Stones

Information about Stones...

Most of our stones I buy directly from the miners and cutters.  They are a group of very sharp and humble people from all over the world.  Sometimes they keep a box of the very special material down under the table until I walk into their space... and for that I'm very grateful! I've worked with most of these guys for decades now, and what that means to you is the quality of the material is the highest possible.  I so appreciate what they offer us, and we value the knowledge they share with us.  I try to keep as few people between YOU and the source as possible.  All of the the stones shown here are for example only and we may not have that exact stone.  No two are ever exactly the same.    We do not sell our stones separately, only in our designs.

Agates

Agates are semiprecious silica mineral, a variety of chalcedony that occurs in bands of varying color and transparency. Varieties are characterized by peculiarities in the shape and color of the bands, which are seen in sections cut at right angles to the layers. Agate is found throughout the world, commonly in cavities in eruptive rocks and in geodes. The middle picture above is an agate found in Mexico called Mexican Crazy Lace agate. The bottom picture above is a Montana Moss agate.

Amber

Amber is fossil tree resin that has achieved a stable state through loss of volatile constituents and chemical change after burial in the ground. Amber has been found throughout the world, but the largest and most significant deposits occur along the shores of the Baltic Sea in sands 40,000,000 to 60,000,000 years old.

Amber occurs as irregular nodules, rods, or drop-like shapes in all shades of yellow with nuances of orange, brown, and, rarely, red. Milky-white opaque varieties are called bone amber. The turbidity of some amber is caused by inclusions of many minute air bubbles. Many hundreds of species of fossil insects and plants are found as inclusions. Deeply colored translucent to transparent amber is prized as gem material.

Amethyst

Amethyst is a transparent, coarse-grained variety of the silica mineral quartz that is valued as a semiprecious gem for its violet color. It contains more iron oxide than any other variety of quartz, and experts believe that its color arises from its iron content. Other theories attribute the color to contained manganese or hydrocarbons.
The name, derived from the Greek amethystos, “not intoxicated,” expresses the ancient folk belief that the stone protects its owner against drunkenness. In ancient writings the Latin name amethystus was used for amethyst, purple corundum, and purple garnet.

Ammonites

Ammonites are fossilized cephalopods, forms related to the modern pearly nautilus. Ammonites became extinct at the same time as dinosaurs, about 65 million years ago.

Apatite

Apatite is any member of a series of phosphate minerals, the world's major source of phosphorus, found as variously colored, glassy crystals, masses, or nodules.

Aquamarine

Aquamarine is a member of the Beryl family and gets its name from two Latin words that mean "water" and "sea". This lovely pale greenish-blue or various tints of blue gem has been popular since 400 BC. Almost all gem quality aquamarine comes from Brazil, and is now scarce and very costly.

Arizona Leopard Stone

Arizona Leopard Stone is a very dark green/black stone is has leopard type spots all over and its hardness takes a very nice polish. This material is found in mines in Arizona and is very unique in the marketplace.

Arizona Zebra Stone

Arizona Zebra Stone is black with striated stripes, this stone is very versatile. This material is found in mines in Arizona.

Boulder Opal

Boulder Opal has a layer of the matrix still attached to the back of the stone, usually a reddish brown color.

Carnelian

Carnelian is a translucent, semiprecious variety of the silica mineral chalcedony. It gets its name from the Latin cornum (cornel berry or cronelian cherry). Its red color is due to the presence of iron. It is a close relative of sard, differing only in the shade of red. Carnelian was highly valued and used in rings and signets by the Greeks and Romans, some of whose intaglios have retained their high polish better than many harder stones.

Chalcedony

Chalcedony is a very fine-grained variety of the silica mineral quartz usually bluish white, gray, yellow, or brown. In all ages chalcedony has been the stone most used by the gem engraver, and many colored varieties are still cut and polished as ornamental stones.

Charoite

Charoite is a rare and expensive mineral only found in Russia. It has a soft shade of purple to deep purple. Ribbons of a translucent cream color mineral runs through most pieces of Charoite.

Chinese Writing Stone

Chinese Writing Stone is limestone with andalusite crystals found primarily in California. It got its name from the Chinese character appearance of the crystal formations. The base color of the stone can be black, grayish black, or a green-tinted black. The andalusite, or aluminum silicate mineral, crystals are a milky white.

Chrysocolla

Chrysocolla is a silicate mineral, hydrated copper silicate, formed as a decomposition product of copper minerals in most copper mines, especially in arid regions. It occurs as crusts or masses in the upper parts of copper-ore veins where the copper minerals have been altered by water containing dissolved silica.

Chrysoprase

Chrysoprase is a brittle, translucent, semiprecious chalcedony, a variety of the silica mineral quartz. It owes its bright apple-green color to colloidally dispersed hydrated nickel silicate. Its physical properties are those of quartz. Typical occurrences are in serpentine as a secondary mineral found in cavities and veins; California and Silesia have notable deposits.

Cobalto Calcite Drusy

Coral

Coral is the skeletal material of calcium carbonate built up by small animals that live in colonies in the sea. This material is usually branchlike and occurs in a variety of colors, of which the most sought after are rose red to red. The best coral comes from the Mediterranean Sea, particularly off the coasts of Algeria and Tunisia.

