The letters below link to pages about gemstones whose names begin with that letter. On these pages, you'll find gemstones that are commonly used in the jewelry industry.

Information about each gemstone includes (in lay terms) color, where deposits can be found, alleged healing and/or spiritual properties, the hardness of the stone according to the Mohs' hardness scale, as well as some other interesting tidbits.

This glossary is by no means exhaustive, so If you're interested in a particular gemstone that you don't find on these pages, send me an email and I'll be happy to share what information I have.

Click on a letter of the alphabet below for gemstones that begin with that 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

The Mohs' Hardness Scale
In 1812, Friedrich Mohs, a Viennese mineralogist created a scale to help identify the scratch hardness of minerals -- the resistance of a mineral when scratched with a pointed testing object. On the scale, number 1 is the softest and number 10 is the hardest. Each mineral in the series scratches the previous one with the lesser hardness and is scratched by the one which follows. Minerals of the same hardness will not scratch each other. Minerals in the 1 to 2 range are soft; those in the 3 to 5 range are medium hard; and those over 6 are hard. Here are some examples for simple hardness testing: