Shooting Star News

Caramel-colored citrine calcite chunks

Citrine vs. "Citrine Calcite": What's the Diffe...

Not everything labeled "citrine" in the crystal trade is quartz — here's the honest difference between true citrine and the caramel-colored calcite often sold under the same name.

Citrine vs. "Citrine Calcite": What's the Diffe...

Not everything labeled "citrine" in the crystal trade is quartz — here's the honest difference between true citrine and the caramel-colored calcite often sold under the same name.

Chrysocolla pendant with turquoise-like matrix patterning

Chrysocolla: The Turquoise Look-Alike With Its ...

Chrysocolla is often mistaken for turquoise at a glance, but it's a different mineral entirely — a copper silicate with its own soft blue-green color and distinctive matrix patterning.

Chrysocolla: The Turquoise Look-Alike With Its ...

Chrysocolla is often mistaken for turquoise at a glance, but it's a different mineral entirely — a copper silicate with its own soft blue-green color and distinctive matrix patterning.

Fluorite specimen with calcite and pyrite growth from Morocco

Fluorite: The Genius Stone in Every Color

Fluorite occurs in more colors than almost any other mineral — sometimes several bands within a single crystal — and it's the mineral that gave the entire optical phenomenon of...

Fluorite: The Genius Stone in Every Color

Fluorite occurs in more colors than almost any other mineral — sometimes several bands within a single crystal — and it's the mineral that gave the entire optical phenomenon of...

Amazonite nugget beads in blue-green tones

Amazonite: The Stone of Truth and Communication

Amazonite's soft blue-green color — despite the name — has nothing to do with the Amazon River, and everything to do with a striking feldspar variety prized in both jewelry...

Amazonite: The Stone of Truth and Communication

Amazonite's soft blue-green color — despite the name — has nothing to do with the Amazon River, and everything to do with a striking feldspar variety prized in both jewelry...

Opal doublet cabochons showing play-of-color

Opal Doublets: Play-of-Color Without the Price Tag

An opal doublet pairs a thin slice of genuine natural opal with a dark backing layer — a construction that intensifies the stone's famous play-of-color while keeping it far more...

Opal Doublets: Play-of-Color Without the Price Tag

An opal doublet pairs a thin slice of genuine natural opal with a dark backing layer — a construction that intensifies the stone's famous play-of-color while keeping it far more...

Carnelian chip beads in warm red-orange tones

Carnelian: The Stone of Vitality and Motivation

Carnelian's warm red-orange color has made it one of the most continuously used gemstones in human history, carved and worn since at least the Bronze Age.

Carnelian: The Stone of Vitality and Motivation

Carnelian's warm red-orange color has made it one of the most continuously used gemstones in human history, carved and worn since at least the Bronze Age.