Bowenite jade
Misleading commercial name for the mineral bowenite, a translucent, fine-grained variety of serpentine antigorite, resembling nephrite. Also marketed under the misleading names new jade, serpentine…
Category: Gem or Scam? Library
Emberlite
Unregistered commercial name for a sodalite syenite, a rock containing orange-yellow fluorescent sodalite. Introduced in connection with the trademark registration for similar material under the…
Chrysanthemum Stone
A dark rock with light-colored crystals in patterns that may resemble chrysanthemums or other flowers. This stone is offered both in cut form and in…
Elestite / Elestial Angel Calcite™
An unregistered commercial name for low-grade white calcite found in the Mohave Desert in the southwestern United States, among other places. The typical etched structure…
Chocolate aragonite/calcite
Commercial name for a chocolate brown aragonite and/or calcite, sometimes distinctly banded, usually from Pakistan. Primarily marketed in the form of polished spheres, towers and…
Empowerite™
Registered trademark for a silica rock from New Zealand, resembling flint. Introduced to the esoteric world by Robert Simmons, who named the rock for the…
Chryso quartz
Commercial name for the combination of chrysocolla in quartz. Do you have a nice example of this stone and would like to provide a photo…
Epsomite
Official mineral name for magnesium sulfate, also called Epsom salt or bittersalt. Epsomite is named after a bittersalt spring near Epsom in Surrey, England. In…
Chrysopal
Green nickel-bearing variety of opal. So named for the similarity between chrysopal and chrysoprase, a nickel-bearing variety of chalcedony. Also known by the longer-standing name…
Endurite
Denoted as an “unusual gemstone” from India. It contains alternating layers of red jasper and silver-gray hematite. That sounds like banded iron stone, also known…
