Minerals and mining have been part of the human story since it began. Mother nature is also great at giving us a million different varieties of everything.

Here is a list of common terms and words used in the crystal and gemstone world.

This list is by no means complete, and I will be adding to it from time to time. If there is a word or label or description of a crystal or gemstone that you are not sure of, pop me an email at info@connectanflow.co.za, and I’ll get back to you with more info if I can.

Allochromatic

Amorphous

Cabochon

Crystal

Cleavage

Cluster

Coating

Dendritic

Doubly terminated

Drusy

Face

Floater

Gemstone

Geode

Idiochromatic

Inclusion

Moonstone Cabochon
Quartz Cluster
Dendritic Gold
Agate and Quartz filled Geode

Lustre

Massive

Matrix

Microcrystalline

Opaque

Phantom growth

Rough

Reticulated

Tabular

Translucent

Transparent

Transparency

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