stone found in yellowish shade, heavy, hard and is used in place of diamonds.

CALSITE:  Found in the mines of marble and lime, it is a colourless (whitish), semi-precious stone generally called a semi-gem for Moon.

CARNELIAN:  It is a translucent stone available only in Brazil and European countries in red and orange colours.  It can replace a coral.

CHRYSOPHRASE:  Widely used in Greece, especially in Rome, this stone in translucent and apple green in colour.

DEMATOID: Profusely found in Russia’s Ural mountains range, it is a garnet group of stone with light green tinge.  Its specialty is that there lies a golden glaze around this stone.

DANBURITE:  It is translucent and mostly seen colourless or sometimes even found with yellowish tinge.  It can be used in place of yellow sapphire.

DIOPSIDE:  This stone is either bottle green or deep grey in colour.  Quantum of iron and magnesium is more in it than that of anything else.  It can be used in place of emerald.

DUMORTIERITE: This stone is one of the rock-crystal group of stones found in blue, violet and grey colours.  It is mostly found in Nevada (America) or France and is a semi-gem of turquoise.

DOLOMITE:  It is a colourless stone though a yellowish shadow comes out of it.  It is a semi-precious stone found in the mines of Italy and used as ornaments.

DUMORTIORITE: It is a semi-gem of turquoise.

EPIDOTE: It is a transparent, deep yellow, grey and green stone, mostly found in France, Austria and Russia.  It is also known as ‘Unakite’.

FIRE AGATE:  It is also known as ‘Akeek’ stone, got its nomenclature because of it’s look which is that of the living cinders.  It can be worn in place of corals.

FLUORITE:  It is a translucent stone in green, pink and light gold colours.  It is, however, not quite fit to be displayed in the collection of gems and jewels.  Since the stone is highly soft, scratches settle on it and it also gets powered easily.

GREEN ZIRCON:  It belongs to the zircon group of stones, and can be used in place of emeralds.

GREEN GARNET:  A semi-precious stone, these are the garnet group of stones, mostly used as garlands and seldom worn in rings.

GREEN SAPPHIRE:  It is deep green, hard stone of sapphire group it also has blackishness in look.

GOSHENITE:  It is highly quality colourless jewel of the beryl group, of which pearls and diamond can be made through chemical process.  It has the glaze of silver that gives pure white colour.

GREEN TOPAZ:  This stone of the topaz group is very soft and can be cut according to any design or shape.

HELIDOR:  It is worn in place of yellow sapphire, very soft too, and can be cut to sizes and shapes according to one’s desire and designs.

HOWLITE:  It is very soft, like a piece of chocolate block, mostly found in California of United States of America.  Which often creates an illusion of firouna.

HESSONITE:  It is a garnet group of stone available in many different colours and can be used in place of zircon.

HAWK’S EYE QUARTZ:  It is a jewel of cat’s eye group, which when takes the shape of a precious piece of gem it looks like a hawk’s eye.  This is very catchy which is why the tantrics wear this stone to attract people.

HEMATITE:  There is a metallic glaze in this stone, and because the amount of iron is quite heavy, it also looks like black glass piece.  It is, therefore, called iron-rose too.  When cut in small striped pieces they looked red.

IVORY:  The engraved artefacts made of animals’ tusks or teeth or bones are called Ivory—such as elephants’ tusk, boars’ teeth, bones of hippopotamus etc – all fall in the category of fossilized gems.  According to the legends, all these animals are capable of wielding miraculous powers, hence these gems are very important objects for researches according to the tenets of the tantra.

IOLITE:  These jewels are deep sky blue or violet in colour and that is why these have been named as iolite or cordierite.  Some even term it as water sapphire.  It is a semi-jewel of Saturn.

JET:  It is a semi-precious jewel like the akeeks, has least shines as it does not have water content at all.  That is also another reason why it breaks and scatters very soon, and generally considered as unfit for wearing as a jewel on person.

JASPER:  It is a rare jewel with both deep stripes and spots on the body, found in many colours.  It found its name from the Greek, jasper, meaning the stone with spots.

JADEITE:  Jadeite or jade are used from ancient times for making weapons and instruments, as it is a very hard stone.  It is a semi-jewel of emerald group.  In United States it is used for treatment of kidneys and is as expensive as gold.

KUNJITE:  It can be used in place of rock-crystal and diamond.  It is also available in many different colours such as pink, yellow, light green and grey.

KORNERUPINE:  A semi-jewel of emerald, it is mostly found in green or pink colours.

LABRODORITE:  This stone is generally found in the mines of Finland, Norway and Russia and used in setting the gem and jewels.  Though the main chunk of such stones in multi-coloured, the stone is also available in yellow, red and grey.

MOSS AGATE:  It is yellow akeek stone mostly with black spots on its body.  It is also translucent.  It is used in setting the jewel and gems.

LIDDICOALITE:  It is a multi-coloured stone in which the rainbow reflects constantly.  It is also used in place of navaratna or a nine-jewel combine.

