The most expensive, most beautiful, largest stones in the world. Rhodolite is a pomegranate and strawberry dessert. Eye stones - not the eye of fate

Jewelry with stones looks amazing and is pleasing to the eye. But there are stones that can safely be called the most unusual and beautiful.

So, the top 10 most beautiful stones in the world

1. Alexandrite is a variety of the rather rare mineral chrysoberyl. The uniqueness of this stone lies in its pleochroism. In simple terms, alexandrite can change color, and such changes simply excite the imagination and shock.

So, in daylight it will delight the eye with different shades of green (grass, turquoise, olive), but in artificial light it can be crimson, purple or even red-violet. This unique ability is explained by the fact that alexandrite contains an extremely rare combination of minerals such as chromium, titanium and iron.

2. Painite belongs to the class of borates. This stone was discovered in 1956, and until recently there were only a few copies in the world, but in 2006 a new deposit was discovered. By the way, this mineral is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the rarest. The color of painite can vary from red-orange to brownish-red.

This color range is explained by the content of iron impurities in the mineral. The latest crystals found are almost opaque and have dark tones. By the way, if you look at painite under the light of an ordinary lamp, it will turn green. And this is its distinctive feature, which will reveal the original. But it is still almost impossible to acquire real painite.

3. Benitoite. Such a stone was found only in the USA, so it is also considered one of the rarest. But at the same time he is also incredibly handsome. Under normal lighting the color will be deep blue. But if you shine ultraviolet rays on benitoite, you can see a stunning picture. The stone will glow from the inside, as if LEDs were placed in it.

This unique property still does not have any clear explanations, although the composition of the mineral has been thoroughly studied a long time ago. Since 1984, this stone has been considered a national gem in California. And its price can reach 4 thousand dollars per carat!

4. Red Diamond. In the entire history of mankind, only a few of these minerals have been found, because the red hue for diamonds is considered extremely rare. Only a few jewelers were lucky enough to hold this miracle of nature in their hands, much less work with it.

The largest specimen, which is known as the Red Shield, weighs a little more than 5 carats (which is almost 1 gram), and this weight, of course, compared to ordinary white diamonds (their weight can reach 600 carats) is negligible. Currently, searches are underway, but the deposits have not yet been discovered.

5. Red beryl. If you look at the photo, you can see a stunningly beautiful stone of a bright scarlet hue with a purple tint, shimmering in the light. It is incredibly durable and even when heated to 1000 degrees Celsius, it retains its properties.

This mineral is mined exclusively in the USA, and in only one state (Utah). Until recently, red beryl was available only to the wealthiest and most famous collectors, but to this day it remains quite rare and very expensive. The largest specimen weighs approximately 10 carats, which is about 2 grams.

6. Blue Garnet. In general, everyone is accustomed to the fact that garnet has a purple tint (this is probably why it got its name). But in fact, the tones of this mineral can be varied. The most common colors are red, pink, brown, black, orange, and yellow. Green and purple are much less common.

And blue is the rarest and one of the most beautiful. In daylight, such a stone pleases the eye with various shades of blue-green. But if you look at it under a lamp, it can turn dark purple.

7. Grandidierite. It is one of the rarest minerals on the planet (it is in the top ten). The deposit is found only in Madagascar, but the very first and most likely purest specimen was found in Sri Lanka.

There are very few crystals suitable for cutting; only a few cut stones are known in the world. Grandidierite is distinguished by pleochroism, that is, it can change shade from almost transparent or light green to rich green or even blue. Color will depend on viewing angle and lighting.

8. Padparadscha. This unusual word is translated as “morning dawn” or “sunrise”. Indeed, this stone, which, by the way, belongs to sapphires, has a stunning pinkish-orange color, which looks like the morning sun barely appearing over the horizon.

Deposits of this unique mineral are found in Sri Lanka, Madagascar and Tanzania. But today all the copies have been recovered, and the last and one of the purest ones was sold 20 years ago. The stone is considered a collectible, and one carat of weight is estimated at 30 thousand dollars.

9. Poudretti. The first minerals were discovered in Canada, and the stone itself got its name thanks to the Poudrette family, which, by the way, still owns the mine. The first mineral was extracted in 1987, but truly pure and high-quality specimens appeared only in the early 2000s. Powdertite has a delicate light pink tint. But an ordinary person is unlikely to be able to look at it, since there are only about 300 minerals in the world.

10. Taaffeit- a mineral that was discovered by Count Richard Taaffe (the stone was named after him), finding it in a batch of gems. The shade of this stone can vary from pale pink to lavender, and it shimmers amazingly in the light.

This mineral is found only in Tanzania and Sri Lanka. But still the deposits are negligible, so the total number of specimens is small. The largest stone weighs more than 9 carats, and the cost of one carat varies from 2 to 10 thousand dollars.

These were the most amazing stones in the world.

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• Aventurine - sparkling stone of luck

  See all products from Aventurine>>> This capricious lady is the most welcome guest for any man and any woman; she has neither age nor face, but in all centuries they have been waiting for her impatiently, bowing before her greatness. It comes by chance and leaves unexpectedly, on the sly, it can neither be predicted nor subjected to the laws of human logic - it obeys only the unknown strings of Rock. Her name is luck, happy is the one to whom she is favorable today, those who are not endowed with her attention are invariably unhappy, because she can be stronger than power and knowledge, than even love itself. To bring the sweet moment of meeting her closer, people have long resorted to means as irrational and mystical as she herself - some put a four-leaf clover in their shoe, some decorated their clothes with hieroglyphic embroidery, some strictly observed folk signs who was looking for a fern flower on a summer night... However, since ancient times it has been known that the most the right way inviting luck into your life is magic...

• Agalmatolite – the beauty of simplicity

  See all products from Agalmatolite>>> When primitive man was first able to turn stone into tips for his arrows, ax and knife blades, his life became noticeably easier. Less time was spent on repairing weapons, and women could cope with household chores faster. People have free time. And, probably, it was then, in the first short hours of leisure, that the primitive craftsman decided to carve scenes from stone of a particularly difficult hunt that ended in the victory of people. A victory that might not have happened if not for the deadly flint tips of spears and arrows, capable of piercing the thickest skin. Thus began the friendship between man and stone, which grew stronger from century to century, opened up new facets, shone with all colors, developed into legends and traditions, and most importantly, did not dry out. People have learned to transform even the most inconspicuous minerals into beauty. Diamonds are great in settings, but when it comes to carving a cameo, sculpture or relief on a bracelet, they...

• Agate – striped happiness

  See all Agate products >>> Some biased jewelry lovers claim that they only recognize rare and fabulously expensive stones - they say, the more unique and unusual the insert, the more they like the jewelry. However, it seems that this approach is fundamentally wrong - after all, among gems there are no firsts or laggards, and common and affordable stones are often no less, and even more attractive, than rare minerals, fragile and full of flaws, which often turn out to be synthetic. The beauty of a stone is a thing that cannot be measured in conventional units and is measured only by people's love, therefore those gems that have received such love are truly priceless. And you don’t always have to look for foreign and “unique” stones - well-known and native gems sometimes turn out to be “familiar strangers”, fraught with a lot of pleasant surprises, because the world of gems is a place about which it is impossible to know everything. And this point of view is exemplified by our old friend, about whom...

• Azurite - source of blue color

  See all products from Azurite>>> Today, colors surround us everywhere, and it seems that it is so natural - blue, purple, red, yellow, green shades, sometimes repeating natural ones, sometimes surpassing them in brightness and pungency, color has entered the life of every person so firmly that entire psychological works are devoted to the perception of one tone or another, and depending on the inclination of our friends to gray or white, brown or crimson, we try to guess their character and personality type. It is difficult to imagine that once the situation was diametrically opposite - a person saw color around him, but, of course, he could not isolate it from the green sea waters or the orange flame, so there was no talk of any riot of colors. This was the case until the moment when some brilliant artisan did not pay attention to the source of color that lay very nearby - to minerals, of all natural formations that have the most diverse...

• Aquamarine - born from sea foam

  See all products from Aquamarine>>> The sea - great, eternal, ancient, like the Earth itself, which has seen the rise and fall of hundreds of great empires - has long attracted people like a magnet. There is probably not a person on our planet who, once seeing the waves licking the yellow sand, would not fall in love with their deep blue, who would not put a twisted shell to his ear in order to hear the incessant whisper of the surf, thousands of kilometers from the water surface... The sea has inspired many artists, writers and philosophers, and it is not surprising that among the endless expanses of semi-precious placers there was a stone in which ancient people saw an amazing, mystical resemblance to sea waters, and even called it “sea water” - as Pliny wrote, “ its color resembles the pure green of sea waters”... From the dossier: Aquamarine is a transparent variety of beryl, the color is due to the presence of iron (Fe) impurities. Hardness 6.5-8 on the Mohs scale,...

• Actinolite – radiant stone

  See all products from Actinolite>>> It’s no secret that the richest imagination is not in humans, but in nature. Only she can boldly create something that will endlessly please the eye and amaze the imagination. It would seem, where can the light, elusive nature of a sunbeam and the hardness, tangibility and monumentality of stone be combined? Such a combination of grace and permanence is a mineral called actinolite. People called it radiant stone. From Greek “aktis” is translated as ray, and “litos” is stone. It's all about its structure, appearance and properties, which we want to tell you about. From the dossier: This is a mineral from the amphibole group, rich in iron, and a member of the tremolite-actinolite series. The luster of the stone ranges from glassy to silky. Hardness 5.5 – 6 on the Mohs scale. Density 3.1 - 3.3 g/cm3. Other names for the mineral and its varieties: tremolite, stibolite, stranite, smaragdite, emerald spar....

• Diamond - the hardest, most valuable, most beautiful

  View all Diamond products>>> This stone has been on everyone’s lips since its appearance in the complex fabric of history. It cannot be surpassed either in hardness, or in the beauty of the play of light on the edges, or in its high price and demand. If other gems appear and disappear on the jewelry scene, then vain fashion has no power over him - he was loved, loved and will be loved, probably forever. He looks great next to any stone, he was set in both gold and steel - it seems that our hero is simply incapable of getting lost against any background. After all, his purpose is to be the first and the very best, yesterday, today and always. Well, of course, you already guessed who we are talking about?.. From the dossier: Diamond is a mineral, crystalline carbon. Hardness 10.0 on the Mohs scale, density 3.5 g/cm3. Other names: farium, adamas, eagle stone, royal stone, adamant, diamond, king. Diamond appeared in Europe already in the 5th-6th centuries BC...

• Almandine - fire carbuncle

  See all products from Almandine>>> If you think that fashion, which dictates clear external boundaries, is the product of an exclusively modern, capricious and materialistic world of consumption, then you are deeply mistaken: the craving for a certain style in clothing and the selection of jewelry has been known since ancient times, and even though we and it seems that the customs of a particular country are homogeneous, in fact, each century brought with it something new or returned to a well-forgotten old one, and such concepts as “vintage” or “new fad” existed both in the era of the pyramids and in deep Middle Ages. Therefore, today, when you see a previously unfamiliar gem, you should not be surprised - for example, popular tones of precious stones now gravitate towards cold and thick, as well as whitish shades, while some six to eight centuries ago in Rus' the fashion was surprisingly similar: pearl threads, massive inserts of rock crystal and amethyst, large olivines, emeralds and sapphires next to blue...

• Amazonite - the secret of the female soul

  See all products from Amazonite>>> The ancient world - majestic, beautiful, mysterious - has not yet revealed all its secrets to researchers, and still many records in the works of the great scientists of antiquity, Ptolemy, Herodotus and Pliny, that have survived to this day, evoke modern man's perplexed smile. It is difficult to believe in the existence of a unicorn, a mythical animal whose horn neutralizes poisons, or to imagine a fire-breathing dragon... But along with information about magical creatures, there are records of other things - much more prosaic and having the right to exist, but still not supported by any scientific data. This is precisely the legend about the kingdom of the Amazons - a matriarchal female state, where the weaker sex gained amazing strength, and women instead of men fought enemies in merciless battles. Little is known about the mysterious beautiful warriors, but one of the legends says that...

• Amethyst - intoxicating mind

  View all products made from Amethyst>>> Once upon a time, when the gods still roamed the earth, she lived in Ancient Greece the beautiful nymph Ametis is the eternally young deity of nature. And she was so beautiful, so graceful that the frivolous god of fun and winemaking, Dionysus, fell in love with her. However, Ametis rejected his advances - she was happier with a simple young shepherdess. In anger, Dionysus chased the unfortunate woman through the valleys and forests for a long time, wanting to force her to share his feelings, and the nymph called the goddess of the hunt Artemis for help. She turned the girl into a statue white stone, and Dionysus, having finally caught up with the fugitive, discovered only a dead stone. In desperation, he tried to revive his beloved by dousing her with wine and grape juice - and at that same moment the statue turned from white to a deep purple color, sparkling in the sun with a purple sheen... So, according to the ancient legend, one of the most beautiful stones on earth was born , which, as if in memory of the history of its “birth”,...

• Ametrine - stone of peace of mind

  Back in the 17th century, the Queen of Spain was given a strange two-color stone: ametrine. She was so amazed by the unusual beauty of the gem that she made it the main decoration of her toilet. Ametrine was discovered by a conquistador. Having taken a local girl, the youngest daughter of the ruler, as his wife, he received as a dowry a cave with a stone deposit. Noting the magnificent combination of colors with an inexhaustible variety of shades, returning to his homeland, the Spanish conqueror presented the stone to the royal court. The stone quickly won the hearts of all Europeans with its sophistication, elegance and low cost. Jewelers enjoy working with it to this day, because by processing the stone they can show their highest skill. The stone can be rectangular, then you can see a clear boundary between the colors of the stone; if you give ametrine a diamond cut, thanks to the play of light on the edges of the stone, you will see a rainbow of colors on each side of the gem. Ametrine -...

• Anhydrite – devoid of moisture

  View all products made from Anhydrite>>> Water is the eternal basis of existence, the source of life on Earth. You can live for a long time without a roof over your head and even without food, but without water a person will not last even a few days - after all, our body itself consists of seventy percent water, and in infants the share of moisture reaches eighty-five percent! Water covers three quarters of the globe, nourishes plants that give our planet oxygen. According to generally accepted scientific theories, it was once in water that the first protobacteria appeared, which, as a result of the evolutionary process, gave the world all known forms of life, including humans. Therefore, not only people contain water - trees, birds, plants, earth, even sand and stones have a greater or lesser proportion of H2O in their structure. Gems did not escape this fate either - only the moisture in most of them has a different, modified structure, joining the composition of the stone in the form of crystallized molecules...

