“B” STONE GLOSSARY

This stone dictionary will give you insight into the world of minerals, generally describing most of our utilized materials.

Stones by first letter: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Stones “B” Shown Below


 

Baltic Amber – Baltic Amber that was unearthed several years ago and with time has naturally morphed into an orange, butterscotch coloring. This butterscotch coloring can also be artificially brought on with low heat oven over a period of about 30 days. Starborn offers designs utilizing natural Antique Baltic Amber, which was unearthed around the year 2000.

 


 

Banded Agate – Agate is one of the most common materials used in the art of hardstone carving, and has been recovered at a number of ancient sites, indicating its widespread use in the ancient world. Most agates occur as nodules in volcanic rocks or ancient lavas, in former cavities produced by volatiles in the original molten mass.

 


 

Barite Drusy – Barite drusy is a form of barite that has occurred with tiny crystal formations over its surface.

 


 

Baryte – Barite, or Baryte, is a heavy metal barium sulfate. This non-toxic mineral is generally colorless and grows in a tabular crystal formation. Barite can be found throughout the world and has been used historically as a white pigment and recently as a weighting material for drilling fluids and paint additive. Barite has a pearly luster and can be seen as light shades of blue, yellow or grey.

 


Belemnite – Belemnite is a fossil of a Mesozoic era cephalopod. Also called thunderbolts, folklore suggests these were created from the ends of lightning bolts hitting the sand. The name Belemnite comes from the Greek work for javelin after their bullet shape. Belemnite fossils are generally just the rostrum of the animal and have worldwide distribution; they are the state fossil for Delaware. Opalized Belemnites are extremely rare, generally, these fossils are brown to reddish brown.

 


 

Beryl – Beryl is a silicate mineral that forms as hexagonal crystals. Pure Beryl is colorless, though impurities can tint the stone created other varieties such as Emerald, Aquamarine and Morganite. Beryl can be found in a vast array of localities, including the US, Columbia and Europe.

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Bismuth – A chemical element that is extremely rare in nature. The Bismuth in our jewelry and sold as loose specimens are lab grown crystals. These structures have an iridescent oxide tarnish that show many refractive colors and grow in a spiraling cube step like formation. Though almost as heavy as lead, Bismuth is extremely brittle and is considered a semi-precious semi-metal.

 


 

Black Garnet Crystal – The most common black Garnet is Melanite, which is an Andradite species of Garnet. Melanite gets its color naturally form titanium inclusions and has a submetallic luster. Garnets can be found in a variety of crystal habits making them a versatile choice for jewelry and collectors.

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Black Tourmaline – The black species of Tourmaline is also known as Schorl. (Dravite can also rarely be seen as black). This semi-precious gemstone is the most common Tourmaline in the world. Though it is abundant throughout the world, it affords its popularity for being a natural high quality black gemstone, which is a rare coloration in the gem world. Black Tourmaline is also extremely popular in the metaphysical community.

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Blue Chalcedony – Blue chalcedony can be clear to translucent and its powdery blue color is created from natural inclusions of trace amounts of iron, copper, manganese or titanium.

 


 

Blue Lace Agate – Blue lace is an agate variety found in Africa that displays powder blue and white banding and eye patterns, resembling lace.

 


 

Blue Sunstone – Sunstone is a crystal that can be clear, yellow, orange, green or blue and has a brilliant aventurescene appearance; an almost metallic glitter effect. These crystals have a lot of depth and a rich deep color at their center, spanning out to a lighter more translucent coloration. The speckled effect of Sunstones is caused by inclusions of red copper. Sunstone is the official gemstone of Oregon State.

 


 

Blue Topaz – Topaz is a silicate mineral. Pure Topaz is actually colorless; tinted Topaz is created by impurities within the stone. Natural Blue Topaz is rare, but it can be created using heat and irradiation. Starborn uses both treated, faceted Blue Topaz as well as unique, natural Blue Topaz crystals. Texas’ state gemstone is Blue Topaz, and also a main location where the stone is found.

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Boulder Opal – Opal is an amorphous mineral which is water rich, formed by a dehydrating mineral gel. Boulder Opal is a Precious Opal, as it displays the rainbow color changing effect. The majority of the world’s opal is found in Australia, with Boulder Opal making up only an estimated 2%. The dark iron oxide mineral matrix in which the prismatic Opal veins run in Boulder Opal create a striking contrast.

 

 

Brazilianite – A yellow-green phosphate mineral. Its name is derived from its country of origin, Brazil. Brazilianite grows as an almost perfect crystal, with the most exquisite being a darker olive-green hue. It is a much sought after stone for collectors.

 


 

Bronzite – A mineral variety of Enstatite with a metallic bronze like luster. Bronzite can be either green or brown. The brown coloration of Bronzite displays a chocolate tone with golden patterning. The majority of Bronzite is found in North America, Europe and Asia, though it does occur in other locations.

 


 

Brookite in Quartz – One of four titanium oxide minerals, Brookite displays opaque crystals from dark brown to red to greenish black. If heated to 750 Celcius, Brookite will revert back to Rutile. Brookite can also be found growing as an inclusion in Quartz. Brookite crystals are generally tabular and striated and are the rarest of the titanium oxide minerals.

 


 

Bumblebee Jasper – Bumblebee is a jasper variety found in Indonesia which contains hematite, sulfur and other volcanic matter that was found just in the 1990s. The colors and banding of yellow, grey, orange and black are what gave its

Stones by first letter: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z