Sunset quartz
Commercial name for clear quartz (rock crystal) with red hematite phantoms from India. This name refers to the striking phenomenon of reddish-brown “shadow” layers (phantoms)…
Category: Gem or Scam? Library
Gilson opal
A name for a synthetic man-made opal designed to mimic the appearance of natural precious opal as good as possible. Gilson opal was developed by…
Lonsdaleite (diamond)
The name lonsdaleite is an officially recognized mineral name for a rare form of carbon but is regularly used online and at trade shows for…
Heinekenite
Commercial (and comical) name for green glass. The name heinekenite occasionally pops up in collecting circles and online forums as a playful designation for green…
Quartz, synthetic / lab-grown
Although the mineral quartz is one of the most common minerals on earth and is found in large quantities, synthetically manufactured quartz also exists. This…
Peanut obsidian
Commercial name for orbicular perlite from Mexico, actually a “devitrified” obsidian, also known as red snowflake obsidian and also sold under the name Peanut Obsidian.…
African bloodstone
Commercial name for a green-gray chalcedony with delineated pieces of red jasper and light gray chalcedony, often combined with speckles of pyrite. The stone consists…
Seftonite
Name for a translucent, moss-green variety of chalcedony, but used as a commercial name for a green-gray chalcedony from Africa with angular pieces of red…
Praetorianite
Commercial name for a massive variety of grossular, a green mineral from the garnet group. Named for Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, where…
Nundorite
Local (lapidary-commercial) name for a unique rock with a distinctive appearance: a fine matrix in beige to brown with scattered, often oval crystals of pale…