• Andalusite - a stone that brings you closer to God

  See all products from Andalusite>>> The rapidly advancing era of Aquarius makes many people think about the meaning of human existence, makes them want to learn the language of the universe in order to understand the signs that it tirelessly sends to people in the hope of being heard. But humanity has spent so many centuries in wars and in the desire to make its existence easier with technical innovations that it has practically forgotten how to understand the land on which it lives. For harmony with the world, to reveal its secrets, we need guides and assistants. Gemstones have served as such conductors for many centuries, and andalusite is one of the strongest in this regard. Andalusite is one of the most beautiful, rare and elite gemstones. It occurs in the form of clear red-green crystals, which, once cut, can attract the attention of gemstone connoisseurs. From the dossier: By chemical composition andalusite is a silicate...

• Apatite is a deceiver with a kind soul

  See all products from Apatite>>> Deception is considered to be something bad and unworthy, bringing only bad consequences for both the deceiver and the deceived. There is, of course, such a thing as a white lie, although many cannot agree with this. In this same article we will introduce you to a handsome and devoted deceiver. Our earth stores in its depths the amazing mineral apatite, which can be translated from Greek as “deceiving” or “deceiver”. It got its name due to its many species, which can be easily confused with other stones. He turns into them like a chameleon. Most often, apatite is confused with aquamarine, amethyst, beryl, diopside and tourmaline. Just like the different appearances, the deceiver stone also has many names. In Spain, for example, it is called "Asparagus Stone" for its greenish-yellow color. And the Norwegians, encountering blue and bluish-green crystals of apatite, gave it the name “Moroxite”. From...

• Aragonite is a stone of a strong loving family

  View all Aragonite products>>> The theme of love is the eternal theme of humanity. Love permeates our entire world. Inspired by her, artists, musicians and poets create their brilliant masterpieces, confectioners, jewelers and gardeners work on gifts for lovers, and architects and builders build houses in which their children then grow up and learn their lessons. But, unfortunately, not everything is so sweet in our world. Lovers quarrel with each other and with family members, cease to understand each other and their children, move away, become embittered, and withdraw. Some people go into drunkenness, some go on a spree, and some simply go their separate ways with their loved ones. And it seems that there is no one magic wand, which could forever preserve a strong and harmonious family... There may be no sticks, but there is one beautiful stone called aragonite, which for many centuries has been considered the guardian angel of human love and the family hearth. But first things first!...

• Argillite - the talisman of the Canadian Indians

  See all products from Argillite>>> Many years ago, people like us lived on earth, only their skin color was a little brighter. They hunted, believed in spirits, and appreciated everything that nature gave them. We are used to imagining them as red-skinned, strong men with a hunting bow in their hands and a crown of feathers on their heads. Little remains of their culture after European colonization. But what we managed to save still surprises us. For example, their talismans and ways of interacting with the other world. In this article we will talk about one of the stones, which is famous in Canada as a talisman stone of ancient Indian tribes. Its name is argillite. The name of this stone can be translated as clay stone. It comes from the Greek words “?rgillos”, which means “clay” and “l?thos” - “stone”. Other names for the mineral and its varieties include zebra stone, mud stone, mudstone, or ha-ilite. This is a solid...

• Astrophilite - man's star friend

  View all Astrophilite products>>> In everyday life, we are surrounded by many stones about which we know so little. Often, having a stone countertop in the kitchen, or putting a candle in a stone candlestick, we do not think about the fact that each stone is strictly individual and has a certain effect on each of us. One of the stones we often encounter in everyday life is astrophylite. We want to introduce you to him better. The name of this stone is translated from Greek as “star stone”. It is called so because it contains the phenomenon of asterism or stellation, i.e. astrophilite has an optical effect, manifested in the form of a three-, four-, six- or even twelve-rayed star. From the dossier: Astrophylite has a golden yellow, orange, or brown color. It is opaque, translucent only in thin fragments. Glass shine with a pearlescent tint. Density 3.3 - 3.4 g/cm3. Hardness 2 – 3 on the Mohs scale....

• Balin is a character worthy of respect

  See all products from Balin>>> It’s no secret that nature has endowed stones with sometimes the most amazing properties. Observing them, people since ancient times have associated various legends, traditions and beliefs with such stones. This kind of balin stone is rich in history. It got its name from its first deposit in the Mongolian district of Bayain. The color of the mineral varies from modest gray and yellowish to bright red and almost black, while veins of cinnabar, painted in bright red shades, form a beautiful pattern on the surface of polished balin, similar to stains and streaks of blood. It is no coincidence that one of the English-language names for balin is chickan blood stone, which translates as “chicken blood stone.” From the dossier: Balin is a mineral that is quite complex in its composition. It includes kaolin, cinnabar, quartz, alunite and other substances and minerals. The gloss has a matte, silky finish. Hardness - 9.0 on the Mohs scale. Density -...

• Belemnite - a legendary stone

  View all products from Belemnite>>> Since ancient times, people, observing the gifts of nature, have come up with mythical stories about the appearance of certain objects. The lack of natural knowledge was replaced by religion and folklore. So, the same stones in different countries could have different names and equally different origins. Accordingly, they were used in different ways. One of the stones richest in legends among the peoples of the world is belemnite, better known to Russian people as the “devil’s finger.” From the dossier: Belemnites are long-extinct invertebrate cephalopods. Outwardly, they looked like squids, but, unlike them, they had an internal shell. Their length, as a rule, did not exceed 40 cm, and the shell was cigarette-shaped. Unlike their ammonite brothers, belemnites are not so beautiful and their shells differ little from each other. Belemnites have colors from light gray and yellow to dark brown and cherry. Shine...

• Belomorite – the color of the north

  View all products from Belomorite>>> The harsh charm of the North excited the minds of a huge number of people. Just remember Jack London, who immortalized the Great Northern Wilderness in his works. A wild land in which luck is especially capricious and condescends only to those who have proven the strength of their character, overcome all obstacles and have not lost faith in their guiding star. And the beauty of nature there is special. Discreet, strict, majestic, bewitching. Without the southern riot of colors, hidden from prying eyes by northern fogs and snows. Falling in love with yourself immediately and forever - or never again. Love for the North is not easy. Rather in spite of many things than for something. Therefore, parting with him is both joyful and painful; after leaving there, it is impossible not to plunge into memories of him. White Sea. One of the most mysterious places on earth. Ancient Karelian-Finnish and Sami legends and traditions sang of his beauty, they dedicated their...

• Benitoite - a stone of success

  See all Benitoite products >>> Have you noticed that some gemstones are quite similar to each other? Some of them cannot be distinguished from each other by the average buyer. On the one hand, this may be to the benefit of the average person, because... cheaper jewelry can be passed off as more expensive. On the other hand, there is a danger that jewelry sellers will take advantage of this similarity. One of the most famous and expensive twin stones is benitoite, which has an incredible resemblance to sapphire. It got its name from the area of ​​San Benito in California, USA. It was first discovered in 1906 by James Kutch, who initially mistook it for sapphire, after which for some time cut benitoites were sold as sapphires. A year later, mineralogist George Louderback examined the mineral in detail using X-rays, proving that the crystal lattice of benitoite is...

• Beryl - star family

  See all products from Beryl>>> Family is one of the true values ​​that we have almost lost in the “squirrel wheel” of the modern world; most of us are now on our own, and only a few are lucky enough to be part of a friendly family “mechanism”, when there are numerous children and parents , daughters-in-law and brothers-in-law, great-aunts and great-nephews, grandfathers and sisters-in-law are united by such strong ties that neither distances, nor disputes, nor social differences sometimes prevent them from gathering at a common table - like in the good old days, which, it seems, practically gone into the realm of legends. What happens if we transfer this analogy to the world of gems? Yes the same thing: most of precious stones, although they are in a distant, barely perceptible relationship, are still unlike the rest, but there are also huge and friendly families, consisting of at first glance such different, but at the same time so close gems, and even if someone becomes. ..

• Turquoise is a stone of happiness

  See all products from Turquoise>>> A lot has been said about minerals and gems, and people especially like to read about unusual and exotic new items: multi-colored and iridescent stones, rare and available in almost a single copy, whose value is “off the charts”, and whose history is rich bloody robberies, overthrow of kings and insidious conspiracies. Do we, however, forget in our pursuit of fleeting fashion “familiar strangers” - gems that seem to be nearby all the time, known from childhood and seem familiar and a little boring? From the dossier: Turquoise is an aqueous (hydrated) phosphate of copper and aluminum. Hardness 5.6 on the Mohs scale, density 2.6 g/cm. The luster is silky, waxy or glassy. Other names: turquoise (agaphite), Arabic stone, Aztec stone, heavenly stone, callaite, azure spar, calcihuitl. Turquoise needs no introduction - its color itself is included in the dictionary as the definition of bright blue...

• Bishofite - the healing power of the ancient sea

  See all products from Bishofite>>> In one of the Russian folk tales, the hero achieves success in life by finding a jug of living water. He goes through difficult trials, gets a princess as his wife, becomes a king, and all this thanks to living water. But most importantly, he gains legs that he didn’t have before. What kind of water is this? The fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it... Only relatively recently did it become known that such a natural remedy exists. The legs, of course, do not grow, but the joint pain goes away - maybe this is what the fairy tale hints at?.. From the dossier: Bischofite is a mineral, a complex aqueous magnesium and potassium chloride from the class of halogen compounds, a crystalline salt. Hardness 1.0-2.0 on the Mohs scale, density 1.6 g/cm3, glassy luster, dull. Other names: magnesium chloride. Bischofite was first discovered as a component in the famous Stasfurt salt deposits of Germany by the German geologist and chemist Carl-Gustav Bischof...

• Variscite - a stone of goodness

  See all products from Variscite>>> In the modern world there are many beautiful things, perfect machines, amazing works of art, professional craftsmen, but still, following the news, we understand that in all this abundance people sometimes lack ordinary, human kindness. But nature, as if anticipating such a need, about two hundred years ago allowed us to find in the bowels of the earth a stone capable of gifting everyone with an endless desire for kindness. The A.E. Fersman Mineralogical Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences houses a polished section of a stone brought from the United States of America. Its color resembles the green-azure surface of warm tropical waters. This is variscite - a stone of goodness. The mineral received its official name thanks to one of the regions of Saxony - Variscia, and it deserved the name that ordinary people gave it for its properties. But first things first. From...

• Verdelite - the messenger of nature

  View all products from Verdelite>>> Sometimes in seemingly simple things there are many mysteries and secrets hidden. A seemingly weak person can have unheard of strength, and a woman who is ugly compared to others can win the hearts of men one after another. The verdelite stone appears on the ground in approximately this role. Although he is far from ugly and not small. However, its power and influence on a person is amazing. The name “verdelite” is translated very simply - green stone(“verde” in Italian means “green”, and “lithos” in Greek means “stone”). Verdelite is a green variety of tourmaline, and its shades vary from soft grassy to dark green. The uneven distribution of impurities often creates a bizarre play of colors in the crystals of this mineral, but it must be remembered that under artificial lighting, verdelites somewhat lose color compared to the impression they make in sunlight. From the dossier:...

• Jet – black as night

  View all products from Gagat>>> There is probably not a person on Earth who has not at least once experienced a superstitious fear of the cover of darkness descending on the world. It is irrational, this horror as ancient as the world - the outlines of objects seem to blur, and the worst nightmares await their speedy embodiment. Today we have almost conquered the night - bright electric light drives away old fears, but much earlier nothing protected people from the boundaries of darkness and it is quite natural that the black color quickly acquired a gloomy and magical meaning, and the creatures of living and inanimate Nature who possess it, from cats to gems , became the prerogative of sorcerers and occultists. However, there are not so many pure black stones - but each of them has amazing power, which forced ancient people to avoid these children of the night, using them only in the most difficult moments of life... From the dossier: Jet is a black, dense and viscous type of fossil brown coal. ..

• Haliotis - the precious rainbow of the ocean

  View all products from Haliotis>>> What would human civilization be like without shells, it is now impossible to say - shells have been with us since the beginning of time. They became man's first tools, his first money, his first utensils, weapons, his first musical instrument, his first decoration. About a hundred thousand years have passed since man adorned himself with shells, and the knowledge of stone and metal as jewelry more than fits into the last ten thousand years. Many technical inventions were made with the help of shells, paint was extracted from them, clothes were made, medicines were made, cosmetics are still made, and yet the most amazing thing about them is not even pearls, but wonderful shades of mother-of-pearl, fabulous, heavenly colors, like, for example, in abalone. From the dossier: Haliotis is the common name for mother-of-pearl, extracted from the shells of gastropod mollusks of the genus haliotis. Mother of pearl consists of calcium carbonate (carbon dioxide...

• Halite is the most homely stone

  See all products from Halite>>> We are accustomed to calling many things in our lives by completely different words, sometimes without even suspecting that an unfamiliar term means something used every day in everyday life. For example, a synonym for rock or table salt is the name “halite”. This name for rock salt comes from the Greek word “hals”, which means nothing more than salt. Halite is the only mineral in nature that people eat. From the dossier: The formula for halite is NaCl. Most often it is transparent and colorless, sometimes it has a white color. Impurities turn it into other colors. Glass shine. The mineral is fragile. Hardness is no more than 2 on the Mohs scale, density is 2.1-2.2 g/cm3. It has high thermal conductivity, easily dissolves in water, and has a salty taste. Halite can be confused with sylvite, fluorite, gypsum and calcite, from which it is easily distinguished by its salty taste. Formation of the main masses of halite...

• Heliodor - the magical gift of the sun

  See all products from Heliodor>>> If there are still people who perceive stones as something motionless and cold, we can easily refute this superficial erroneous opinion. In fact, some stones, like good wizards, have a warm heart, a subtle soul, and can work miracles. One of these stones is a mineral with a proud, sonorous name - heliodor. The name of this mineral comes from the Greek words “helios” - sun and “doro” - gift. For the ancient Greeks, the sun represented a fiery chariot drawn by four fiery horses. On it, the god Helios travels across the sky every day, and at night he returns home in a golden bowl across the sea, where his sisters - the goddesses of the moon and dawn - are waiting for him. The stone was associated with the Greek god of the sun for its golden color. But in reality, it received its personal name relatively recently. This variety of beryl began to be called heliodor only at the beginning of the 20th century, after...

