Blog posts tagged with 'Mineral Guides'

Some of the most attractive polished minerals need the gentlest care. Fluorite and malachite are noticeably softer than quartz, and their colour does not protect them from abrasion or breakage. Buy them for an appropriate display and…

Green jade is too broad a label for a careful material purchase. Ask which jade material is intended, whether its identity has been checked and what treatment is known. A green pebble may be a useful decorative object while still being…

Pyrite offers a brass-yellow metallic appearance that differs from the silky gold band of tiger eye. A tumble-polished pyrite pebble may retain small cavities and granular areas. The buyer should establish whether the object is solid…

White howlite is a useful study material because it brings together a recognisable appearance, relatively low hardness and an important naming issue: dyed look-alikes. A blue-dyed howlite pebble can be an honestly described product. It…

Moss agate, Botswana agate, unakite and rhodonite are useful examples of why pattern and material identity should be recorded separately. A branching inclusion, a curved band and a pink patch can look striking, but no one feature proves…