A guide to purple crystals and their meanings: amethyst, lepidolite, charoite, sugilite, purple fluorite, iolite and lavender jade, with real mineral facts, origins, care rules and common fakes.
A guide to pink crystals and their meanings: rose quartz, rhodonite, rhodochrosite, pink tourmaline, morganite, kunzite, pink opal and mangano calcite, with real mineral facts, care rules and common fakes.
The modern birthstone list month by month, where it came from, the traditional meanings of each stone, real hardness facts and how to clean and care for every birthstone without damaging it.
Six durable, affordable crystals for beginners: clear quartz, amethyst, rose quartz, carnelian, tiger's eye and black tourmaline. Real mineral facts, traditional meanings, buying tips and which stones to skip at first.
Howlite is the soft white stone with gray veins that is often dyed blue to pass as turquoise. Learn what it is, where it comes from, traditional meanings, care and how to tell natural howlite from dyed look-alikes.
Peridot is the olive-green August birthstone found in lava, deep in the Earth and even in meteorites. Learn the science, history, traditional meanings, care and how to spot glass and look-alike fakes.
Smoky quartz is the brown-to-gray quartz colored by natural radiation. Learn how it forms, where cairngorm and morion come from, its traditional meanings, care and how to spot irradiated or glass imitations.
Fluorite is the rainbow stone: soft, glassy and available in almost every color. Learn what it is, why it glows under UV light, its history, traditional meanings, care and how to spot glass and dyed fakes.
Garnet is a family of minerals, not one stone, and its deep red is the best known. Learn the main types, history, traditional meanings, January birthstone facts, care and how to spot glass and doublet fakes.
Amazonite is the soft blue-green feldspar that looks like tropical water. Learn why it gets its color, where it is found, its ancient history, traditional meanings, care tips and how to spot dyed lookalikes.