• Heliotrope - the stone of winners

  See all Heliotrope products>>> The tragic crucifixion of Jesus Christ - the cornerstone of the Christian faith - has been depicted countless times on canvas and wood, metal and stone, in stained glass and mosaics. This great scene, recognizable without further ado by any person in the world, can be so different - both huge, many human heights, and tiny - at pectoral cross. And in all centuries, masters, God-fearingly working on this holy picture, were tormented by doubts: can a drawing or engraving, casting or glyptic created by people properly convey all the brightness of the colors, all the pathos of humility before divine self-sacrifice? The answer was found suddenly - a stone cutter, whose name is irretrievably lost to posterity, discovered that there is a miraculous gem in the world, whose dark green surface is densely dotted with blood-red spots - as if drops of the Savior’s blood fell on the grass of Mount Golgotha ​​and stained it forever... From. ..

• Hematite - the bloody stone of magicians

  See all products from Hematite>>> The use of gems as talismans, magical amulets, which, with the help of energy hidden inside, latently control human life, leveling the course of events, protecting their owner from harm or developing his talents, has been known since ancient times, since it was cult objects that shone on the chests of priests and accompanied the dead to the other world, the history of the widespread use of precious stones began once upon a time. However, most minerals were not limited to such use - stones became an integral part of the daily life of both kings and commoners, found their way into the interior, in household items, and in elegant jewelry, where gems truly had no equal in either beauty or diversity. Having gained secular fame, gems gradually ceased to be associated with magic and spirituality - yes, everyone knows about their beneficial effects, but this function is perceived only half-heartedly, as...

• Hessonite is a soft patron

  View all Hessonite products >>> Nature has always surprised people with its inventions. It’s as if someone is towering over the planet, and in front of him is a mosaic scattering, and not a single fragment is similar to the other. This someone takes several fragments, invents a legend for them and throws them down, and in the place on the Earth where they fall, a bizarre animal, a fragrant flower or a sparkling stone appears. And then he can change the components, and it turns out something completely different. Perhaps this is how minerals are born, common in nature, but completely different from each other. For example, we involuntarily associate a stone such as pomegranate with the juicy and bright interior of the fruit of the same name, and that is why pomegranate in our mind is red transparent stone and nothing else. However, in fact, it has a lot of varieties, each of which has its own color. They can be scarlet, dark to black and even green, and one of these varieties looks like honey...

• Hyalite - frozen dew drop

  View all products made from Hyalite>>> Since childhood, people, finding themselves in nature early in the morning or after rain, look spellbound at the droplets of water hanging on the blades of grass and glistening on the soft moss. And every time you really want to take this impeccable bead with you, but its fragility does not allow it - as soon as you touch it, the magic dissipates and the drop disappears. There is a mineral in nature, one of the varieties of opal, which resembles a frozen drop of water, reflecting what it managed to fall on. This mineral is called hyalite. Its name comes from the Greek word “h?alos”, which means “glass”. Indeed, drops of water have been compared to pieces of glass from the very moment people learned to melt sand and obtain a beautiful, pliable material from it. But hyalite not only has external similarities with water; its composition contains H2O up to 10%. From the dossier: Hyalite occurs in nature in the form of dense...

• Hyacinth - a mysterious blood-colored stone

  View all products from Hyacinth>>> Once upon a time there lived in Sparta a beautiful young man named Hyacinth - his beauty was brighter than the sun, more dazzling than the faces of the immortal gods. WITH early years Hyacinth, who was also the son of the local king, enjoyed the friendship and patronage of the god of the sun and art, Apollo, and the god of the south wind, Zephyr. The friends spent their days hunting, sports and games - the hours passed imperceptibly, adding up to days, months and years, but the charm of Hyacinth did not fade, but only flared up. And then one day they started a competition in discus throwing - a favorite Greek pastime of those times. Apollo could not win against the prince of Sparta - he threw the projectile too far for ordinary person. Then the golden-haired god threw the disc above the clouds to be sure of victory, and put all his strength into the blow. Zephyr, who secretly wanted Hyacinth to win, blew so that Apollo’s disk would go astray, but he miscalculated, and the projectile hit the handsome young man’s face, killing...

• Giddenite - energy of business

  View all products from Giddenite>>> Green is the color of life. On our beautiful planet, it is perhaps one of Mother Nature’s most favorite flowers, the color of plants, flowers and fruits reaching for the light. Some people have green eyes, and the depths of the earth contain green stones of amazing beauty and properties. For example, in 1879, a new emerald green stone was discovered in North Carolina (USA), which could easily be confused with a real emerald or chrysoberyl. This stone is now better known to us as giddenite. It received its name in 1881, in honor of the American mineralogist W. E. Gidden (1853-1918). From the dossier: Giddenite is considered a variety of spodumene. The color of the stones can be green, grayish-green, gray and grayish-brown. The shine is glassy. Hardness is approximately 6.5 - 7.5 on the Mohs scale, density is from 2.6 to 3.1 g/cm3. Other names for the mineral and its varieties: spodumene emerald,...

• Eye stones - aren't they an eye of fate?

  View all products made from Eye stones>>>

• Rock crystal - ice symphony

  Rock crystal View all products from Rock crystal>>> The history of this stone dates back to Ancient Greece - it was there, in Patras, many thousands of years ago that the marble temple of the goddess of fertility Demeter stood. People flocked from all over the country to ask the priests for advice - there was an amazing crystal mirror hanging above the round well. After the mysterious ceremonies, the priest peered into the shimmering cold stone depths, seeing in them the answers to the questions asked by visitors, and there was no case when the crystal mirror made a mistake in its prediction... From the dossier: Rock crystal is a colorless transparent quartz, silicon oxide. Other names: crystal, Arabic diamond, Bohemian diamond. Hardness 7.0 on the Mohs scale, density 2.6 g/cm3, glass luster. Rock crystal is one of the most famous and widespread gems on Earth. They made a lot of things out of it: dishes, jewelry, magical instruments, and...

• Garnet – the many-sided stone of passions

  View all Garnet products>>> The Middle Ages were a time of aggressive wars and crusades, pure love and inquisitorial torture, the darkest and most passionate period of human history. The cities of heretics are burning and the infidels are fleeing from the cruel tread of the Army of Christ - and somewhere in the distance a beautiful lady in a transparent veil and silk dress walks through the garden, clutching in her hands a prayer book decorated precious stones. Will her knight return - or will he fall from the spear of a black barbarian? But the faith is strong - after all, before parting, she gave him not only her scented scarf, but also a talisman with a bright scarlet stone, which, according to the warlocks’ promises, would save her loved one from an arrow and a sword. And now he probably raises his hand for a fatal blow, and her precious gift sparkles like a drop of congealed blood in the flames of the fires... From the dossier: Garnets are a group of minerals of the silicate class. Can be any colors except blue. Hardness – 6.5–7.5...

• Jespilit - for moving towards the better

  View all products from Jaspilite>>> Few inhabitants of planet Earth have been to the shores of huge quarries where iron ore is mined. This spectacle evokes controversial emotions. On the one hand, the scale of the earthen stadium is so impressive that a person freezes for a second, even stops breathing. The brain tries to pick up at least something to assess the scale of the “hole” located in its field of vision. But he can't. On the other hand, this industrial landscape evokes pity. Dirty cars that seem like mosquitoes, monotonous technical sounds, fences. How can something beautiful be here? Maybe! It is in such quarries that a mineral called jaspilite is mined. The name of the stone comes from English word"jasper" - jasper and Greek "lithos" - stone. The fact is that jaspilite is quite similar to jasper, but in reality it is ferruginous quartzite, formed as a result of metamorphism of ferruginous-siliceous chemical and volcanogenic...

• Diopside – a stone of many faces

  View all Diopside products>>> The stars in our imagination are by no means blazing suns, like the one that warms us during the day. We imagine the heavenly bodies as sparkling scatterings on the black velvet of the sky. Who would have thought that the earth has its own star with the paradoxical name “black star”. Although it itself is not black at all, but is called that only because it flashes against the background of a tar-black rare gem. The stone that will be discussed has many names, primarily due to the variety of its colors, each of which is associated with a separate point on the globe. The common name for all these colored varieties is “diopside”, it comes from two Greek roots - “di” and “opsis”. An approximate translation of this name is “double appearance” or “duplicity.” The mineral received such an offensive name for the same color variety, which caused it to be confused more than once with more expensive ones...

• Jadeite – the beginning of all beginnings

  View all products from Jadeite>>> The history of mankind is inextricably linked with gems. Today, for many, precious stones are just decorative ornaments, but much earlier, at the dawn of human civilization, minerals played a much more important and fundamental role. They made everything from furniture to dishes: royal regalia, objects of religious cults and magical talismans - all of these were gems and some, special stones, went further than just being useful or pleasing to the eye - they were unique symbols of statehood and were not loved a limited number of wealthy aristocrats, but entire empires, present equally in the houses of the poor and the palaces of kings. Such stones will not get lost in the haze of centuries - they have remained at the peak of popularity for centuries, and even an inexperienced buyer will easily remember their names, inextricably linked with the history and mythology of the largest empires of antiquity, mysterious and sophisticated......

• Pearls - a gift from the depths of the sea

  View all Pearl products>>> Among the numerous precious stones, pearls have always stood apart. The most mysterious and beloved of gems, pearls became the first jewelry known to man at the dawn of our civilization. This wonderful stone is unique in everything and has no analogues that combine amazing beauty with such non-standard properties. The history of pearls is lost in the centuries, but it probably began when someone, in search of food, opened another mollusk shell - and, along with the coveted food, discovered a shining small ball, which was destined to mark the beginning of the era of precious jewelry. Pearls did not require any processing or cutting, and by nature they were mostly round or pear-shaped, so people began to use this stone long before the development of mining. From the dossier: Pearl is a mineral of organic origin, formed when a mineral substance is deposited around a foreign body in the mantle...

• Zdravolite – the power of two minerals

  View all products from Zdravolit>>> Information about the healing effects that minerals have on the human body has reached us through millennia. All this time, people continued to believe in the power of the stone and use it. It is not surprising that sooner or later the idea arose to create new material, which will combine best qualities natural minerals. This is how zdravolite appeared, created on the basis of shungite and bischofite - two minerals that have the truly healing power of nature itself. From the dossier: Healthy – natural material, created by man based on the minerals shungite and bischofite. Has balneological and protective properties, used as ornamental stone for the production of small plastics, jewelry, panels. The first of the components of zdravolite is shungite, a Karelian healer. In search of human protection from negative impact Electromagnetic radiation has been studied for quite some time in various...

• Serpentine - skin of the Great Snake

  View all products from Zmeevik>>> The Ural Mountains keep many legends and fairy tales, which for several centuries have been giving the world gem placers. Thus, the miners believed that the Mistress of the Copper Mountain ruled the mines - a beautiful maiden in green robes, who was able to both show the master the right stone and forever destroy the unfortunate person who disturbed her peace. And the keeper of the gold was the Great Snake - a giant fiery serpent, and those who saw him were terribly lucky: where he crawled, ore-bearing veins were later found. Once a year, like all snakes, Snake sheds its old skin, which hardens and turns into a greenish-yellow stone with golden sparkles in the depths of the mountains - serpentine... A little science: Serpentine is a group of minerals of the same composition, but of different symmetry. Includes several mineral species: antigorite (Mg,Fe2+)3Si2O5(OH)4 chrysotile (clinochrysotile, orthochrysotile, parachrysotile) Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 lizardite Mg3Si2O5(OH)4....

• Emerald - a sacred stone from the Garden of Eden

  View all Emerald products>>> The Holy Grail Cup, in which drops of the blood of Jesus Christ were collected, is the main and long-lost shrine Christendom- has always been shrouded in a haze of legends, myths and rumors, some declared it made of Lebanese cedar, some - cast from gold, some - generally a metaphor, but the most mystical legend says that when the fallen angel Lucifer was expelled and thrown from heaven, then from his crown a large stone broke off, which the Queen of Sheba later brought as a gift to King Solomon, and much later this precious gift was inlaid into the same treasured cup that the knights of the semi-mythical King Arthur, the medieval crusaders, and the occultists of the Third Reich unsuccessfully sought. Whether there was a cup, and, most importantly, whether the stone existed, we do not know; however, it is deeply symbolic that none other than an emerald was chosen to decorate the shrine - a unique precious stone, the love of mankind for which, beginning in time immemorial, until...

• Iolite – violet stone

  See all products from Iolite>>> Have you ever noticed how beautiful the late summer evenings are, when the haze of lilac twilight has already fallen to the ground, shrouding everything around in a ghostly veil of mystery? The sun has already set, and the glow of the scarlet sunset has been replaced by a yellowish glow, stretching out as an even strip on the horizon; the sky seems to stretch into one giant rainbow - the golden air turns into transparent white air, a soft blue flair flows out of it, so for a moment it seems: day not finished yet. But following the azure ribbon, sapphire-blue ink spreads across the sky, which gradually turns purple and finally comes to a thick dark velvet, on which the first stars are already scattered with diamonds... These moments are so fleeting and light, they end so quickly that you madly want to stop time and forever admire the play of colors. And merciful Nature turned out to be receptive to human desires: she created a precious stone, a play of colors...

• View all products from Calcite>>> Gems come in different varieties. There are the rarest minerals that are found only in one tiny corner of the Earth, and even there they have almost disappeared, and therefore they have already become almost a rarity; there are stones that saw the dawn of the world, but only recently appeared to people; there are minerals born from living beings or that emerged from the mouth of a volcano... The names are countless, the properties are impossible to remember, and this amazing diversity forces us again and again to begin a painstaking study of the world of the stone kingdom, because new, never-before-seen treasures constantly appear next to old acquaintances. However, in the motley company of gems, there is one truly amazing stone, which practically combines the properties of many - and its otherness lies primarily in the fact that it is neither rare nor incredibly expensive, we see it almost every day - and at the same time, in terms of beauty and demand, it is not inferior to the most unique minerals, but ..

