Beads by Shicols

Hematite is a mineral, colored black to steel or silver-gray, brown to reddish brown, or red. It is mined as the main ore of iron. Varieties include kidney ore, martite (pseudomorphs after magnetite), iron rose and specularite (specular hematite).

Citrine is a joyful stone with bright energy which lights up many aspects of lives of those who work with it. It has energies of good fortune and good luck, though these may appear in unexpected ways.

Citrine is well known in crystal work as a success and prosperity stone to the point that it is called the "Success Stone." It is said to promote and manifest success and abundance in all areas, and in many ways. It is particularly used to promote success in business if used in the cash box of a shop, carried or worn, earning it another nickname, "Merchant's Stone." In addition to manifesting abundance, citrine also brings energies of generosity so that the prosperity and success is shared.

Jewelry with pink gem stones comes in a variety of shades including bubble-gum pink, coral, flesh, fuchsia, rose, mauve, and salmon. Shown below are pictures of some common and uncommon pink stones including rhodochrosite, rose quartz, rubelite, sapphire, topaz and tourmaline.

Freshwater pearls are quite possibly the most versatile variety of pearls produced today. They grow in nearly every conceivable shape, the widest range of sizes, and exhibit a palate of pastel colors ranging from dark purple, to light pink and white, as well as uncommon exotic and metallic colors.

Lapis lazuli /ˈlæpɪs ˈlæzʲuːli/, /-ˈlæzʲuːlaɪ/, or lapis for short, is a deep blue semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. Lapis lazuli was being mined in the Sar-i Sang mines and in other mines in the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan as early as the 7th millennium BCE. Lapis beads have been found at neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and even as far from Afghanistan as Mauritania.[3] It was used for the eyebrows, among other features, on the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BCE).

Nacre (/ˈneɪkər/ NAY-kər also /ˈnækrə/ NAK-rə), also known as mother of pearl, is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer; it also makes up the outer coating of pearls. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent.

Nacre is found in some of the more ancient lineages of bivalves, gastropods, and cephalopods. However, the inner layer in the great majority of mollusc shells is porcellaneous, not nacreous, and this usually results in a non-iridescent shine, or more rarely in non-nacreous iridescence such as flame structure as is found in conch pearls.

Tiger's eye (also called tiger eye) is a chatoyant gemstone that is usually a metamorphic rock that is a golden to red-brown colour, with a silky lustre. A member of the quartz group, it is a classic example of pseudomorphous replacement by silica of fibrous crocidolite (blue asbestos). An incompletely silicified blue variant is known as hawk's eye.

Type of jasper found in Africa and is often dyed to achieve a turquoise-like color.  Enhancing its role as a turquoise substitute is its matrix, which also resembles turquoise matrix. African turquoise is beautiful in its own right.  We have sold it ourselves.  The problem arises when it is sold as genuine turquoise.  Our informal survey suggests that perhaps one-half of the sites on the Internet selling "African Turquoise" do not acknowledge that the item is actually a turquoise substitute. (www.turquoiseguide.com)

Amber is fossilized tree resin (not sap), which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times  Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry.

Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral which is commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker (the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often used interchangeably).

Green Aventurine comforts, harmonizes, protects the heart, and can help attract love later in life. It is one of the premier stones to attract luck, abundance and success. Green Aventurine has a particularly soothing energy behind it, and is recommended for working through unresolved emotional issues.

Rainbow Fluorite exhibits a combination of colors inherent in Fluorite crystals, such as purple, blue, green, clear and yellow and, as such, it blends all of the properties of each color.

Fluorite is a highly protective and stabilizing stone, useful for grounding and harmonizing spiritual energy. When working with the upper Chakras, Fluorite increases intuitive abilities, links the human mind to universal consciousness, and develops connection to Spirit. Fluorite further anchors intuitive insights into the physical plane, allowing mental and physical coordination.

Black corals (Antipatharia) are a group of deep water, tree-like corals related to sea anemones. They are also found in rare dark shallow water areas such as New Zealand's Milford Sound where they can be viewed from an underwater observatory or via SCUBA diving. They normally occur in the tropics. There are about 230 known species of Antipatharians in 42 genera.

