Enhanced Stones

When you see an asterisk by any item, that identifies the piece as not totally natural. It could be man made, lab enhanced, or color treated. I will always be as upfront as possible about these items.

Pitted or Pitting

Many stones can be tumbled, like the Nephrite Jade you see to the left. Most pieces that are identified as "Jade" take a very high polish and tend to be smooth and uniform in appearance.

However, sometimes during the tumbling process, the stones come out with a mostly smooth finish with indented areas that I call "pitting". These can usually be identified by touch or visible to the naked eye.

Does it affect the energy of the stone? In my opinion, no, it is simply a natural occurrence in the tumbling process.

Rough Tumbled

The Chrysoprase you see to the left is an example of what is identified as "Rough Tumbled". It has gone through the same tumbling process but due to a variety of factors (location, matrix included, tumbling process, hardness of stone, etc.) it may not be as smooth as other tumbled stones.

Many people like the rough tumbled since they feel it still is close to its natural state with just a few rough edges smoothed out.

Smooth Tumbled

The Carnelian tumble shown at left is a very good example of a smooth tumbled stone. This particular piece has no pitting, no rough areas, no dents or scratches. It is simply smooth all the way around.

Many stones are identified as "Smooth" due do their hardness and ability to polish well.

Dent/Ding
There are some tumbles that are for the most part smooth, but may have a small single pit or dented area. This is a relatively common occurrence. Most tumbled stones, as they go through the process, are handled frequently, from tumbling to bagging to shipping. A small ding may appear along the way.

Or, it could simply be that the stone had an indentation in it before the tumbling process began. In order not to lose a good portion of the stone by tumbling until that one pit is out, they keep the indented area and more of the stone for the customer.

When I describe something as "Natural" or "Raw" on the website, I mean that it is totally free from processing (tumbling or polishing). Some Rubies, Sapphires, Blue Apatites and Scapolite pieces, just to name a few, would fall into this category.

Enhanced (Lab or Man Made)

"Enhanced" pieces, normally lab enhanced or man made are always identified with an asterisk * on the website. Examples include sparkly Goldstone, metallic Silicon and Gold infused Aqua Aura.

For more information on stones that are man or lab enhanced, visit the Be Informed page. It is always a work in progress!

Transparent

When we speak of a piece being "transparent" it describes a piece that is see through. Some call these water clear pieces. The definition of Transparent/Transparency is the property of allowing transmission of light through a material. These pieces are the best to view internal inclusions like mists and veils or phantoms.

Many polished points as well as Dream crystals have areas of transparency.

Semi-Transparent

The Spessartite Garnet to the left is an example of a "Semi-transparent" crystal. Light is able to move through the piece in some areas which appear more transparent than other areas of denser material in which the light cannot pass though as easily.

Many semi-translucent pieces appear as if a sheer fabric is being held up in front of them. You can somewhat see through the fabric, but the light allowed through is lessened making the piece appear more clouded and muted.

Opaque

When you are working with material that is impenetrable to visible light, it is called "Opaque". The Black Obsidian to the left is described as Opaque because when it is held up to a light source, no light passes through and it remains unchanged in appearance.