Dalmation Dolomite

Dalmation Dolomite is a type of limestone, the carbonate fraction of which is dominated by the mineral dolomite, calcium magnesium carbonate. The stone is named for spotted pattern like the Dalmatian dog.

Dino Bone

Drusy

Drusy is any crystal quartz formation occurring on quartz or occurring on any other stone. Quartz can have a crystallized surface or quartz crystal could form on other minerals.

In DONALEE DESIGNS' jewelry the black, natural, honey & speckled colored Drusies are all quartz, the blue Drusy is Azurite, the green is Uvarovite, the pink is Cobalto Calcite, and the multi-colored is the Rainbow Pyrite.

Fossil Ivory

Prehistoric woolly mammoth ivory is collected from the rivers of Alaska and Northern Canada, where it has come to rest by natural erosion. As the glaciers recede, the ivory is exposed and found by local hunters. The woolly mammoth roamed North America, Europe, and Asia during the last ice age about 10,000 to 20,000 years ago.

Fossil Turtle Shell

Fossil Turtle Shell has rich texture and color and is very rare.

Fossils General

Fossils generally occur mainly in sedimentary rocks. They are the remains of animals and plants preserved in the layers of sediment. The types of fossil that are found in a rock give an indication of the rock’s origin: a marine fossil, for instance, suggests that the rock formed from sediments deposited in the sea.

Fuchsite

Fuchsite is found in Russia and has glitters of blue and green mixed with cream.

Garnet

Garnet is any member of a group of common silicate minerals that have similar crystal structures and chemical compositions. They may be colorless, black, and many shades of red and green.

Gaspeite

Gaspeite is a very bright and intense yellowish green color. It’s a rather soft stone, and can be polished to a very nice shine.

Inlay Malachite Lapis

Inlay, or Intarsia, is the result of a process that combines a variety of stones attaching them to one another with mastic. The combined stone is then cut and polished to look like one piece. Any stones can be combined to achieve different results. Each one is a tiny work of art! Shown here are inlay works with Malachite & Lapis.

Inlay Sugilite Opal

Inlay, or Intarsia, is the result of a process that combines a variety of stones attaching them to one another with mastic. The combined stone is then cut and polished to look like one piece. Any stones can be combined to achieve different results. Each one is a tiny work of art! Shown here are inlay works with Sugilite & Opal.

Iolite

Iolite, also called cordierite, is a silicate of aluminum and magnesium. Its name is derived from the Greek ios (violet) and lithos (stone). Iolite is sometimes called water sapphire because of its color. The color is mostly purplish-blue and very strong in one direction, changing to pale grayish-blue to nearly colorless or yellowish as the stone is turned. Transparent to translucent, inclusions are very common. Most Iolite is found in water-worn pebbles from gem gravel beds. Often found in Connecticut, Wyoming and Finland.

Labradorite

Labradorite is a feldspar mineral in the plagioclase series that is often valued as a gemstone and as ornamental material for its red, blue, or green iridescence. The mineral is usually gray or brown to black and need not be iridescent; when used as a gem it is usually cut as a cabochon (with a rounded convex surface). Labradorite is named for its occurrence near Nain, on the coast of Labrador, Canada.

Lapis

Lapis, full name Lapis Lazuli, is a semiprecious stone valued for its deep blue color. The source of the pigment ultramarine, it is not a mineral but a rock colored by lazurite. In addition to the sodalite minerals in lapis lazuli, small amounts of white calcite and of pyrite crystals are usually present. Diopside, amphibole, feldspar, mica, apatite, titanite (sphene), and zircon may also occur.

Lava

Lava is the hardened and cooled magma (molten rock) poured out onto the Earth's surface at temperatures from about 1,300° to 2,200° F. Thin lava flows generally contain many holes, or vesicles, left by bubbles of gas frozen into the congealing liquid. Thick flows, which remain hot for long periods, may lose most of their gas before the lava congeals, and the resulting rock may be dense with few vesicles.

Madagascar Jasper

Jasper is an opaque, fine-grained or dense variety of the silica mineral chert that exhibits various colors. This variety, found in Madagascar, is normally tones of green and yellow.

Malachite

Malachite is a mineral of copper. Because of its distinctive bright green color and its presence in the weathered zone of nearly all copper deposits, malachite serves as a prospecting guide for that metal. Malachite has been used as an ornamental stone and as a gemstone.

Mexican Crazy Lace Agate

Mexican Fire Opal

Mexican Fire Opal is transparent to translucent red to orange opal with or without play of color.

Moldavite

Moldavite is a natural glass found on earth’s surface but with no obvious connection to geological formations in the vicinity. Many believe them to be celestial in origin. The best specimens are bottle green corroded masses and are found in Czechoslovakia.