• Cacholong – Sacred Cow's Milk

  See all products from Cacholong>>> There are countless beautiful gems born by Mother Nature - everyone will find a stone to suit their taste and color among the great variety of minerals. Each of the shiny pieces of rock has its own colorful legend, poetically explaining the origin of the stone - and there, in spite of everything, there is always a certain grain of truth, that same “hint from a fairy tale” that will lead a biased researcher to think about secret and obvious properties stone hidden in beautiful poetic lines. One of these myths, born in ancient India, says that when sacred cows living at temples drop drops of fragrant milk onto the ground, it hardens and turns into a porcelain-white, slightly porous stone that sticks to the tongue - cacholong pearl opal. From the dossier: Cacholong - porcelain-like opaque mixture of fine-grained chalcedony and ordinary opal white. Other names: beautiful stone, Kalmyk...

• Quartz - the warmth of unmelting ice

  See all products from Quartz>>> The history of this stone dates back to Ancient Greece - it was there, in Patras, many thousands of years ago that the marble temple of the goddess of fertility Demeter stood. People flocked from all over the country to ask the priests for advice - there was an amazing crystal mirror hanging above the round well. After the mysterious ceremonies, the priest peered into the shimmering cold stone depths, seeing in them the answers to the questions asked by visitors, and there was no case when the crystal mirror made a mistake in its prediction... From the dossier: Rock crystal is a colorless transparent quartz, silicon oxide. Other names: crystal, Arabic diamond, Bohemian diamond. Hardness 7.0 on the Mohs scale, density 2.6 g/cm3, glass luster. Rock crystal is one of the most famous and widespread gems on Earth. They made everything from it: dishes, jewelry, magical instruments, and lamps... Along with pearls and...

• Clinochlore – the stone of all virtues

  View all products from Clinochlor>>> Green precious stones have long held a special place in the hearts of Russian gem lovers. This phenomenon is not accidental - after all, the natural resources of Russia from the Ural mountains to the Krasnodar fields are boundless seas of numerous shades of green - from the rich color of spruce needles to soft light green spring foliage, here and there diluted only by blue spots of rivers and lakes. With the beginning of active mining of gems in Russia, green stones immediately gained the greatest popularity, the share of which in the northern mines noticeably exceeded the production of minerals of other shades. Patterned malachite, variegated serpentine resembling snake scales, greenish-gray Revnev jasper, translucent Siberian jade, famous Ural emeralds, Krasnoyarsk yellow-green chrysolites, rare green tourmalines immediately provided Russian Empire first place in the gem market and in addition to rich deposits of well-known...

• Coral - sea flower

  View all products from Coral>>> When in the old days we talked about the origin of gems, the most unusual and irrational legends and rumors were heard. Another stone was supposedly a frozen drop of water, another was the petrified blood of a dragon, the third was considered a fragment of the underwater castle of the sea goddess... Of course, modern researchers find only grains of truth in these stories, which, for all their beauty and floweriness, are nothing more than fairy tales - how could there be a stone a frozen part of a living creature?.. However, among the precious stones there is one most interesting specimen, the origin of which is truly poetic and magical; we are accustomed to it, and do not notice how strange its appearance on our planet is in its essence... From the dossier: Coral is a gem of organogenic origin , the hard calcareous skeleton of polyps living in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Caribbean and Red and other warm seas. Hardness 3.5-4.0 on the Mohs scale,...

• Cordierite - twilight stone

  See all products from Cordierite>>> Have you ever noticed how beautiful the late summer evenings are, when the haze of lilac twilight has already fallen to the ground, shrouding everything around in a ghostly veil of mystery? The sun has already set, and the glow of the scarlet sunset has been replaced by a yellowish glow, stretching out as an even strip on the horizon; the sky seems to stretch into one giant rainbow - the golden air turns into transparent white air, a soft blue flair flows out of it, so for a moment it seems: day not finished yet. But following the azure ribbon, sapphire-blue ink spreads across the sky, which gradually turns purple and finally comes to a thick dark velvet, on which the first stars are already scattered with diamonds... These moments are so fleeting and light, they end so quickly that you madly want to stop time and forever admire the play of colors. And merciful Nature turned out to be receptive to human desires: she created...

• Corundum - a faithful companion of humanity

  See all products from Corundum>>> Few people realize that the stone that adorns their favorite ring, the glass of an expensive watch and the elements of sandpaper in a tool box are one and the same mineral. If you compare them at first glance, such a statement is very difficult to believe. One shimmers with its perfect scarlet facets, the other is transparent and faceless, and the third is a completely cheap gray crumb. However, all of these are varieties of the stone known collectively as corundum. He permeates various spheres of human life, helping and delighting us everywhere. There are several points of view on what exact word the current name of this mineral came from, one thing is absolutely certain - its homeland is Asia. “Kauruntaka” or “Kurundam” was the name given to this mineral in India and Ceylon. Although there is an opinion that the name corundum comes from the Sanskrit “kuruvinda” - ruby. The color of corundum is usually bluish or yellowish-gray, but pure...

• Flint - the first stone assistant

  View all products made from Flint>>> How do you think mankind’s acquaintance with the world of stone began? What kind of stone became the first mineral? Apparently, the first interest of primitive man was caused by flint due to its properties. At first glance, this is a completely inconspicuous rock, although sometimes there is a very attractive pattern on the chips. But the point, of course, is not in the drawing. Once upon a time this stone was everything to a person. Men used this mineral to make stone axes, sharp tips for arrows and spears for hunting. The women of the tribe used the same flint knives to tan skins and cut meat, and primitive artists used chisels to carve out their paintings on the coastal rocks. It was an entire era dedicated to flint, which historians even dubbed the Stone Age. And despite the fact that the Stone Age ended long ago, people do not stop mining flint today. From the dossier: There are opal-chalcedony and...

• Kunzite – gentle rhythm of harmony

  See all products from Kunzite>>> Pink color is a whole palette of mixes of red and white. This color is not very often found in nature, but it always corresponds to something gentle, beautiful, sweet and peaceful. What comes to mind first when thinking about pink? Flowers, sunset, flamingos, and a kitten's wet nose. This color has always been associated with feminine yin energy. And it is precisely this that such a transparent pink stone as kunzite is filled with. More than a hundred years ago, in 1902, the American gemologist J. A. Kunz was the first to discover and describe in his writings a precious variety of spodumene, which was later named kunzite in his honor. From a chemical point of view, this mineral is a transparent lithium aluminum silicate. This is why kunzite is sometimes called lithium amethyst. From the dossier: Kunzite is transparent, glassy luster. Luminescent in orange tones in ultraviolet and x-ray...

• Labrador – the mysterious sparkle of the rainbow

  See all products from Labrador>>> For centuries, scientists have been arguing about who man came from - did he evolve from a monkey, did he fly from outer space, was he molded from clay by some kind of Divine hand... There is another interesting theory - it says that human civilization on Earth is by no means the first, and that several million years ago another civilization existed side by side with cavemen - northern country Hyperborea, located on the site of the modern North Pole and extending all the way to the Ural Mountains, was inhabited by creatures perfect in their beauty and wisdom. Myths about it have been preserved in the memory of many peoples - a long time ago this country was destroyed by severe natural disasters, but the remnants of its population mixed with people and brought them new knowledge. It was the Hyperboreans, according to one of the legends, who first showed people the beauty of an amazing stone, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow... From the dossier:...

• Lapis lazuli - a stone from the shores of the sky

  View all products made from Lapis Lazuli>>> Imagine a mountain path shrouded in dawn haze, along which tall, tanned porters wander, exhaling clouds of steam into the frosty air. They walked here for many days and nights, through the cold of the night and the heat of the day, some died in an avalanche, some fell into a bottomless abyss, and some simply could not withstand the hardships of the journey. And only the remnants of the once huge caravan reached here, to the snowy Pamirs, from their native warm Mesopotamia. What prompted the kings of Sumer to send so many strong servants to what seemed certain death that they could still be useful in battle? The answer lies in the huge bundles now resting on the backs of exhausted people - the edges of the fabric in which the mysterious cargo was carefully wrapped accidentally fell back, and a bright blue stone sparkled under the rising cruel sun, ready to compete in the density and strength of color with the cold skies that seem so close high in the mountains... From the dossier:...

• Larimar - Atlantic stone

  Larimar stone was first discovered in volcanic rocks of Miocene age (at the contact of andesites and basalts with limestones) in the Dominican Republic, where legends about it have been known for a long time. In 1974, local jeweler Miguel Mendez drew attention to it, who at first mistook the found blue stone for turquoise, but, not being sure, sent it for research to the US Smithsonian Institution, where it was determined that it was a blue variety of pectolite. Mendez gave the new jewelry stone he found the trade name "larimar" from the first syllable of the name of his youngest daughter Larisa ("lari" from "Larissa"), and the Spanish "mar" - sea (since the stone has a sea color). The deposit of blue pectolite in the Dominican Republic is so far the only one in the world. It is located in the southwest of the country in the Sierra de Baoruco mountains. Larimar is a blue variety of pectolite. Hardness on the Mohs scale – 5.5–6. Density – 2.84 - 2.9 g/cm? The appearance of Larimar...

• Moonstone – The moon descended from heaven

  See all products made from Moonstone>>> “I will give you everything you want, even the Moon from the sky,” say lovers all over the world, wanting to prove the strength of their feelings. Is it really possible to take and give your beloved not banal sweets and a bouquet of flowers, but a piece of the cold night luminary? Since ancient times, people have dreamed of this - to hold on to it, to find frozen moonlight on Earth, to understand the nature of the lunar mysteries, to get their own piece of the Moon. The prose of life tells us that in fact the Moon is just a satellite floating in the vacuum of space, not even a planet at all, but just a large dead ball, shining only with reflected light. But at the same time, the Moon has an amazing influence on our lives - and not only in the ebb and flow of the tides, but also in the behavior of plants and animals, changes in people’s moods, mysterious events that for some reason are inextricably linked with the lunar phases that people began to observe back at the dawn of time. And it's definitely impossible...

• Magnetite - Hercules stone

  View all products made from Magnetite>>> Caravans are moving along the endless Gobi sands. To the right, to the left - dull yellow dunes. The sun is hidden by a yellow veil of dust. It is a long way from the imperial pagodas on the banks of the Yangtze to the minarets of the Kushan kingdoms. It would have been difficult for the caravanners if there had not been a white camel in the caravan. The white camel with its priceless cargo. Priceless, although it is not gold, not pearls and not Ivory. Protected by a carved wooden cage, between the humps of a white camel, a clay vessel made its way through the desert, in which a small oblong piece of magnetized iron floated in the water on a stopper. The edges of the vessel were painted in four colors. Red meant south, black meant north, green meant east, and white meant west. A clay vessel with a piece of iron in it was a primitive ancient compass that showed the caravaners the way in the endless sands... (From ancient chronicles.) From the dossier: Magnetite is a mineral, oxide-oxide...

• Malachite - wish fulfiller

  View all products made from Malachite>>> When it comes to a particular country, our imagination helpfully automatically gives us established associations, which usually form the image of a country for a foreigner. Spain - sun, castanets, flamenco England - rain, milk tea, "God Save the Queen" Holland - cheese, tulips, fachwerk... We may not know what the flag looks like and who is depicted on the banknotes of a particular republic or kingdom - but unspoken, but known to everyone, symbols denoting milestones Everyday life, we will certainly remember. However, oddly enough, what a foreigner remembers will most likely seem naive and outdated to a native inhabitant - after all, from the inside everything is seen differently, and it is unlikely that any Russian seriously associates the Motherland with wooden nesting dolls, a balalaika, a bear and a red star hat with earflaps, but we will certainly think about the grove of thin birches, about the vast, light blue sky, about...

• Moldavite – a child of distant stars

  View all products from Moldavite>>> Space, winking with an endless number of stars, has from time immemorial beckoned us with its obscurity, inaccessibility and monumental beauty. How many ancient legends are associated with the night glow of stars: they were precious stones in the crowns of the gods, they were given to loved ones, performing thousands of feats to get them from heaven, they were considered alive, conscious and bearing signs of fate. But even now, when ancient legends mean no more to us than children's fairy tales, we never stop making a wish when we see a shooting star. And few people know that fragments of falling stars, which have been shining so mysteriously for us for millions of years, can not only be touched, but also worn as jewelry. From the dossier: Moldavite is a glassy siliceous mineral. Hardness - 5.0-6.0 on the Mohs scale, density - 2.3 g/cm. Melting point is about 1300 degrees. Transparent, glass-like luster. Other names: bottle stone, water...

• Morganite - the sacred stone of the East

  View all products made from Morganite>>> The stories of gems are shrouded in legends and traditions. Humanity believes that stones can protect their owner from troubles, attract good luck, cure many diseases, or even eliminate enemies. Some stones have a unique combination positive influence, being both talismans and amulets. Even in ancient times, humanity noticed the incredible qualities of such minerals and even dedicated a separate cult to them. We are talking about a group of beryls, which includes emerald, aquamarine, morganite and heliodor. In Buddhism, one of the oldest religions on earth, it is no coincidence that these stones have long been revered. Particular attention was paid to morganite - this pink variety of beryl has truly magical properties. The most important of which is the ability to attract the love of the opposite sex to its owner, maintain the fire of passion in the family hearth, and protect against betrayal. AND...

• Morion – “black diamond”

  See all products from Morion>>> In the large family of quartz there are stones for every taste and color: from transparent colorless rock crystal, lemon yellow citrine and noble lilac amethyst to fiery carnelian and green cat's eye. But perhaps the most mysterious can be called black quartz - morion, a “dark horse” among its brethren. If rock crystal is called a Bohemian diamond, then morion is a black diamond. From the dossier: black or dark brown quartz, silicon dioxide (silica), opaque. Hardness on the Mohs scale - 7.0, density -2.6 g/cm3, glass luster. Other names: black quartz. Morion is a black quartz that used to be called black rock crystal and is also a type of smoky quartz. Morion acquired such a rare color among minerals as a result of radioactive radiation to which it was exposed in the host rock, for example, granite. Experts disagree...

• Jade – stone of immortality

  View all products from Jade>>> Among the ancient buildings of Samarkand, the famous mausoleum of Gur-Emir stands out - the tomb of the Timurids, cruel eastern rulers, descended from Tamerlane himself, who called himself “Lord of the Universe”. There he himself lies - a great conqueror who terrified the world, trembling under his iron heel, and during his lifetime - a great lover and connoisseur of gems. Tamerlane’s treasury was fabulously rich, his clothes were decorated with jewelry and amulets, and a huge blood-red spinel inserted into his headdress burned above his forehead, like an ominous third eye. However, everything passes, and now there is neither the Timurid treasury, nor power, nor wealth, the gems “scattered” to the royal houses of Europe, and Tamerlane’s only companion in his final refuge was a giant jade crystal that served as his tombstone. However, this choice is not accidental - I think the Lord of the Universe would not mind...

