Caribbean calcite
Commercial name for aqua blue aragonite/calcite that sometimes appears (partially) artificially dyed. Also often called blue aragonite or aquatine (calcite). Caribbean calcite gets its name…
Category: Gem or Scam? Library
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…
Creation Stone Agate™
Commercial name for … how surprising … agate. And you won’t be surprised that this name, too, was introduced by Robert Simmons (Heaven & Earth).…
Dendrite /dendritic agate/chalcedony
Different names for a variety of translucent gray-blue chalcedony or quartz with dark branch-like inclusions (dendrites) of manganese oxides. Dendrite comes from the Greek word…
Crazy lace agate
Commercial name for an agate consisting of multicolored winding and twisting bands. The designation lace refers to its resemblance to the structure of lace. A…
Chalcanthite
Chalcanthite is a natural mineral, a water-soluble copper sulfate, also called copper vitriol. It is a secondary mineral formed in arid climates or in rapidly…