Mother of Pearl

Mother of Pearl, or nacre is the iridescent substance that forms the lining of the shells of some fresh-water and some salt-water mollusks. Like the pearl, it is a secretion of the mantle, composed of alternate layers of calcium carbonate and conchiolin. Among the chief sources are the pearl oyster, found in warm and tropical seas, chiefly in Asia; freshwater pearl mussels, which live in many rivers of the United States, Europe, and Asia; and the abalone of California, Japan, and other Pacific regions.

Olite

This is fossil material.

Onyx

Black onyx is the black portion of a striped, semiprecious variety of the silica mineral agate with white and black alternating bands.

Opal

Precious opal is milky white, or black, with a brilliant interplay of colors, commonly red, blue, and yellow. Opal is transparent to opaque. Its luster can be vitreous to resinous, waxy or pearly, though vitreous is the most common.

Pearl

Pearl is the concretion formed by a mollusk consisting of the same material (called nacre, or mother-of-pearl) as the mollusk's shell. It is a highly valued gemstone.

Pearls are characterized by their translucence and luster and by a delicate play of surface color called orient. The more perfect its shape (spherical or drop-like) and the deeper its luster, the greater its value.

Most pearls are cultured, that means the pearl farmer has inserted an object into the mollusk and the necre is formed around that shape. 

Peridot

Peridot, usually yellow-green to brownish-green; prized colors are distinctive deep yellow-greens of great uniformity. Transparent but often filled with small inclusions that may be minute black spinal crystals. Peridots can be found in New Mexico, and Chihuahua, Mexico. The principal source today is the San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona.

Petersite

Petersite looks much like a tiger eye, but with more contrast containing a mix of warm colors of brown, rust, and golden yellow plus an iridescence that highlight all of the colors.

Petrified Date Palm

Found all over the world where palms have grown. It ranges in color from cream to warm browns. This material often has a polka dot appearance or if it has been cross cut, it has a wavy stripe appearance.

Picasso Marble

Variegated black, brown and tan this material comes from Utah. It works very well with the many organic natural collections found in DONALEE DESIGNS.

Prehnite

Prehnite can be translucent to semi- cloudy and is very light green in color.

Purple Jade

This very unusual color jade is from a small mile and a half stretch in Turkey. It started out green, and after many thousands of years of rubbing on the Teutonic plate it changed to this shade of purple, with traces of deep reddish purple streaks. This material takes on a matte finish when polished.

Rainbow Moonstone

Rainbow Moonstone is named for its resemblance in color to the moon. Moonstone is a gem-quality feldspar mineral, a mixed sodium and potassium aluminosilicate, that shows a silvery or bluish iridescence. It is one of the best known and most valuable feldspar and is translucent to transparent.

Rainbow Pyrite Drusy

Rhodochrosite

Rhodochrosite is a mineral composed of manganese carbonate. It is commonly found in ore veins formed at moderate temperatures, in high-temperature metamorphic deposits, and in sedimentary deposits.

Seraphinite

Found in Russia, this material has what appears to be threads of silk running through it.

Rutilated Quartz

Rutile often forms microscopic oriented inclusions in other minerals. Quartz that contains long, delicate, translucent rutile needles is called rutilated quartz.

Sapphire

Sapphire is transparent to translucent, corundum, or aluminum oxide, that has been highly prized as a gemstone since about 800 BC. Its color is due mainly to the presence of small amounts of iron and titanium and normally ranges from a very pale blue to deep indigo, with the most valued a medium-deep cornflower blue. Colorless, gray, yellow, pale pink, orange, green, violet, and brown varieties of gem corundum also are known as sapphire; red varieties are called ruby.

Spiny Oyster

Spiny Oyster Shell is cut and polished to yield these vibrantly colored specimens ranging from orange to red to purple.

Smokey Quartz

Smokey Quartz is a common, coarse-grained variety of the silica mineral quartz that ranges in color from nearly black through smoky brown.

Spectrolite

A native of Finland, Spectrolite is a semiprecious stone belonging to the Labradorite group of minerals. The particularity of this gemstone is that it embodies the colors of the rainbow, from light pink to green to deep blue, which are revealed as the light refracts and reflects.

Serpintine

Serpentine is any of a group of hydrous magnesium-rich silicate minerals. Named in allusion to its resemblance to a snake's skin, serpentine is usually grayish, white, or green but may be yellow (chrysotile) or green-blue (antigorite); the green color is due to iron replacing magnesium.

Sugilite

Sugilite is a somewhat obscure mineral named for the Japanese geologist who discovered the first specimens in 1944, Ken-ichi Sugi. It has a very distinctive opaque reddish-purple color with a waxy luster.

Tiffany Stone

Tiffany Stone is a unique stone given its name because of its resemblance to Tiffany glass with its many colors.

Tourmaline

Tourmaline Watermelon

Turquoise

Turquoise is hydrated copper and aluminum phosphate. It is a secondary mineral deposited from circulating waters, and it occurs chiefly in arid environments as blue to greenish, waxy veinlets in alumina-rich, weathered, volcanic, or sedimentary rocks. The color of turquoise ranges from blue through various shades of green to greenish and yellowish gray. Turquoise is opaque except in the thinnest splinters, takes a fair to good polish, and has a faintly waxy luster.

Uvarovite Drusy