• Nephritoid – hidden in the shadows

  See all products from Jade>>> “The fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it,” said the great Pushkin. And indeed, sometimes the most extraordinary legend, which generations of non-believers laugh at, suddenly turns out to be true, because people’s memory is short, and events that took place in the immeasurable distance of time are easily shrouded in the haze of fiction. It is all the more surprising to discover how a shining truth is revealed behind hoary antiquity - and one can envy those who have had the opportunity in their lifetime to participate in the search for such a fairy tale. One of these people was Henry Schliemann, a German archaeologist who, since childhood, adored the ancient poems of the great blind man Homer. And Schliemann was especially fascinated by the story of Troy, the mythical city whose prince Paris kidnapped the most beautiful woman on Earth, Helen, from Greece, thereby unleashing great war, in the fire of which Troy was destroyed forever. And who hasn’t heard this legend - albeit in the form of familiar, catchphrases, a bone of discord...

• Obsidian - frozen volcano fire

  View all products from Obsidian>>> A volcanic eruption is a phantasmagoric spectacle, when red-hot scarlet lava flows from a mountain top shrouded in toxic smoke - living fire from the very heart of the Earth. And it brings death to everything that is not lucky enough to be close to the bubbling vent - heat, sulfur fumes, hot magma destroy everything in its path. But despite the fact that the volcano is the wrath of the Earth itself, the apotheosis of the destructive potential of elemental fire, it is in this hellish flame that beautiful gems are born - when the lava freezes forever in inactivity, a glassy solid mass is formed in it... From the dossier: Obsidian is a glassy volcanic rock. Formed when viscous acidic lava hardens. Hardness 5-6 on the Mohs scale, density 2.3 g/cm3, silky, glassy luster. Other names: obsidan, resin stone, royal agate, bottle stone, mountain wood, Icelandic agate, Wasser peridot, mountain jet, Persian, snow...

• Oligoclase - sun stone

  View all products from Oligoclase>>> The sun is the star of our galaxy. Without it, life on planet Earth will fade away. The sun is the first god of man, and he sees it everywhere: the circle of the sun, the light of the sun, the color of the sun. The most beautiful and precious creatures and objects to the human heart are compared to the sun. And gems, of course, too. How many stones are named after him! Amber is called the sun stone, heliodor and heliotrope also have the sun in their names, and many other words, different languages meaning “sun”, they gave names to gems. Sunstone - this can only be called a very beautiful gem that brings joy and warmth. Such as oligoclase. From the dossier: Oligoclase is a rock-forming mineral from the feldspar group (a subgroup of plagioclases), which is a mixture of 10-30% anorthite (calcium) and 70-90% albite (sodium). Hardness 6.5-7.0 on the Mohs scale, density 2.64-2.66 g/cm3, glassy luster, greasy. Other names:...

• Onyx – light from ancient days

  See all products from Onyx>>> Among the sages and thinkers that human civilization has ever cultivated, there are many names that are still pronounced with reverence or admiration - however, neither Greek philosophers nor medieval scientists can compare with a certain ruler whose the name is truly on everyone’s lips even today, a good three thousand years later, and his name was Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. Among all his deeds, one thing especially stood out - the construction of the legendary Temple, about which to this day there are heated debates among theologians and those simply curious: did it exist, and, most importantly, what was it like? They say that its roof was made of pure gold of the wall - from precious metals, marble and no less precious Lebanese cedar, and that the Temple supposedly had no windows at all, and the light miraculously penetrated into it - however, this myth has long been successfully debunked, because that the stone from which the walls were erected freely passed...

OPAL Opal takes its rightful place among precious stones. Opal consists of water and silicic acid; in fact, it is a type of quartz. Noble opal contains up to ten percent water, so these stones must be worn. If the opal gets too dry and moisture leaves it, it can crack and completely lose all its jewelry properties. Additionally, excess moisture can also damage the stone. It should be said that these are quite soft stones that require additional protection when used in jewelry. Opal can be completely dissolved in hydrofluoric acid. There are three types of opals used in jewelry - black, which has a dark blue color with a hint of other colors, white opal and orange-red. The world's best collection of opals is kept in Vienna. Almost all opals (up to 95 percent) are mined in Australia. The main advantage of opal is that under the influence of the light of the sun it is able to consistently emit various rays, thus causing...

• Opal - rainbow in the palm

  View all Opal products>>> Among the many attractive qualities of a gemstone, which ultimately determine its value and status, only a jeweler or mineralogist will talk about the degrees of cleavage, density or specific gravity, evaluate fracture and ease of processing. We, who are not so knowledgeable in gemology and other complex sciences, recognize gems “by their clothes” - only appearance the stone and the beauty of its color will be decisive, and here the richer and more interesting the “face” of the mineral, the more chances it has to be purchased as soon as possible, because its main “task” is to serve as an object of admiration. Alas, you can’t buy everything at once - so in a jewelry store your eyes sometimes run wide from the variety of shades: scarlet ruby, cornflower blue sapphire, bright green peridot, white and pink pearls, violet amethyst, fiery carnelian, golden heliodor, velvet black jet, cherry pomegranate... And the buyers freeze, trying to look at one...

• Ophiocalcite - a stone from the ancient world

  Ophiocalcite - a stone from the ancient world View all products from Ophiocalcite Let's move back twenty-five centuries and imagine the front room of a spacious villa on the outskirts of Rome. The first rays of the rising sun penetrate through the high arched windows, illuminating the plastered walls covered with colorful frescoes, silk bedspreads on the exquisite boxes and bronze statues gods. The sun's glare plays on the patterned tiles of the mosaic floor, whose whimsical design is as fresh as the cool morning of the ancient and young world. The shades form a single pattern, and it is impossible to believe that this is actually a mosaic made of pieces of colored marble. The graceful feet of a young maid, carrying a jug of spring water for her morning ablution to her noble mistress, count down the shiny slabs, but suddenly the girl, listening to the singing of the morning birds, slips, and the heavy bronze jug falls with a ringing sound on the stone. The maid falls to her knees in horror and carefully...

• Pegmatite – stone writings of nature

  See all products from Pegmatite>>> And when God stopped speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him two tablets of revelation, tablets of stone, on which it was written by the finger of God... And Moses turned and came down from the mountain in his hand were two tablets revelations on which it was written on both sides: on both sides it was written. The tablets were the work of God, and the writings inscribed on the tablets were the writings of God. (Old Testament, Exodus) From the dossier: Pegmatite is a coarse-crystalline potassium feldspar with regularly oriented wedge-shaped quartz intergrowths, reminiscent of ancient writing. Other names: written granite, Jewish stone, Jewish spar, graphic pegmatite, teacher's stone, etc. The term "pegmatite" refers not so much to graphic pegmatite specifically, but to a certain type of igneous rock, coarse-grained, occurring in the form of veins, lenses, nests and dikes. Veins...

• Mother of pearl – “mother of pearls”

  View all products made from Mother of Pearl>>> Gemstones have their own complex hierarchy, and their value is determined not by composition or shape, but by beauty and the ability to give birth to tenderness and admiration in the human heart. An ornamental stone is not always a piece of rock mined in a deep mine, where daylight has never penetrated; there is a special group of gems of organic origin that are part of nature - the sap of trees, petrified drops of water, the saliva of mollusks do not seem like romantic objects, but after a lot years of gradual natural changes, these prosaic things turn into wonderful decorations, not inferior in beauty to the glassy shine of coal derivatives. From the dossier: Mother of pearl consists of carbonated lime containing a small admixture of organic matter and 2% water. It is obtained from sea shells (meleagrina, Turbo, Trochus, Haliotis, Nautilus, Strombus, Cassis families...

• Petersite – stone of storms and changes

  View all products from Petersit>>> Since ancient times, people have sought protection from the hostile world in the objects around them, endowing them with the properties of revered animals, hoping that things thus spiritualized would protect them or convey part of the animal’s power. What seemed similar seemed the same. Now it is difficult to imagine the superstitious fear that gripped the person who first noticed how the gem “looks” at him, as if with a tiger’s or cat’s eye. But the echoes of these sensations have remained in the souls of people to this day, which is why mysterious, even mystical, names are given to minerals to this day, and the form, as we know, determines the content. So, in the world of gems, another “eye” opened - the “falcon eye,” so named for its similarity to the blue pupil of a bird. From the dossier: Petersite is a mineral from the quartz group, with inclusions of crocidolite (blue asbestos, blue iron ore) or torendrikite. Hardness 5.0-6.0 on the Mohs scale, density 2.3...

• Pyrite - golden flame

  View all products made from Pyrite>>> What are precious stones made of? From silky shine and crystal chimes, from clever names of chemical elements and pieces of ancient coal, from rolling sea ​​waves and the hot sun, from the resin and saliva of pearl shells frozen in time immemorial, from frozen water and air bubbles... It seems that when creating these amazing children of Mother Earth, all the elements and natural forces tried, transferring to them their energy, power and beauty. And only one element is the most dangerous of all, the only one that cannot stand empty touches, but at the same time, for many millennia, it carefully supports humanity, whose structure does not lend itself to chemical analysis and seems to be something else that came from parallel world or, perhaps, from heaven - is practically not involved in this creative process. And there are almost no stones that would hide its breath in their depths. But “almost” is not...

• Prehnite - grape jade

  See all products from Prehnite>>> Carthusian monks have exclusive rights to the production of Chartreuse liqueur. They have kept the list of ingredients secret since the 17th century. This is one of the oldest French liqueurs, known for its wonderful herbal taste, and most importantly, its magnificent color. Chartreuse comes in green and yellow. Yellow is as golden as sunlight, and green is transparent emerald. Just as there are cognac diamonds, wine topazes and rare champagne-colored orthoclases, so there is a stone the color of chartreuse - the king of liqueurs. This stone is prehnite. From the dossier: From the dossier: Prehnite is a mineral, silicate of aluminum and calcium. Hardness 6.0-6.5 on the Mohs scale, density 2.8-2.9 g/cm3, glassy, ​​pearlescent luster. Other names: Cape chrysolite, Cape emerald, edelite, chiltonite, cupolite, prenitoid. The synonyms of prehnite show which stones it was compared with, confused with, or passed off as: emerald and...

• Rauchtopaz – smoke screen

  See all products from Rauchtopaz>>> Rauchtopaz is a smoke screen...The bewitching syllables of mantras that a half-naked, thin man in a white turban quietly chants under his breath form a single melody, as if invented in another world. There is no one here except him - gray-bearded, with brown skin dried by the Indian sun, completely immersed in meditative ecstasy. Twilight shadows peer into the windows of an ancient temple, lost in the jungle, and fade away on the time-chapped marble slabs, and the last rays of sunset transform thick clouds of fragrant smoke rising from copper incense burners with sandalwood and myrrh into bizarre luminous figures dancing around someone sitting in the lotus position the sage and hugging the iridescent transparent stone lying in front of the meditator on the rough floor. He himself resembles smoke, frozen forever, like a twilight light embodied in matter, golden-gray with a lilac tint, already felt on...

• Rodolite – pomegranate and strawberry dessert

  See all products from Rhodolite>>> Stones are paradoxically similar to people, and if you think about it, among the stones there are both recognized geniuses - diamonds, and modest hard workers - jasper, serpentine, onyx, etc. And there are those who give away their glory, doing all the work and remaining in the shadows, of course, not without the help of people. Such are the rhodolites, which have suffered the fate of imitators of ruby ​​and noble red spinel, although they are members of an ancient and respected family. From the dossier: Rhodolite is a red-pink variety of pyrope, pyrope-almandine series (garnet group). Hardness on the Mohs scale - 7.0-7.5, density - 3.79-3.93 g/cm3, glass luster. Other names: pirandine (pyrope + almandine). Rhodolite was often confused with rubies and spinels not only by those who found them, but also by sellers and even specialists. Garnets have often been passed off as rubies over their long history, and this was done deliberately, but not in the case of the first rhodolites, which were identified as...

• Rhodonite – eagle stone

  View all products from Rhodonite>>> Perhaps best time days - before dawn, when in the east the horizon slowly brightens and is colored with all shades of dawn, from deep scarlet to light white and pink, and then the sun, ray after ray, appears in all its golden shining beauty, like a huge jewel pinned to the crimson firmament . I want to capture this moment in my memory forever in order to constantly admire the beautiful picture of the awakening of the sleepy world - but, alas, it is so fleeting that we are left with only dead photographs, unable to convey the full depth of emotions and sensations in the face of the pink-winged goddess of the dawn Eos. However, fortunately, Nature took care of this too - we have another reminder of the dawn, a unique pink stone, whose whimsical color transitions immediately remind us of the first minutes of the morning, the shy and bright blush of the heavens. It is not for nothing that many centuries before us it was called the “stone of the morning.” dawn"…. From the dossier:...

• Rhodochrosite – Incan Rose

  View all products made from Rhodochrosite>>> Aunt Lena returned from another trip abroad. This time she was in South America. Ruslana was tempted to speak the words from the film: “I’m Auntie Charlie from Brazil, where there are many, many wild monkeys,” when she stood at her aunt’s door and pressed the bell. But the aunt was not from Brazil, she had just returned from Argentina. - Previously, this land flourished ancient civilization Incas,” said the aunt, pushing apart the boxes that had not yet been sorted after the flight. “Probably, these boxes contain Inca gold,” Ruslana suggested jokingly. Aunt Lena smiled mysteriously. “Better,” she took out a package from a large box, “an Inca rose.” – And she unwrapped this package. Ruslana first decided that it was indeed a huge flower, but then she realized that it was shaped like a bowl. And the color! What color was that! From the middle of the half-meter bowl, light pink, dark pink, crimson, and fuchsia circles radiated out in waves. - This…...

