Himalayan Semi-Precious Gems
Amethyst
This is the most highly prized quartz variety. It’s color range is from pale lilac (almost colorless) to a deep, rich, royal purple, sometimes showing reddish highlights. Banding found in the crystals is due to the composition of the growth, which changes the color zoning. Amethyst comes from the Greek “amethustos” meaning “not drunken.” In ancient times it was believed that an amethyst wearer could never become intoxicated.
Labradorite
It is a beautiful crystalline faceted stone that shows many colors from white, blue, blue-green, green, yellow and gold. Light interference from layers of internal twinning crystals produces a sheen or glow that sweeps across the entire stone. In bright sunlight, labradorite gives the illusion of electric blues and shimmery black.
Lapis Lazuli
Deep royal blue is one of the finest lapis colors, it’s name comes from the Arabic word “allazward” meaning “sky” or “blue”. Almost all of the stones occurring in the Himalayan mountains are of this most beautiful blue. Lapis has been used extensively in construction of rooms, lining the spaces for Russian royalty. The presence of pyrite is an indication of natural lapis, which Himalayan lapis lazuli is well known for.
Malachite
An important copper ore that also makes an attractive gemstone. It has been known and used in jewelry since the days of ancient Egypt, as early as 4000 B.C. For centuries it was considered a magical stone with potent powers. Malachite is a soft stone which scratches easily.
Chocolate Moonstone
It is a mineral gem found deep in the crust of the earth. It is made of aluminum silicates containing calcium, sodium and potassium. Moonstone is the most popular of mineral gems in nearly opaque shades with a strong body of colors: beige, pink, green, yellow, white, gray and brown. Many have a distinct “eye” present in the stone. These opaque moonstones are indigenous to the Himalayas. All other moonstones are completely transparent. The adularescence (white sheen) of moonstones resembles a cloud of light that appears within the gem when it is turned at the right angle to the eye. Moonstone gems are considered sacred and have been used in jewelry for centuries.
Onyx
Golden, blue, yellow, white, multi-colored and of course black onyx are all indigenous to the Himalayan region of Nepal. In fact, Nepal has many varietals of onyx found no where else on Earth! Onyx is a form of quartz. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color.
The energy of Onyx is slow moving and soothing, offering a stillness that allows the wearer to release negativity and to let go of stress and tension. It is a grounding stone, which can be used to create and remember our connection to the earth and find our center, making it a powerful ally during troubling times. By stilling and clearing the mind, it allows the user to focus and also to gain access to their intuition and inner guidance.
Rhodonite
It is formed from manganese silicate. Crystals are not especially rare, but found in only a few localities, like the Nepal Himalayan Mountains.
The pink material is heavily mottled with dense black patterns of managese oxide, producing a very attractive decorative stone. It is used in jewelry because of it’s toughness and interesting patterns.
Ruby
The red color of ruby is due to a trace of chromium. These rubies are all natural and have not been cut or color-zoned. A gem can only be called ruby if it is a corundum (gems with outstanding depth of color) of a red or purple-red hue and medium to dark in shade. A pink or light red corundum would be called a pink sapphire. To the Hindus, Ruby was the “Lord of Gems”, seemed to burn with a kind of inextinguishable fire, capable of boiling water.
Sandstone
The formation of sandstone involves two principal stages. First, a layer or layers of sand accumulates as the result of sedimentation. Sedimentation occurs by the sand ceasing to be rolled or bounced along the bottom of a body of water like the glacier rivers of Nepal. Finally, once it has accumulated, the sand becomes sandstone when it is compacted by pressure of overlying deposits and cemented by the precipitation of minerals within the pore spaces between sand grains. The most common mineral is silica, hence the name “sandstone”.
Glaciers and icecaps contain large amounts of silt and sediment, picked up as they erode the underlying rocks when they move slowly downhill, and at the snout of the glacier, meltwater can carry this sediment away from the glacier and deposit it on a broad plain. The material in the outwash plain is often size-sorted by the water runoff of the melting glacier with the finest materials, like silt, forming sandstone over time.
Serpentine
Few materials are as readily confused with jade as serpentine. Serpentine colors are much like those of jade, in the green and yellowish range. The serpentine from the Himalayas is a mottled dark-green serpentine known as Bowenite. It is softer than jade, used as a building stone called “verd antique.” It is said that snakes will form a line in the mountains due to the presence of Serpentine in the rocks, which they will not cross. One wonders, from the smooth texture of the stone, are the snake’s scales unable to grip the stone?
Smokey Topaz
The meaning of topaz in Sanskrit means “fire”. Golden-brown topaz is the most expensive color variety, considered the most attractive and commanding up to several hundred dollars per carat. Topaz is an extremely hard gem, so it wears well in jewelry.
Tourmaline
Of all known gemstones, tourmalines display the most dazzling and surpassing variety of colors. These are rare stones and not widely known to gem buyers. The dichroism of tourmaline is very strong and crystals are usually cut with the table parallel to the length of the crystal. Tourmaline frequently forms with quartz, and crystal groups of tourmaline perched on large quartz clusters are desired by collectors.
Turquoise
The greenish-blue stone comes from the Himalayas and has been traded by Tibetan people for centuries, prized for it’s superb colors. The matrix of material you see interspersed within the turquoise is known as a “spiderweb”. The most expensive turquoise comes from Iran and is paler blue, with very little matrix.
Rose quartz
Occurs in a delicate pink color. The material is seldom completely transparent, but rather tends to be somewhat cloudy. The color ranges from nearly white to a deep rose pink.