favorite gemstone beads?

mmmmm... Charoite!!!! My absolute favorite stone. So hard to come by sometimes too - everyone I've talked to says the supply is controlled by the Russian 'mafia' - I wish I could still get the wonderful roundels I used to buy by the gram from a dealer in Tucson. He's given up on it.

Newest favorite?? blue Pietersite - I just splurged on a stunning cab last month. Has the most amazing chatoyancy in a deep, midnight blue stone. I drool just thinking about it.

Mj

Turquoise, Amethyst, Dark Amber.

I like ocean jasper, poppy jasper, picture jasper, labradorite, malachite, crysocholla, brown tigereye, rhodochrosite, red aventurine...

... and from the water -- abalone, f/w pearls, paua shell...

but the stone I most love to look at but can't afford to buy (if the quality is any good) is fire opal.

Deirdre

Never heard of *blue* pietersite, but I really like the earth-tones version.

Got somewhere we could look?

Deirdre

and malachite, jade, man-made opals, onyx (and more to follow )

Here's a bad scan of it:

Mj

Thanks. Its -very nice-.

Deirdre

Labradorite, garnet, flourite.

Linda2

Malachite!!!! (And anything else green!)

On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 16:42:51 -0400, Mj wrote (in message ):

I like that, black opals, fire opals, nice labradorite and tanzanite.

Kathy N-V

I have heard the rumor about the Russian Mafia controlling the distribution of Charoite. One other reason it is so expensive is that it comes from a very remote area in the Ural Mountains. It's named after the Charo River which flows through there. There is also a lot of waste to charoite, a lot of it is this ugly grey stone which they cut around to get to the gorgeous purple. Patti

Ooooh, fluorite, amethyst and tourmaline are some of my faves. I like malachite, onyx and jasper as well. Anything with crisp, clean color. Carnelian, citrine, jade (of course). I could go on....

Oooh, that's pretty!

Oh, yes - forgot that one - I love tanzanite!

my favorites are jade, iolite, tourmaline, rainbow moonstone, garnet, lapis, faceted rose quartz, and bloodstone....but i never turn down a wayward gemstone.... pat moses-caudel

i think i have to say rose quartz. :) cant help it :)

It would almost be easier to list the ones I'm *not* likely to use for myself!

My list of favorites varies as my mood changes, and also with time. A *very* incomplete list:

Garnet, azurite-malachite, amethyst, fluorite, amber, tourmaline, china blue quartz, hematite, black onyx, opal (all colors but especially black), moonstone and labradorite, dark aventurine. I know there are more...

Celine

Mmmmm..........shiny.....

garnet (specifically Almandine, the iron member of the garnet group that's blood red - looks sooooo lovely set with marcasite in silver)