MELNITE:  It is carbon group of stones and a semi-jewel of diamond.  It therefore can be worn in lieu of diamond.

MORGANITE:  It is pink or violet in colour.  It was discovered by an American scientist Baker John Morgan, upon whom the jewel has been named.  It has a very charming shine and can be worn in place of rubies.

NEPHRITE:  It is one of the Jadeite group of stones, found in almost all colours, However, nephrite in green colour is highly sought after and precious.  It is also known as Indian Jade.

PHENAKITE:  It is a hard, colourless, transparent stone, found mostly in Greece and creates the illusion of being the rock-crystal stone.  However, this stone is costlier than the rock-crystal and used in place of diamonds.

PINK SAPPHIRE:  Found mostly in the mines of Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the African countries, these pink sapphire often look like rubies.  The jewel is considered one of the high quality jewels with a shine unparallel in the history of gems.

PREHNITE:  It is semi-jewel of yellow sapphire group, often found in oily yellow and green colours.

PHOSPHOPHLITE:  It can be used in lieu of diamonds and emeralds.  It is a precious stone with brilliant shines, and mostly found in the mines of Germany and United States.

PINK TOPAZ:  It belongs to the topaz family, can be used in place of yellow sapphire and emerald.

RHODODINE:  It is a smooth stone found in pink colour, can be used as coral but its size is a bit larger than the corals.

ROSE QUARTZ:  It can be used in place of rubies.

SERPENTINE:  It often creates illusion as though jade or onyx, which are all green and transparent.  It can be used in place of emeralds.

SINHALITE:  It is a semi-jewel of yellow sapphire.  It is also available in yellow, grey and light green in colour.  It often creates as illusion of being a peridot, but is a semi-jewel of yellow sapphire.

STAUTOLITE:  It is a semi-gem of emerald, found in grey and black colours which can be used in place of zircon and blue sapphire.  In some foreign lands it is also known as “cross stone”.  It is highly marvelous in action.

SCHEELITE:  It is a very glittering jewel, many times it looks like yellow topaz and many times like a transparent colourless gem which creates the illusion of diamond.  It can be used in place of yellow sapphire.

SPODUMENE:  It is a kunzine group of jewels generally found in pink, grey, and yellow colours.  Its transparent ray is charming.  Mostly it is found in the mines of Brazil and can be used in place of ruby.

SARD:  It is one of the agate stones with red colour and can be worn in place of emerald.

Onyx and agate are the stone of the same type.  It is available in red, grey colour and very soft on which sculpting is possible.  Many artistic drawings and designs have been engraved on this stone.

SCAPOLITE:  A colourless stone, it is called ‘Wernerite’ because a German gemologist, A G Werner had discovered it after great research.  It is found in pinkish grey and blue colours, and can be used in place of the blue sapphires.

SILLIMANITE:  It is known after the name of American scientist Professor Silliman which was found in American ointinent and can be worn in place of blue sapphires.

SPEHALERITE:  It is a transparent jewel which throws shines like diamonds from many sides of its body, and is generally yellow in colour.  It can be used in place of yellow sapphire.

SPINEL:  This stone is found in many colours.  But the one in pomegranate colour is very beautiful.  It is a jewel which can be found in foreign countries and seldom in India.

SODALITE:  It is a jewel of lapis lajuli group.  It has sodium in higher amount in its constitution which is why it has been named as ‘Sodalite’.  It is found in deep blue and violet colours, can be used in place of blue sapphires.

SHELL:  It was the currency for exchange in the ancient India.  It has been used in multi-farious jewelleries in foreign countries which eventually categorized it as jewel.  Indeed the shell or ‘kaudhi’ as was called in India is only the common medium used to play the game of dice or ‘chausar’, a type of gambling.

SPESSARTINE:  It is high quality jewel of garnet group.  Mostly available in foreign countries, it is orange in colour.
TUGTUPITE:  It is one of the tourmaline group of jewels, discovered in 1060 AD in Greenland.  It is found in two colours so far – light white and pink.

TAAFFEITE:  It is very rare jewel, was discovered by Count Taaffe in an Ireland mine, after whom it was eventually named.  It is equally precious as diamond.

TITANITE:  It can be worn in place of yellow sapphire.  It is transparent, highly shiny having a speciality that a blackish ray can be seen separated from its original ray.

UVAROVITE:  It is a stone of garnet group which looks black outwardly but when chiselled green coloured jewels come out its blocks.  It is also semi-precious and can be used in place of emeralds.

WATERMELON TOURMALINE:  In these tourmalines the upperside looks green and its middle portion looks pink.  It is found in 15 different colours, but all the colours are light.

YELLOW ORTHAGLASE:  One can wear this jewel in lieu of yellow sapphire.  It
has iron much in its constitution, very hard naturally and in its corners the blackish shadow are visible.

YELLOW TURMOLINE:  It is very soft type of tourmaline jewels which gets scratches very easily.

ZOISITE:  This jewel is found in the mines of Tanzania and another parts of East Africa.  It is generally found in blue and violet colours, often produce the illusion of sapphire group of gems, which it does not belong to.