Cerasite (of Kikuchi)
Name for an unusual mineralogical phenomenon. This is a fusion of indialite and cordierite with a so-called trapiche habit (wagon wheel pattern). Usually largely or…
Category: Gem or Scam? Library
Dali jasper
Misleading commercial name for a red and white banded calcite. It contains no jasper or quartz at all. Inclusions of probably iron in the various…
Crack crystal / crackle quartz / cracked quartz
Commercial fancy name for quartz (or sometimes glass) with a variety of internal fractures/bursts in various colors (pink/yellow/orange), usually as polished tumble stones or polished…
Blue tiger’s eye
Commercial name for still unoxidized crocidolite with quartz, thus the precursor of tiger’s eye. The blue color is caused by 2-valent iron ions (Fe2+) compared…
Dalmatian jasper / stone
Commercial name for a light-colored, mottled stone reminiscent in appearance of the fur of a Dalmatian dog. Although the stone is often called Dalmatian jasper,…
Charoite
Mineral name for a rare mineral from the silicate group. Named for the type locality, near the Chara River in Russia. Material from the type…
Blue Norwegian moonstone
Misleading commercial name for larvikite, a magmatic rock (syenite or monzonite) from Larvik, Norway. Among other things, the rock contains feldspars that show a bluish…
Darwinite / Darwin glass
A natural form of impact glass (tektite) created by the impact of a meteorite in western Tasmania, Australia. It was named after Mount Darwin in…
Cradle of humankind stone / cradle of life stone
The fantasy name (cradle of humankind) refers to an archaeological site in South Africa (30 km northwest of Johannesburg), where, among other things, the oldest…
Blizzard stone
Commercial name for a type of gabbro, a dark rock with small white dots (feldspar crystals) from Alaska. Do you have a nice example of…
