Skip to main content

How well do you know your pink stones?

Can you tell which stone this is?

There was a question asked online the other day which got me to thinking.  Sometimes when we buy stones at a show, they may be mislabeled.  Sometimes this is on purpose, in order to command a higher price.  Sometimes it's through ignorance.  I can tell you right now that I have bought beads at shows that I know are mislabeled, but they were cheap and pretty, so didn't really care.  Maybe I should have cared, and shouldn't have bought, but there you have it.

So, how well do you know your stones?  Specifically, your pink stones.  There's a great deal of difference in the prices of these, so it would be worthwhile to learn the difference in the way they look:


Pink Quartz


Rhyolite




Rhodonite




Lepidolite





Rhodochrosite



Comments

Robbie said…
I don't know my stones at all!!! I just buy because they are "pretty"! HA Wonder if I really have any valuable treasures! Probably not! HA
Cyndi L said…
No worries! That's probably why most of us buy them :-)
indigogarden said…
This is one reason why I decided to study gemology and gain my certificate. Knowing what the stones are, what to look for in quality, and their value can make or break you as an artisan jeweler. The funny thing was when I took the classes my ten years of walking the gemshows, asking questions, and having fun buying rocks made me more of an expert on semi-precious stones than my instructor! However, I did learn a great deal about precious stones, the art of gem/jewelry appraisal, and pearls that more than made up for the cost of the program.

This was a nice primer on pink semi-precious. Your strand of rhodochrosite is particularly lovely. I love finding these stones with character texture.
Cyndi L said…
That was super-smart of you to take the course! Where did you take it? How long did it take you?