Crystal Buying Rock Guide - Are you getting what you pay for?
I went to a rock shop at the mall recently so I thought I would make a guide for all the crystal healing girlies (gender neutral) so you guys know if what you're getting is what they say it is. Now, there's probably going to be some stuff I missed but this should cover some of the more common things, and some of the stuff that stuck out to me while I wandered the store. So here is some advice from a geologist on how to spot fake or misleading rocks when at the store.
Note: This does not extend to cut gemstones. Gemology is a whole separate field and while I know a lot about rocks and minerals, cut gems are a whole separate ballpark and you'll need a gemstone expert to tell you what to look out for. This is for hand specimens, primarily rough, tumbled, or polished.
Not everything that's labeled as turquoise is actually turquoise the mineral, some of it is just a rock that is turquoise the color. The most common example is going to be howlite, a naturally white rock which can easily be dyed. Here are some examples of dyed howlite.
Another mineral which could be dyed to look like turquoise is magnesite. That looks like this.
Now, both of these minerals can look similar to turquoise (and it can be hard to see the difference on images alone) but there are some ways you can tell if you're looking at real turquoise or not. One is to look at the matrix as it's not the same for all three minerals. Howlite is also slightly harder than turquoise (6.5 vs. turquoise's 5-6) while magnesite is much softer at 3.5-4.5, but most shops don't like you scratching their rocks. And if they're polished, the polish will mess up your scratch test. Turquoise can also be heavier than a comparable size of howlite while magnesite is heavier than both of them
Best indicator is price. Real turquoise is much more expensive, especially for good quality pieces. The large chunk of magnesite sold on an auction website for $41. Real turquoise that size could easily sell for around 10 times that price.
Here are some examples of what turquoise looks like so you can compare.
Look, I'm going to be real with you, there's a very high chance this is just glass. While obsidian can be blueish, it is going to be translucent, not transparent. What that means is that some light will pass through but it won't be clear like glass. If you see a piece labeled blue obsidian and it looks like any of these below, that's glass (and yes, these images I'm pulling from google were all labeled as blue obsidian).
Goldstone and Blue Goldstone
I feel like more people know this but, in case people don't, these are glass. These do not exist in nature. They're pretty, I won't argue with that, but they are entirely man made. So nothing against them, buy them if you like how they look, but if you are looking for natural rocks, these aren't that.
If you see rocks that have a brilliant rainbow shine to them, they're probably been treated. So things like aura quartz are quartz points or clusters that have been coated with a metal and treated to create pretty colors. I've seen titanium mentioned as one of the primary metals used. Mineral is likely real but the color certainly is not.
Bornite (may also be called Peacock Ore)
Bornite is a very beautiful mineral which can be blue, purple, or a coppery red, with the blue and purple being caused by tarnishing of the surface. However, it oxidizes quickly, becoming black. So if you have a piece which is beautiful all over, no tarnishing or anything, that's acid-treated chalcopyrite. Chalcopyrite tends to be a bronze color but also tarnishes to blue or purple naturally. These are not natural chalcopyrite.
This is san example of natural bornite. It's not nearly as vibrant.
Amber is often faked using copal (which is modern tree resin), plastic, or glass. Knowing where the amber is from is helpful as there are certain parts of the world which do export amber and those which export fake amber. Other than that, a couple of good tests are a static test and the hot needle test.
The static test is where you rub amber with a piece of work and see if it will statically interact with hair or not. Real amber will but fake amber does not. The hot needle is about what it sounds like. You heat a needle and press it to the amber. Real amber will smell resinous, plastic smells like burnt plastic. Real amber is also lighter than glass and soft enough to be scratched with a copper penny (pre 1982).
Fake amber with a bug in it will also look very beautiful and complete. Real amber will not as the bug was actively trying to not die in amber and struggled. I'll put a couple pictures up that might be fake amber but they can be very hard to tell from a picture alone. Other than the bug thing.
And an example of real amber. Had to include this one because it's absolutely fascinating to me.
Knowing where the opal is from is very important. Opals from different parts of the world will look different and there are certain areas of the world which are known opal producers. Australia is a world famous exporter of opal. Cooper Pedy is probably one of the most famous localities for Aussie opal, but Mintabie, Andamooka, Lightning Ranch, Jundah, and Quilpie are some other opal localities. Australian opal is also probably either white opal, black opal, or boulder opal. Mexico and Etheopia are where fire opals will be from. Other types of opals will be from certain locations in the world so knowing what type of opal you're looking at and where it's from is important. Any opal without a locality is probably fake, or at least highly sus.
There are also a few ways of looking at an opal to tell if it's real or fake. If there's a repeating pattern, that's probably fake. Columns in the opal are also a sign that it's artificial as real opals are consistent throughout. Also look at the opal from multiple angles, especially for jewelry. You may have a doublet or triplet, which is where a thin layer of real opal is placed on a backing and may have a clear topper (of resin, glass, quartz, or similar material) to make it appear clearer. This has real opal but is not solid opal. Some opal may also be treated to appear better than it is, so if there are dark "soot spots" within the opal then that is a sign it has been treated.
Price is also really useful. Opals are expensive, especially depending on type and locality. If it's cheep, it's probably fake.
Some examples of fake opals (with a couple pictures showing comparable differences).
A nice segue from opal is opalite. It's another synthetic mineral. It's glass. It can be sold on it's own, but can also be played off as opal or moonstone. It does look different from opal and moonstone, but if you don't know to look for it you could be tricked.
Opalite looks glassier than either opal or moonstone. It's also more consistent in it's color throughout. Moonstone, because of it's structure as a feldspar, will have more of a color flash, something similar to labradorite (another feldspar). This is one where pictures are much better than words so let's just show those.
It's probably heat-treated. Natural citrine is very rare, but it can be artificially created by heat-treating amethyst. Just know it's probably heat treated, especially if the color is really nice.
Natural citrine for comparison
If it's rainbow and geometric, those really cool, beautiful pieces that look amazing, it's fake. That's bismuth that's been melted down and allowed to resolidify into those really cool shapes. This is lab grown bismuth.
This is what natural bismuth looks like.
I am out of images now. I know there are minerals I missed. And I didn't even touch rocks or fossils (and fossils are a whole other bag of worms. But hopefully, this guide helps you when you're looking at purchasing rocks so you know if you're getting what you pay for.