• Rose quartz – juice of the earth

  View all Rose Quartz products>>> Love is the main driving force of humanity. How many empires have fallen due to momentary weakness, how many wars have begun because of beautiful faces who gathered thousands of ships for the journey! There has not yet been anyone who could truly explain what the secret of this changeable and unique feeling is - but there are countless types and shades of it, and everyone probably understands it in their own way. Of course, the world of gems did not stand aside - precious stones have long served as an expression of emotions, they were associated either with the happiness of a shared feeling, or with the sadness of a broken heart, they were talismans with the help of which lovers swore fidelity or bewitched their chosen ones. Here is the mature passion of the color of garnet, and the scarlet-ruby ardent youthful attraction, and the fidelity of amethyst, and the sexuality of tourmaline, and the femininity of emerald, and the dreaminess of pearls... However, the main color of love is soft pink, a symbol of romance and tenderness,...

• Ruby - the king of gems

  See all Ruby products>>> Acquaintance with this stone began many centuries ago in the mystical hot India of ancient days, where dense jungles hid the mysterious temples of cruel gods, caste differences turned out to be insurmountable, and constant bloody battles raged between local princes. The greatest empire in the world, India was literally drowning in unimaginable luxury - and this concerned mainly the great rajas, who collected precious stones and gold the way others today collect postcards or porcelain figurines. After all, it was India that was destined to become the primary source of gems, truly the world's mines, from where sparkling diamonds, deep blue sapphires, grassy emeralds, iridescent cat's eyes floated first to Egypt, Rome and Greece, and then to Europe and Russia. Probably, nowhere have gems been loved so passionately and sincerely, valuing them more than life - one’s own and that of others, above love, more dearly than power. They fought and died for them and...

• Fish eye (see eye stones)

  Fish eye (see eye stones)

• Sapphire – blue waters of time

  See all Sapphire products>>> No matter how great a person is, there is always a place in his soul for a little weakness - so was the great Tsar of All Rus' Ivan the Terrible, who sowed fear and horror both among the enemies of his kingdom and among his own subjects, the cruel sensualist, who ruled the country with an iron fist, had a strong passion for gems. He, who was suspicious of people, certainly trusted the superstitions and signs that were known at that time about the sparkling stones so beloved by him and spent a lot of money on replenishing the treasury with new jewelry - gold frames of Gospels and icons, cups, rings, mantles embroidered with gems ... And his most expensive acquisition was a staff supposedly made from the horn of a unicorn - but it was not so much the miraculous horn that attracted the king as the magnificent blue stone that crowned the staff, which the formidable ruler invariably preferred to all others, believing that it helps to identify traitors and...

• Sardonyx - father of stones

  View all products from Sardonyx>>> Claudius Caesar wore emeralds and sardonyx. The first of the Romans to wear sardonyx, as Demostratus says, was Africanus the Elder, and since then this precious stone was the most noble among the Romans. (Pliny the Elder.) From the dossier: Sardonyx is a type of agate characterized by alternating red-brown, brownish-brown, white and bluish stripes. Hardness 7.0 on the Mohs scale, density 2.5-2.6 g/cm3, silky, glassy luster. Other names: agate onyx, carnelian onyx, ribbon agate. Sardonyx (Greek onyx - nail and sard - Sardis, the capital of the Lydian kingdom) combines the best qualities of the chalcedony family: stripes of agate and onyx, warm light colors of carnelian and dark sard, bluish tones of sapphirine. People simply could not ignore such a stone, and it was known and respected already in Ancient Egypt: Queen Cleopatra in the 1st century BC. there was a favorite vessel made of sardonyx with...

• Selenite is a lucky stone

  See all products from Selenite>>> Having learned so much about the beneficial effects on humans of the little “earthly helpers” of semi-precious stones, talismans and other catalysts and conductors of energy, today we look somewhat down on past generations. How could they live in an absolute spiritual vacuum, when any manifestation of belief in the supernatural was literally illegal? However, nothing grows out of nowhere - and our ancestors, of course, also kept grains of ancient knowledge about the nature of things, even if they did not talk about them publicly, as they do today. And in any old tradition, which now seems strange and even vulgar, there was a certain meaning - take, for example, such a classic of the genre as the notorious seven elephants, which, standing in every apartment on a chest of drawers covered with a lace napkin, were supposed to bring prosperity and well-being to the owners . These days, these artifacts are mercilessly thrown away, although...

• Carnelian - the reflection of a scarlet sunset

  See all products from Carnelian>>> Crimea - the gentle sun and warm sea, dense coniferous forests and inaccessible mountains, extinct volcanoes and the lost ruins of mysterious ancient cities... Among the riot of plants and birdsong, thickets of wild poppies and tulips, lagoons and bays full of clear blue water, and small towns and villages, among which Koktebel is especially famous - the famous Max Voloshin settled here at the beginning of the 20th century, who hosted either Mikhail Bulgakov, Osip Mandelstam, Alexander Green, or Marina Tsvetaeva. And the hospitable host presented each guest with an unusual local pebble, which at that time was strewn in the bay at the foot of the extinct Karadag volcano. It would seem strange - why do great people need simple stones? Maybe there is a hidden intention here, a language of symbols? But in fact, everything is simpler: pebbles were not simple, but semi-precious, and even in tsarist times they were actively used to create...

• Simbircite - a contemporary of dinosaurs

  View all products from Simbirtsit>>> What do you think is the main distinctive property of precious stones, what sets them apart from all other materials and substances existing on our planet? No, not external beauty at all - although this, of course, is also of paramount importance; however, we know a lot of beautiful creatures of Nature, but their life is usually fleeting. Gems live for thousands of years, not changing at all with time - it seems that for them it does not exist at all. Sparkle, brilliance, play of light - all this creates the feeling as if only yesterday this crystal was mined from the depths of the mountains or from the bottom of the river, when in fact its age is calculated not in years, but in geological periods. However, there are exceptions to every rule. “An old gem is absurd,” you will say, and you will be partly right: it’s just that some minerals already come to us as “old people,” and instead of a shining eternal youth represent the wisdom of maturity....

• Scapolite - Prince of the Kingdom of Minerals

  People know about 4,700 minerals, and together with various varieties - more than 11,000. Of these, about 200 stones are used in jewelry, depending on fashion, the discovery of new varieties, new deposits, or, conversely, the depletion of reserves of already known sources. Many of the gems serve people well both on holidays and on weekdays: they can be simply decoration, or they can be used in various industries, like diamonds, which at the same time “ best friends girls" and "technical raw materials". But there are such minerals and their varieties that, from the moment they are discovered, are destined for a jewelry fate; they will be part of luxurious jewelry and an object of desire, admiration, passion. These are the princes of the mineral kingdom, beautiful “slackers” and, most often, little-known, new or rare stones, like scapolite. From the dossier: Scapolite is a mineral, calcium and sodium aluminosilicate with variable composition. Hardness 5.0-6.0 on the Mohs scale, density 2.5-2.7 g/cm3,...

• Sodalite - a stone that fell from the sky

  View all Sodalite products >>> The immense blueness of the sky has inexplicably attracted people since ancient times. Who hasn’t had the desire to fly up like a bird and conquer the vast blue sea overhead! It is in the sky that in all religions the dwellings of the Gods are located, and pure shades of blue and dark blue have long been associated with wisdom, spiritual light and hope. Isn’t that why gems of heavenly colors are probably the most popular stone guests in any home, because they are so similar to pieces of the sky that fell to the ground and brought us divine gifts... Among the blue and dark blue stones, sodalite stands out - a mysterious and quite rare semi-precious stone. The history of sodalite is dark - in Europe sodalite first became known only in the last few centuries, and the stone was first described in literature in 1811. Neither Pliny nor Herodotus mention sodalite, and it is not in the medieval “Lapidaries” - and this despite that he was famous...

• Staurolite – a cross not made by hands

  View all products from Staurolite>>> For the second day, little Nathaniel wandered through the enchanted valley in search of a path that would lead him home. And although he considered himself brave, he was truly afraid when he saw that it was already getting dark and realized that he would have to spend another night in the forest without food. All that remained was to make a fire and wait for the morning. The night was moonless and black as soot, and from this darkness the shining eyes of night creatures sometimes looked at the boy. Sitting by the fire, Nathaniel cried: after all, he thought that he had already become a man at the age of twelve, since his father even gave him a gun, but now it was broken, and he himself was lost. He realized that he had acted stupidly, going into the forest without food, alone, without telling anyone, and all this out of a desire to show off his booty. Raising his eyes, he almost jumped out of fright: right in front of him by the fire stood a tall dark figure. It was a man wearing a jacket and pants made of deerskin, wearing a headdress made of rabbit fur with...

• Sugilite - the color of kings

  Laura Holt's detective agency was hired to protect and transport rare South African stones - royal lavulite. Young Pierce Brosnan plays an honest and handsome thief who saves precious stones from greedy bandits. This is briefly the content of the first episode of the most popular detective series in the United States in the eighties, “Remington Steele,” which made Pierce Brosnan famous. Yes, Brosnan was Mr. Steele first and Mr. Bond second. But that's not the main thing. The main thing is that before this series, no one had ever heard of any lavulite. But this stone is not an invention of the writers and producers, it actually exists, it is truly rare and valuable, and partly thanks to the series, his jewelry career took a new turn. From the dossier: Sugilite is a ring-shaped lithium silicate of potassium and sodium. Hardness 5.5-6.5 on the Mohs scale, density 2.7-2.8 g/cm3, glassy to waxy luster. Other names: lavulite, sagilite (erroneous), purple turquoise, royal azel....

• Soapstone - the fiery heart of Finland

  View all products made from Soapstone >>> images/s1/public/publication/138.jpg" alt=" Soapstone – the fiery heart of Finland" />заре мира, когда человека не было и в помине, нашей планетой правили стихии – огонь, вода, лед и земля сходились в длящейся веками бесконечной битве. Менялись очертания континентов, появлялись новые моря и реки, земля дымилась от извержений вулканов и дрожала от землетрясений. Именно тогда однажды в районе будущей Карелии разверзлась очередная бездонная трещина, и в недра планеты потекла расплавленная лава, чтобы остынуть в темных глубинах, потом снова загореться от нового извержения соседнего вулкана, вновь остынуть… Планета давно уже успокоилась, и старые вулканы превратились в обычные мирные горы. А с тех древних времен остался удивительный камень, созданный в самый «горячий» период истории Земли – туликиви, огненный камень Севера. Немного науки: Талькохлорит - мягкий древний (протерозойский)... !}

• Tanzanite - African sapphire

  Tanzanite See all products from Tanzanite >>> The world of stones is a special universe filled with beauty and harmony. A special niche is represented by rare stones, which include tanzanite. The story of its discovery is similar to an African fairy tale, and the variations of shades - from blue to violet - make fashionistas swoon at the mere sight of this stone. Tanzanite is often called the African sapphire of the 20th century. And this is no coincidence. One day, in 1966, not far from the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, a blue-lilac stone was discovered, which amazed everyone with its purity and transparency. This property was immediately noticed by famous jewelers - tanzanite became famous thanks to exquisite jewelry from Tiffany and actress Elizabeth Taylor, who greatly appreciated products with this rare mineral. In the 70s of the last century, a fashion for African ethno arose, and this stone came in handy. It was considered not only a curiosity favored by actors and musicians, but...

• Tanzanite – the soul of Africa

  View all products from Tanzanite>>> Africa is the most ancient and mysterious continent, which has not yet revealed all its secrets. Nowhere else do jungles coexist with snow-capped mountain caps, dry savannah coexist with penguin nesting grounds, stormy rivers coexist with dead deserts... The semiprecious riches of Africa seem endless - Kimberley diamonds, emeralds and sapphires become welcome guests in the most famous jewelry workshops in the world. And it was from here that a new and amazingly beautiful gem came into the world - “African sapphire” tanzanite. From the dossier: Another name for the mineral is blue zoisite. Blue and violet colors are due to the admixture of chromium and vanadium ions. Crystals are transparent. The shine is glass. Hardness - 6.5-7.0 on the Mohs scale, density - 3.1-3.5 g/cm3, perfect cleavage. The discovery of tanzanite was as random and spontaneous as a tropical downpour - in 1967, shepherds African tribe The Masai were found at the foot of...

• Tiger's eye (see eye stones)

  View all products from the Tiger's Eye>>> People have long endowed gems with magical, inexplicable powers, and there are countless romantic legends explaining the origin of this or that stone. Some said that gems were stars that had fallen from the sky, others that these were the traces of God who once walked the earth... The variety of color combinations and visual effects prompted truly poetic hypotheses that were born in the youth ancient world– pearls were considered dew that fell at sunset at the mouth of a water lily, rock crystal was considered frozen ice, milky opal was the milk of a sacred cow, serpentine was considered flax woven by mountain craftsmen... Meerschaum, Apache tears, moonstone, Venus’s hair, peacock stone, serpentine, firestone, thunderbolt, bloodstone - everything natural phenomena, it seems, are reflected in the names of precious stones; myths come to life in them and time itself is reflected. However, names do not appear just like that - any designation of a stone is, of course,...

• Tinguait – natural painting

  See all products from Tinguaite>>> Most geological descriptions contain many names of different rocks. Any self-respecting lover of minerals knows such ones as granite, marble or gneiss. These breeds have long been successfully used by humanity in everyday life. But few of them know anything about fenite or khibinite, and even more so about Yakutite or tinguaite. Many of these breeds are not inferior to time-tested ones either in beauty, strength, or price. Some are used not only as facing or landscape stones, but also as valuable ornamental stones, especially when we're talking about about a green color similar to malachite, a rare color among ornamental stones. Such as the unique tinguaite. From the dossier: Tinguaite is an alkaline vein rock consisting of feldspar (45%), nepheline (35%) and aegirine (about 20%), apatite, sometimes with biotite and alkali amphibole. In addition to tinguaite itself, there are...

• Thomsonite - a pebble with polka dots

  It was great winter weather along the Lake Superior coast of Minnesota. Actually, it differed little from the Moscow region, even the landscape observed around the hospitable big house, differed little from Russian. Aunt Lena's friends invited her to stay, knowing that she was planning a trip to several states. And Aunt Lena took her niece with her. But it wasn’t that much fun here, the only entertainment was walking along the shore of the lake, which was simply huge, almost like the sea: its shores were not even visible. - Is it really possible to find something interesting here? – Ruslana was surprised. - You can find something interesting everywhere. Let's go to the shore, take a walk, maybe luck will smile on us. They wandered along the coastline for about half an hour, admiring the beauty of nature. Suddenly Aunt Lena bent down and picked up a pebble. - Here he is. Look, Lana, how cute he is. Ruslana came closer. - Oh, really, what a cute pebble - with polka dots! And the peas are striped, like little eyes, black and red. What is this...

