I am an avid collector of gemstones and minerals and not only find them aesthetically pleasing, but very interesting as well - who would think such beautiful and unique little gems could come from the Earth?! This post carries on in a series [for lack of better name] called New Additions. You can see past posts here - #001, #002 and #003 and view some others I have added to my collection.
001. AZURITE
This is a carbonate copper mineral and it dates back to the very early years, with first written evidence in 77 CE. It has a naturally vibrant blue colour, hence it's influence on the name with the link to azure. It is often also found with malachite which is another of the basic copper carbonate minerals. It is found in many parts of the world.
002. AMETRINE
Ametrine is a mix of two gemstones; amethyst and citrine. It is due to heat that the amethyst slowly begins to change int citrine, which you can see as a distinct band in the crystal. It is commonly found in Bolivia, and also sometimes in Brazil and India.
003. ZOISITE
This is probably better known as Anyolite, which has the green zoisite but also black tschermakite through out. It is in the Epidote family of gems and good quality ones are usually much clearer and more on the green/yellow side of colour. It is found in Tanzania, India, Kenya and Pakistan, among others.
004. EMERALD [RAW]
To most this probably would not look like anything like the emerald we are used to seeing, but this is in it's raw and natural form - but not jewellery quality. Emerald belong to the Beryl family (along with aquamarine) and even the lighter tone emeralds are normally just known as green Beryl. Only the very vibrant green classify as the emeralds we commonly know. Columbia produce the largest amount of emerald, but it is also found in many other places, including India, China, Canada and South Africa.
005. SODALITE
Sodalite crystals are commonly very opaque like this but they can be translucent as well. It usually has veins of white or grey running through them. It was discovered in 1811 in Greenland but very large deposits are found in Ontario, Canada.
006. BLUE ARAGONITE
I have quite a larger raw piece of blue aragonite but loved the look of the polished one, it reminds me of a pacific island ocean, or something along those lines. It is a carbonate mineral and also comes in a variety of colours including brown, white and pink. It is found in China, Slovakia, Spain and also a specific type is found in the Bahamas.
My favourites from this bunch are the Azurite and the Blue Aragonite; I obviously have a thing for the blue tones today!
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