Albite: Albite is a member of the feldspar species as is predominantly a white or whitish mineral. A fine Albite gem will be colorless (mostly), or colored similar to moonstone. Some of the better specimens have been found in upper North America including the United States and Canada In 1815 Albite was given the Latin name albus which literally means white. Albite astrological sign is that of A (read full)

Moonstone: The variety name Moonstone is usually used to describe an optical effect and unlike most variety names it is not confined to a single species (The term is also applied to albite-moonstone, microcline-moonstone, labradorite-moonstone). But Moonstone most prominently refers to the orthoclase feldspar, Adularia Moonstone, a microperthitic association of orthoclase and albite) and rarely to Albite M (read full)

Dravite: Dravite also called Brown Tourmaline is a sodium magnesium-rich mineral in the Tourmaline group of silicates, with a hexagonal system. Other members of this group include elbaite (sodium lithium aluminum rich); schorl and buergerite (sodium iron rich); uvite (calcium magnesium rich); and liddicoatite (calcium lithium aluminum rich). A continuous solid solution series exists between uvite and dravi (read full)

Danburite: Danburite is a silicate of clear, prismatic crystals, with wedge-shaped terminations. It is occasionally pale yellow, a variety of gemstone feldspars group that resembles topaz. It is very hard, heavy, and has a transparent to vitreous to greasy luster. It fuses easily into a colorless glass, coloring the flame green, has a luminescence that is sky blue to pale blue-green, and also shows red therm (read full)

Morganite: Morganite is a pale red-purple, rose, salmon to purplish red, slightly pink, cesium-bearing variety of Beryl. The Beryl group of silicates includes the important gem varieties emerald, blue aquamarine, pink morganite, and red and yellow beryl. The color of morganite is usually a soft pink without any overtones. It has glassy luster, like other beryls, but its pleochroism is not noticeable. The p (read full)

Microcline: Microcline is a silicate of potassium and aluminum, and an alkali member of the feldspar group. It is the phase of this compound that is stable at low temperature. The feldspars are major constituents of the rocks on the earth's crust and comprise some of the most important rock-forming minerals. The four feldspars - orthoclase, sanidine, microcline and anorthoclase - comprise a group called the (read full)

Epidote: Epidote is widespread, forms a continuous series of minerals, ending with clinozoisite, which contains no iron. It occurs as crystals elongated and often striated parallel to length, and also as massive, fibrous, or granular habits. Epidote has a yellow-green color, ranges from yellowish-greenish to greenish-black. It has vitreous luster, and is transparent to nearly opaque. It has one perfe (read full)

Oligoclase: Oligoclase is a mineral of the plagioclase feldspar series, other members of which are Labradorite and Anorthite. It forms as tabular crystals, which are commonly twinned, with parallel or criss-cross twinning striations. It appears as massive, granular, or compact. It may show brilliant reflections from inclusions. It is light, transparent to translucent, with a vitreous luster and may come in (read full)

Spodumene: Spodumene is a lithium aluminum silicate that crystallizes in the monoclinic system. It is one of several rock-forming minerals in the Pyroxene group, which are physically-related as their chemical content is quite similar and forms a chain. Fellow pyroxenes are jadeite, enstatite, diopside, hypersthene, augite, acmite, hedenbergite, pigeonite, and aegirineaugite. It appears as prismatic crystals (read full)

Labradorite: Labradorite is a sodium-rich plagioclase feldspar which displays a particular type of iridescence on a dark ground. Plagioclase feldspars are rock-forming, calcium-sodium minerals which form a continuous series ranging from albite, through oligoclase, andesine, labradorite, and bytownite to anorthite. Precise classification is generally not possible in hand specimens, and their physical properties (read full)