• Topaz - the stone of the Island of Mists

  See all Topaz products>>> Clean as a drop of morning dew, but capable of cutting glass like a knife through butter. Golden, like thick olive oil, pink, like dawn, or transparent, like a tear. Having absorbed the yellow-green color of the first sticky leaves, and the bright blue of a summer night, and crimson-yellow flashes autumn leaves, and the steel-blue winter sky. Sometimes yellow and iridescent, like a cat's eye, sometimes changeable and polychrome, like chameleons, combining all the colors of the rainbow, or glowing in the dark, like a precious beacon. Do you think that we are planning to describe all the gems at once in one article? You are mistaken - all these are characteristics of one, but outstanding gem, whose varieties would be enough to replace almost all other colored minerals... From the dossier: Topaz is an aluminum fluorosilicate. Hardness 8.0 on the Mohs scale, density 3.5 g/cm3, glass luster. Other names: Siberian diamond...

• Turkvenite – a new age of turquoise

  View all products from Turkvenite>>> For the fifth millennium, people have been using stones in jewelry; for centuries, stones have fascinated people and continue to this day. Once they had value in themselves, without any consideration of their value. And this was an era of pure enjoyment of the beauty of stone. But soon a person begins to sell and buy stones, barter and collect them, and they become unwitting participants in the race for profit. The more beautiful and rare the stone, the more expensive it is - this was known even before our era. And here it is, the dream of all money-grubbers, a stone that can be anything you want: you want it to be turquoise, or you want it to be coral or lapis lazuli. And so he is turned into turquoise and plays his role perfectly. Few buyers know how handsome he is without a mask. From the dossier: turquenite is a type of howlite, calcium borosilicate. Hardness 3.50 on the Mohs scale, density from 2.53 to 2.59 g/cm3. The shine is silky, porcelain-like after polishing. Other names:...

• Tourmaline - a fickle stone

  Tourmaline See all products made from Tourmaline>>> Catherine II not only loved jewelry - she truly adored them. The extravagance and splendor of her court became a legend, and the great ruler herself loved to play a party or two of cards during a break from the affairs of the sovereign, betting a handful of sparkling diamonds. The empress's gifts were also magnificent - after all, in that era it was customary to present, first of all, luxurious jewelry, and jewelry was both a sign of attention and official awards. Infinitely generous, she herself often received beautiful jewelry from friends, colleagues and allies - and, of course, she could not resist when in 1777 the Swedish king Gustav VIII presented her with a skillfully carved crimson-red grape bunch weighing 255 carats, framed with green enamel leaves. The huge, iridescent stone looked like a sweet delicacy that you just wanted to taste - that...

• Ulexite - a cat's secret

  View all products from Ulexit>>> Cats are strange, mysterious and inexplicably charming creatures that have attracted people since ancient times. Having come a long way from sacred animals to pets, in different eras they were considered either the personification of the gods or the incarnation of the Devil; they were loved and hated, but never remained indifferent to them. Fluffy, rumbling, cozy little lumps, which in the blink of an eye transform into dangerous, ruthless predators, have firmly taken a place in the human heart - it is not surprising that in all centuries we have instinctively been drawn to everything that is somehow connected with the cat tribe, and have assigned similar epithets to human actions, and herbs, and even stones under the general name “cat’s eye” mineralogy unites many gems, different in composition, color and physical qualities, but similar in one thing: a flickering strip of light appearing on the surface of a polished stone is similar to a cat’s eye glowing in the dark... From. ..

• Ulexite - a cat's secret

  Cats are strange, mysterious and inexplicably charming creatures that have attracted people since ancient times. Having gone a long way from sacred animals to pets, in different eras they were considered either the personification of the gods or the incarnation of the Devil; they were loved and hated, but never remained indifferent to them. Fluffy, rumbling, cozy little lumps, which in the blink of an eye transform into dangerous, ruthless predators, have firmly taken a place in the human heart - it is not surprising that in all centuries we have instinctively been drawn to everything that is somehow connected with the cat tribe, and have assigned similar epithets to human actions, and herbs, and even stones; Under the general name “cat’s eye,” mineralogy unites many gems, different in composition, color and physical qualities, but similar in one thing: a flickering strip of light appearing on the surface of a polished stone is similar to a cat’s eye glowing in the dark... From the dossier: Ulexite - boronatrocalcite, ore boron Hardness 2.0 on the Mohs scale,...

• Fluorite – river of life

  See all products from Fluorite>>> Despite the fact that it is necessary to closely examine the world of gems from the point of view of each individual stone, because they are all unique and interesting in their own way, and in each you can find their unsurpassed advantages, at all times and here it is observed some kind of inequality. There is the “king of gems”, the diamond, there are the undisputed leaders of the first order, whose advantages are not usually disputed, occupying the first lines of the conditional top list of demand, there is the “elite”, quite popular among the majority of consumers and from time to time coming to the fore, there are “strong middle peasants” ”, inexpensive and cute gems that do not pretend to be much, even “hard workers”, those stones that are used only for industrial and construction purposes, also found a place in the changeable precious hierarchy. However, there is also a strange tendency in the mineral kingdom - sometimes the stones seem to change places, like actors on stage and a “commoner”...

• Fuchsite – brilliant yield of mica

  See all products from Fuchsite>>> Mica can, if you try, be seen in many minerals: it can be present in aventurine, in quartz and quartzite, and in the same granite. It is she who gives them shine thanks to her smallest plates. However, in its pure form, mica can be seen these days only in the “work coat” - for example, in the production of complex equipment, but there are exceptions: some varieties of mica are used as ornamental stones. Fuchsite - emerald green, brilliant - is one of these varieties. From the dossier: Fuchsite is a mineral, layered silicate from the group of emerald green micas. Hardness 2.0-3.0 on the Mohs scale, density 2.7-3.1 g/cm3, matte, pearlescent luster. Other names: chromium mica (mica), chromium muscovite, chromium muscovite, verdite. Fuchsite, despite its name, which is associated with the dark pink fuchsia flower, is not pink at all, but green. He was named after...

• Chalcedony - Greek guest

  View all products from Chalcedony>>> In Ancient Greece, the art of mining and processing gems rose to unprecedented heights. And respected mothers of families, and brave warriors, and wise philosophers - all the Greeks, without exception, adored the iridescent cold shine of the stone, which sparkled on the fingers and ears of beauties, decorated the chambers of luxuriously decorated villas, lined the walls and floors of majestic temples... At first, all stones were of imported origin - sometimes entire wars were started for the sake of taking possession of rich semi-precious mines. That is why the discovery in the city of Chalcedon on the coast of the Sea of ​​Marmara of a new precious stone, whose color palette seemed to contain all the richness of colors, became so significant. The stone was called chalcedony, and this discovery marked the beginning of the creation of amazing stone jewelry - gems or cameos, carved three-dimensional images on stone cabochons. Usually blue, orange and red were used for these purposes...

• Chrysoberyl – one in three persons

  See all products from Chrysoberyl>>> Carl G. Jung's student and colleague Maria L. von Franz said that in many dreams the core of the psyche appears in the form of a crystal. People have always been drawn to stones, perhaps because the center of the human psyche is oddly similar to a multi-faceted stone. Or maybe it’s because the surprise remains that in a world full of chaos, there is something as orderly and beautiful as a stone crystal? After all, it is probably no coincidence that many are looking for “their” stones, be they stones of zodiac signs or names, and many find them - not according to tables and recommendations, but intuitively, having seen and touched the gem, identifying their inner world with it. If you dream of a greenish-yellow precious crystal, then most likely your stone is chrysoberyl. From the dossier: Chrysoberyl is an oxide of aluminum and beryllium, a greenish-yellow, less often colorless mineral. Hardness 8.5 on the Mohs scale, density 3.5-3.8 g/cm3, gloss...

• Chrysocolla - from the mines of King Solomon

  See all products from Chrysocolla>>> The name of the legendary biblical ruler Solomon has long become a household name - the glory of the king who managed not only to transform his country into the most powerful and richest state of his time, but also to remain in human memory as a great sage and seer who ruled with an iron fist, who created a grandiose Temple of gold and gems. By the way, Solomon had an abundance of the latter, because the Israeli ruler owned another semi-mythical place, which was supposedly located near the Gulf of Elat in the Red Sea - semi-precious mines, where not only rubies, emeralds and diamonds were mined in fair quantities, but also valuable metals and various ornamental stones. According to one version, Solomon owed his fabulous wealth to these mines. In those places they also found beautiful light sandstone with bright bluish-green veins, which was called Elatian stone... From the dossier: Chrysocolla -...

• Chrysolite - evening emerald

  See all products from Chrysolite>>> They say that three and a half thousand years ago, almost the only inhabitants of this gloomy place were hordes of poisonous snakes, and the ancient Egyptians could only be here in the dead of night without fear. It would seem, what could attract them to the barren shores, corroded by volcanic activity? It was impossible to hunt, fish, or even live on the island of Zaberged in the Red Sea. But the secret is simple: people were attracted by the richest deposits of the gem, which the pharaohs loved to decorate palaces and temples with. For the sake of its green shine, miners were ready to risk their lives - especially since a person’s life in those days was worth less than a truly beautiful gemstone... From the dossier: Chrysolite is a jewelry variety of the mineral olivine, orthosilicate of iron and magnesium. Hardness 6.5-7.0 on the Mohs scale, density 3.3 g/cm3, transparent, glassy luster. Other names: chrysolite, peridot, hawaiite,...

• Chrysoprase – “apple” stone

  View all products from Chrysoprase>>> An amazing thing - vision! When we say “we are greeted by our clothes,” we are uttering one of the greatest aphorisms in the world - after all, it is “by eye” that we often determine whether we want to live in this house, whether we like this or that person, choose clothes and furnishings, enjoy the splendor of a flowering meadow or admiring the sunset. And often vision controls other senses and instincts - thanks to it we notice danger, thanks to it we salivate at the sight of a picturesque chocolate cake, transparent citrus jelly or a juicy apple. We don’t even need to feel the aroma - after all, our eyes already “know” what is tasty and what is not. But... sometimes vision can be deceived, because in the world there are such wonderful “scammers” as gems. Their rich coloring so accurately replicates any work of nature, and jewelers and stone cutters learned to process them so skillfully that in the 19th century there was a joke going around Russia - like one...

• Chrome diopside – Yakut emerald

  See all products from Chromediopside>>> Green stones are paradoxical: they carry a combination of warm green color, the color of rebirth, the color of trees, herbs and flowers, and the cold geometry of crystals, smooth and cool edges, seemingly devoid of the vital juices of the earth. Green - the earthly color that gives rise to everything growing on the earth, and petrified, frozen harmony - merged into a symbol of eternity and inviolability, revered by the ancients, into an emerald green stone. From the dossier: Chrome diopside is an emerald green variety of diopside containing chromium, calcium and magnesium silicate. Hardness 5.5-6.6 on the Mohs scale, density 3.22-3.28 g/cm3, glass luster. Other names: Siberian emerald, Yakut emerald. Diopside is rich in green varieties: laurelite, containing up to 4% vanadium oxide; smaragdite - emerald-colored stone; diopsides with a cat's eye effect are known. Of its many varieties, undoubtedly...

• Zircon – a kaleidoscope of desires

  See all products from Zircon>>> Oh, how cheerful, wide and generous fairs were in Rus'! We prepared for them in advance, went out as a family, fortunately for everyone, from old to young, there was something to do here: there would be sweets for the children, and a silk muffler and leather bottle boots for the eldest son, and painted chintz on the daughter’s marriageable dress, and a leather-bound prayer book for the devout mother of the family... The boundless human sea is agitated, flowing from counter to counter, from copper utensils to feather beds, from medicinal tinctures to barrels of black caviar and live crayfish... At some distance there is an inconspicuous tent in which a crowd of people more and more bright-eyed young beauties and pretty young women: here a dark-eyed, dark-skinned foreigner has laid out his goods, flashing with a white-toothed grin, he rolls sparkling pebbles in his palms, and the girls gasp and look in fascination at the unprecedented splendor blazing with all the colors of the rainbow. Here I come to...

• Citrine - the golden wine of youth

  See all products from Citrine>>> Oh, Portugal is a country of brave sailors and cruel conquistadors, orange groves and soulful fado romance! Sultry, romantic and magnificent - anyone who has ever been in your hot summer embrace will never forget the waves licking the hot sand, or the burning gaze of a black-eyed enchantress with a scarlet flower in her hair, or sleepless nights under a huge moon, no starlight playing in a glass of strong wine... We, children of the north and fog, will never understand the spirit of the South, the half-European, half-Moorish smell of roses and jealousy that hovers in the crooked narrow streets, as if straight from the pages of a knightly novel and perhaps Will cheap souvenirs that are intended for “touristas” help us with this - plastic castanets, crudely made straw toys and sets of postcards? Oh no - here we need something really worthwhile, something that is part of this alluring world, where everything seems to be made of gold: and the sands of endless...

• Zoisite - the foundations of passion

  The art gallery of stones has works for every taste. Classic watercolor landscapes of agates, calm and thoughtful, as if from the paintings of A. Savrasov, almost space photographs of petersite, similar to the paintings of cosmonaut A. Leonov, small graphics of tinguaite - Art Nouveau of the early 20th century. And impressionism was simply created to be embodied in stone. Many gems can be compared to Impressionist paintings, but none have received the name art stone, or Picasso stone. This stone seems to illustrate all periods of the great artist’s work: his early work in the style of pure impressionism, and the cubism he himself created, graphic and bright. From the dossier: Zoisite is a mineral, a hydrous silicate of aluminum and calcium, found in metamorphic rocks. Hardness 6.0-6.5 on the Mohs scale, density 3.2-3.4 g/cm3, glassy, ​​pearlescent luster. Other names: zaualpite (zaalfpit, saalfpit), aniolite, orthozoisite, art stone. Zoisite belongs to the epidote group...

