Onyx is best known for its black color, but my collection also reveals pale bands, brown tones, and pockets of tiny crystals. If you've pictured it as a uniformly black gem, these pieces show its natural variation. In my Arizona studio, a converted garage, I use onyx both on its own and beside other stones.The video here shows many of the gems in my collection. Onyx Belongs to the Quartz Family Onyx is a microcrystalline member of the quartz family. Although black is the color most closely associated with it, the stones aren't all solid black. In fact, completely black pieces … Continue Reading
RECENT POSTS
Petrified Palmwood Root Gems: History Beneath the Polish
A polished petrified palmwood gem can look like a tiny fossil garden, filled with dots, circles, and branching lines. Yet it isn't a gemstone crystal like ruby or diamond. It is ancient plant material whose original structure survived mineral replacement. For jewelry lovers and fossil collectors, petrified palmwood root offers two stories at once: the story of an old palm forest and the story of the minerals that preserved it. Its history reaches from buried roots to museum collections, lapidary benches, and modern jewelry cases. I discovered this gem about 3 years ago and IMMEDIATELY fell … Continue Reading
Gemstone Legends
Onyx Gemstones: The Lore Behind the Black Stone
Onyx is best known for its black color, but my collection also reveals pale bands, brown tones, and pockets of tiny crystals. If you've pictured it as a uniformly black gem, these pieces show its natural variation. In my Arizona studio, a converted garage, I use onyx both on its own and beside other stones.The video here shows many of the gems in my collection. Onyx Belongs to the Quartz … Continue Reading
Petrified Palmwood Root Gems: History Beneath the Polish
A polished petrified palmwood gem can look like a tiny fossil garden, filled with dots, circles, and branching lines. Yet it isn't a gemstone crystal like ruby or diamond. It is ancient plant material whose original structure survived mineral replacement. For jewelry lovers and fossil collectors, petrified palmwood root offers two stories at once: the story of an old palm forest and the story … Continue Reading
