AmethystGalleries’ MineralGallery “The First Internet Rock Shop!” THE Gemstones Australia “The Flowers of the Mineral Kingdom” As colorful as the rainbow and as sparkling as fine leaded crystal, Gemstones Australia have captured the imaginations and desires of men and (perhaps especially) women for ages. The pursuit of gems have become the subject of legends, fairy tales, epics, and major motion pictures (” Romancing the Stone “, for one). Today, more fine gemstone specimens are available to the average person than at any time in history. Most gems are silicates which can be very stable, hard minerals. A few gems are oxides and only one gem, diamond, is composed of a single element, carbon. There are also many Gemstones Australia that are not true minerals, but which are gemstone varieties of recognized minerals. In most cases, these variety names are historical, as the Gemstones Australia were not recognized as being varieties of other minerals until well after the name was in common use (such as aquamarine, emerald, and heliodor as varieties of beryl). Often, new names will be created for ordinary sounding minerals which sound prettier or more valuable, such as ” ” for the green variety of tektites. In some cases, the names are true misnomers, such as “Green Amethyst” for (a transparent green variety of quartz).