• Charoite - the lilac miracle of Siberia

  See all products from Charoite>>> How often does this happen in a person’s life: it seems that everything that is possible is known about an object, and there are no blank spots left on the map of knowledge at all, but no – Nature suddenly turns the other side and presents something new, an amazing discovery that overturns all previous ideas and changes reality. There are few such cases, but they are all extremely significant. And if you think that you know everything about gems, then you are most likely mistaken - simply because not all gems are known to us. And proof that new discoveries still excite craftsmen and art connoisseurs from time to time is the discovery at the end of the 20th century of a new unique stone called charoite. Already in the name itself one can hear something magical - it seems to reflect the blue-violet streams of the cold Yakut Chara River, on the banks of which the only deposit in the world is located...

• Shaitanskiy perelivt – native Ural minke whale

  See all products from the Shaitan Overflow>>> A long time ago, when the mountains on the earth flowed like water, in one place magma poured out onto the surface and froze. Volcanoes exploded on the earth, the sea was agitated, then the jungle grew and huge dinosaurs roamed, then people appeared, and in the frozen magma, which turned into granite, its own quiet life flowed. When earthquakes occurred, this life took a new turn. And so, three hundred million years later, the Great Ruler sent a man to this place. He had to find and send her rare and beautiful stones. One day this man was walking and saw a block of stone, nothing special. But he hit it with a hammer, the block split, and inside the block there were beautiful intricate patterns of stripes. The stripes shimmered like silk and glittered in the sun. The stone was sent to the ruler, and she ordered several objects to be made from it for herself, and she even carved some things herself, because she considered this...

• Spinel - the sparkling stone of warriors

  View all products from Spinel>>> Among the treasures of the English crown there are many outstanding gems - each of them has its own amazing story, often full of the most incredible myths and superstitions. Take, for example, the “Black Prince” ruby, which belonged to the Infante Edward of Wales - the legendary Briton, famous for his belligerence, he himself attributed his victories to armor black as night and a scarlet gem talisman, which supposedly guaranteed him success and bestowed an indomitable desire for his goal. After the death of Edward, the ruby ​​passed to Henry V, who decorated his helmet with it; in one of the battles, a monstrous blow from an enemy sword fell on the king’s head, but - oh, miracle! - neither the stone nor its owner was harmed in the least, and subsequently the “Black Prince” was placed at the center of the British Crown. However, here’s the most interesting thing - it turned out that it was not a ruby, but a red spinel... From the dossier: Spinel is the mineralogical name for tetroxide...

• Eudialyte – “Sami blood”

  View all products made from Eudialyte>>> Once upon a time, in distant Lapland, the Sami honored their idol gods - seids. Between the gloomy steep cliffs of Luyavr-Urta, above the sacred transparent Seydyavr Lake, the terrible old man Kuyva found his eternal shelter. Turned into a shadow on a rock by the gods for attacking the Sami, it is still there, huge and black, and still inspires the same fear in people as it did hundreds of years ago. Since then, red stones have been found in these places. Ancient legends say that it was his, Kuyva’s, drops of blood that turned into these very stones. From the dossier: Eudialyte is a complex sodium, calcium, zirconium silicate with variable composition, with inclusions of rare earth elements. Hardness 5.0-5.5 on the Mohs scale, density 2.6-3.1 g/cm3, glass luster. Other names: Sami blood, Lapp blood, almandine spar (obsolete) Eudialyte is a rare mineral of a very beautiful deep burgundy-red tone. Name of samples from...

• Euclase - a fragile stone of happiness

  View all products from Euclase>>> “To Mr. A. A. Vokht. Your Majesty! I hasten to notify you of a discovery made two days ago. As you have graciously offered to inform you if an interesting specimen occurs, local miners found a crystal, which I believe is chrysolite or beryl, seven and a half lines in size. However, the old-timers from the locals, to whom I showed the find, call this stone fragile, although there is no such nickname for chrysolite, beryl either. If you are interested, please honor your respected answer, and we will not hesitate to send you the said stone. We have the honor to remain awaiting your honorable response. With complete respect, I. N. Griva." Focht folded the letter and immediately took a blank piece of paper and a pen. “Fragile... If this is what I’m thinking about, I urgently need to write to Griva to send him a stone, and promise... fifty rubles - someone will be surprised. What, I mean, length does he write...

• Enstatite - a super-resistant companion to diamonds

  View all products from Enstatite>>> There is such a group of minerals - pyroxenes. Among them, both useful and simply beautiful minerals are known to the whole world, which have become national pride, and rare stones or stones little known to anyone except specialists. Pyroxenes include jadeite, the iconic stone of China, spodumene, a source of industrial lithium, and blood-red eudialyte, from which zirconium is mined. In short, almost any of these minerals has found its application in human life. But few became precious stones. Enstatite is also considered as such. From the dossier: Enstatite is a magnesium silicate from the pyroxene group, a member of a series in which the mineral composition varies from enstatite through bronzite and hypersthene to ferrosilite. Hardness 5.5-6.0 on the Mohs scale, density 3.26-3.28 g/cm3, glass luster. Other names: victorite, shepardite, orthoenstatite, orthobronzite, etc. Once upon a time, while mining diamonds in...

• Epidote – mineral pistachio delicacy

  See all products from Epidot>>> Perhaps it’s high time to look at a couple of jewelry from natural stone. But from which one? So, are you looking for beads that are inexpensive but not cliché and at the same time eye-catching? Try on beads of pistachio epidote beads with pink spots. Do you need a ring with a beautiful clear cut stone, and dream of an emerald? Pushkinite epidote looks great in any metal and will be a more pleasant companion than synthetic stones, and more affordable than precious ones. What if you buy a writing instrument, like in the Kremlin? Made from piedmontite, a pink variety of epidote, it is much more accessible than from the similar rhodonite. And bright and cheerful unakite - epidotized granite - is like a bouquet of peonies with green leaves. In a word, it’s everywhere, this cute and funny epidote that you just want to taste: what if it’s caramel? From the dossier: Epidote is a complex silicate of calcium, aluminum and iron, the main member of a large group...

• Amber - a frozen piece of the sun

  View all products from Amber>>> Long ago, Phaeton, the son of the sun god Helios, begged his father to allow him to drive the solar chariot. Helios, who loves his son, agreed to the request - but young Phaeton could not hold the reins, and the fiery chariot began to bow to the ground. Then the seas boiled, the rivers dried up, the centuries-old forests caught fire, and people, mad with fear, called out to the gods. In anger, the supreme ruler of the sky, Zeus, stretched out his hand and threw Phaeton down, where he crashed against the rocks. And those saddened by the death of their beloved brother Heliade, the daughter of the sun god, turned into poplars to forever mourn the dead. Tears dripped from their branches into the river flowing past, instantly hardening in the sun and turning into a transparent, warm stone... This is what one ancient Greek legend says about the appearance of one of the most beloved gems by people - amber, the stone of the sun. From the dossier: Amber (succinite) is of organic origin and is a fossil...

• Jasper is the most ancient, most beloved

  See all products from Jasper>>> Since childhood, we all have firmly learned that it was labor that made a man out of a monkey. However, if you look more precisely, our ancient ape-like ancestors probably felt like humans when they had the opportunity to engage in this work - the first, primitive tools. And how symbolic that, according to historians, perhaps the very first knives were naturally sharp, unsharpened random fragments of jasper - perhaps the first gem that humanity knew at the dawn of the world, in the dark and beautiful Stone Age... From the dossier: Jasper - siliceous, sedimentary or sedimentary-metamorphic rock with various inclusions. Hardness 6.5-7.0 on the Mohs scale, density 2.6 g/cm3, silky, glassy luster. Other names: jasper agate, meat agate, blood jasper, Swiss lapis, German lapis, heliotrope, tiger stone, prazem, basanite, jasper, plasma...

• Demantoid – the pride of Russian collections

• Shungite – a gift from space

  The mineral wealth that Mother Nature bestows upon us is countless. Red, white, yellow, variegated, transparent and iridescent, patterned and polychrome, they sparkle hotly and shimmer mattly in a variety of jewelry, delight the eye with carved sculptures and whimsical mosaic panels, are actively used in the watchmaking, medical, chemical industries... However, when evaluating this or that stone, we usually think about its physical properties, and this is where its value comes from: color, shine, size, hardness - These are the properties that, coupled with the ease of processing and rarity of finding, make a precious stone from a piece of rock. It sometimes seems that all the stones, no matter what they are, are essentially the same, because they really can easily be divided and systematized into large groups according to their main external qualities, and often jewelers replace one gem with another, and fashionistas calmly wear jewelry made from human-grown minerals, after all, external properties...

The Koh-I-Noor is a 106-carat diamond that was once the largest diamond in the world. Previously owned by rulers in India, today it belongs to the British royal family and adorns the British crown.

When the Koh-I-Noor diamond came into the hands of the British royal family, it weighed 186 carats (37 grams). Prince Albert searched for a long time for a cutter with an impeccable reputation, and eventually chose a Dutch master, a certain Mr. Cantor, who took on this difficult task. Ultimately, the diamond was given to Queen Victoria.

The diamond became one of the decorations of the British crown, which the Queen Mother wore for the last time during her coronation, and as a sign of receiving the status of Empress of India.

2. Millennium, carved sapphire the size of a football

The football-sized Millennium Sapphire is a gem featuring portraits of famous historical figures that is currently on the market for $180 million. It is promised that this 61,500-carat miracle will be exhibited in a place where everyone can look at it.

Designed by Italian artist Alessio Boschi, the Millennium Sapphire is dedicated to 134 recognized geniuses, including Beethoven, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King.

The owner of the Millennium sapphire is a consortium of investors led by Daniel McKinney. Over the past 15 years, the sapphire has been on public display only twice: in 2002 at the Oscars and two years later on the occasion of the maiden voyage of the Sapphire Princess cruise ship.

The 28 cm Millennium Sapphire was found in Madagascar in 1995. It originally weighed about 90,000 carats and lost about a third of its mass during the processing process, which took two years and was completed in 2000.

3. Don Pedro, the world's largest aquamarine

The world's largest cut aquamarine is kept in Washington next to the Hope Diamond and Marie Antoinette's earrings.

Mined from Brazilian pegmatites in the 1980s, this crystal is named after the first two Brazilian emperors. It is kept at the National Museum of Natural History, part of the Smithsonian Institution.

Don Pedro, a blue-green obelisk-shaped gemstone that was designed by the famous German jeweler Bernd Munsteiner, known as the "father of artistic carving", measures 35.5 cm in height and weighs 10,363 carats or 2 kg.

4. The world's largest pearl

On November 21, 2010, the largest pearl in the world was shown in Wenchang in Hainan Province (South China). The pearl is the largest ever discovered and is valued at two billion yuan ($301,197,000), in China pearls are valued more than diamonds. The weight of the pearl is six tons, and its diameter reaches 1.6 meters.

The stone is composed primarily of the mineral fluorite, which glows green in the dark. It took three years to process the pearl and give it a spherical shape.

5. Pink Graff, the most expensive pink diamond in the world

Laurence Graff is the number one diamond and gemstone dealer in the world, and in 2010 he was able to confirm his status with the purchase of a 24.78 carat pink diamond.

Laurence Graff is also the richest living British art buyer. He spent $24.1 million buying two best works Warhol: "Elvis" and "Campbell's Soup Can." Laurence Graff also owns five luxury homes in England, France, Switzerland and New York, as well as a personal yacht in the Mediterranean. He owns a diamond mine in the suburbs of Johannesburg, and several properties in Mayfair (one of the areas of London).

An amazing pink diamond has set a new auction price record at Sotheby's. During the auction there was such a stir that the United Kingdom had never seen before. The stakes were rising rapidly. 36th of richest people Great Britain and the “diamond weirdo” ultimately paid 29 million pounds sterling (approximately $45 million), the largest amount ever paid for the jewel.

6. Ethereal Divine Carolina, the largest faceted tourmaline from Paraiba

Montreal financier Vincent Boucher owns the approximately 192-carat Ethereal Divine Carolina tourmaline, which is estimated to be worth between $25 million and $125 million. This stone set a new world record as the largest cut tourmaline from Paraiba.

Paraiba tourmaline is one of the rarest gemstones in the world, and for this reason it is prized by the best collectors and jewelers around the world. Typically, Paraiba (the name of the Brazilian region where the vast majority of tourmalines are found, including Boucher's) produces 1 tourmaline for every 10,000 diamonds. Boucher also reported that a total of only 50 kg of this gemstone have been found to date.

7. Massive 478-carat rough diamond

The massive 478-carat diamond was found at the Letseng mine in Lesotho, a small kingdom in South Africa. This is the 20th largest rough diamond ever found. It was found in a mine that had already yielded three of the world's largest diamonds: the 603-carat Lesotho Promise, the 493-carat Letenga Legacy and the 601-carat Lesotho Brown. A similar but smaller uncut stone was recently discovered Valued at $12 million, it is hoped that this diamond could be made into a 150-carat cut gem, thereby eclipsing the current largest cut diamond, the Koh-I-Noor.

8. A gemstone sold at auction for the highest price per carat

Recognized as one of the unique gemstones, the flawless blue diamond became famous in 2007 as the most expensive gemstone in the world. The 6.04-carat diamond was sold for $7.98 million at Sotheby's in Hong Kong. The flawless blue diamond cost $1.32 million per carat.

The buyer was Moussaieff Jewelers of London, who was delighted to purchase the diamond from a private Asian collector for his collection of rare gems. Blue diamonds are famous for their rare combination of dark color and brilliance. Although it is not the largest stone, its cut and "vivid blue" color justify the high price per carat, which is almost ten times the price of regular white diamonds.

9. The world's largest Bahia emerald

The Bahia emerald is one of the largest emeralds. This 1.9 million carat stone was found in the state of Bahia in Brazil. It narrowly escaped sinking during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 while being stored in a warehouse in New Orleans. In September 2008, it was reported to have been stolen from a secure storage facility in Sauce El Monte in Los Angeles, California. The estimated value of this stone was approximately $400 million, but its exact value is unknown. At one time, the emerald was listed for sale on eBay with a “Buy It Now” tag for $75 million.

After the stone was brought from Brazil to the United States, there were many unsuccessful attempts to sell it, and disputes flared up about its ownership. The emerald was eventually recovered from a gem dealer in Las Vegas and turned over to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

10. Moussaeff, the most famous red diamond

Once known as the Red Shield diamond, the Moussaeff Red is the largest red diamond in the world and weighs 5.11 carats. Discovered in Brazil in the 1990s, this diamond has a triangular brilliant cut (also known as a trilliant cut). The last time the general public could admire this stone was in 2003 at the “Splendor of Diamonds” exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution