Types of gemstones

There are so many types of gemstones out there.  They are mainly divided into 2 categories of semi-precious and precious gemstones.  Here, we share with you some of the common gemstones that we often see from both categories.  We hope this helps you in your selection of beads.

Diamond
Diamonds are really in a class of its own.  It is the hardest naturally occurring substance ever known and they are crystals that were fused under extremes of pressure and heat.  Its size is categorized by "carat" and large diamonds of high quality are extremely rare.

Quartz
Quartz is one of the most common types of mineral around and it comes in a wide selection of colors.   An example of a common quartz is rose quartz, which is of a cloudy translucent pink or slightly peach color.  Smoky quartz on the other hand. tends to be in dark colour, close to black.

Ruby
Ruby is the queen of gems with deep red ruby being the rarest and most valuable.

Turquoise
This stone ranges in color from blue to green to yellow.  It is normally filled with intricate patterns of brown and black matrix which are mainly copper deposits.

Jade
There are many types of jades around.  While most people identify it by its green shades, there's also white jade. Jade may be either nephrite or jadeite, with most jadeite coming from Burma.  There's also the "new jade" serpentine beads.


Amethyst
This stone is usually found in a variety of shades from lavender to a deep purple. It is usually associated with royalty and goes well with black or pink beads.

Amber
Amber is usually a transparent yellow to a maple-syrup color, but can also appear red.

Citrine
Its name is derived from the word citrus because of its pale yellow color. Natural citrine is rare.

Garnet
A rich, deep red gemstone.