Red Aventurine is stone of manifestation through action. It draws upon the elements of Earth and Fire to increase the flow of prana, or life force, in re-vitalizing the physical body and focusing its energy to get things done. It boosts vitality and mental alertness, and amplifies the desire to take on life’s challenges with determination and perseverance. It inspires creativity and sexuality, and renews excitement and confidence in bringing one’s projects, goals and desires into reality.

Up until now the Indian Agate Gemstone only remained the stone of malas (garlands) for rishis, sadhus (holy men) and fakirs (sages ) or caught the eye in the West, where hippies made it their fashion jewelery, not knowing the marvelous astrocosmic and lunar effect that it has on human lives and their ruling star. Though the Indian Agate Gemstone and its multiple qualities were known to the ancient sages, the scriptures written by them were either destroyed or buried with them. As a custom, today’s rishis, sadhus and fakirs (Sages) opt to wear the agate stone without knowing about all of its hidden qualities. (www.khakani.com)

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἀ a- ("not") and μέθυστος méthystos ("intoxicated"), a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. The ancient Greeks wore amethyst and made drinking vessels decorated with it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication. It is one of several forms of quartz. Amethyst is a semiprecious stone and is the traditional birthstone for February.

Fine precious ruby is most desirable in its transparent form, but the ruby included in fuchsite is typically opaque. Fuchsite is the green-blue to emerald-green chromium-rich variety of muscovite. It is sometimes known as 'chrome mica' since muscovite is a type of mica.

Long Sticks Branch

Labradorite ((Ca, Na)(Al, Si)4O8), a feldspar mineral, is an intermediate to calcic member of the plagioclase series. It has an anorthite percentage (%An) of between 50 and 70. The specific gravity ranges from 2.68 to 2.72. The streak is white, like most silicates. The refractive index ranges from 1.559 to 1.573. Twinning is common. As with all plagioclase members, the crystal system is triclinic, and three directions of cleavage are present, two of which form nearly right angle prisms. It occurs as clear, white to gray, blocky to lath shaped grains in common mafic igneous rocks such as basalt and gabbro, as well as in anorthosites.

From the light blue of the sky to the deep blue of the sea, aquamarines shine over an extraordinarily beautiful range of mainly light blue colours. Aquamarine is a fascinatingly beautiful gemstone. Women the world over love it for its fine blue shades which can complement almost any skin or eye colour, and creative gemstone designers are inspired by it as they are by hardly any other gem, which enables them to create new artistic cuts again and again. (www.gemstone.org)

Bamboo coral, family Isididae, is a family of mostly deep-sea coral of the phylum Cnidaria, class Anthozoa, and subclass Octocorallia.  It is a commonly recognized inhabitant of the deep sea, due to the clearly articulated skeletons of the species. Deep water coral species such as this are especially affected by the practice of bottom trawling. These organisms may be an important environmental indicator in the study of long term climate change, as some specimens of bamboo coral have been discovered that are 4,000 years old.

Called the “Stone of Courage” named after the Amazon women warriors.

These Chinese Amazonite beads are a blue/green variety of microcline with a silky lustre.  Strands can vary from pale to dark. 

Tourmalines are true miracles of colour. Crystals with only one colour are fairly rare, there mostly being various different colours and colour nuances in one and the same stone. The spectrum is so varied that the tourmaline family alone would suffice to cater to the gemstone wishes of every woman and every man in a particular colour or colour combination. Often, Nature conjures up tourmaline crystals from which gemstones with a particularly subtle multi-colouredness can be cut. You may well ask how that is possible. Tourmalines are mixed crystals of aluminium boron silicate with a complex and changing composition.

This stone has been found in a large number of locations including Brazil, India, Germany, Uruguay, Russia and USA. This stone is type of banded or striped Chalcedony, and is a mixture of Onyx and Orange Carnelian. Also known as Sardian Onyx, it may be clearly banded or have a less defined mix of colors. Sard stones have been in use since the bronze age. They are similar to Carnelian except they are a darker orange.

Smoky quartz is a grey, translucent variety of quartz. It ranges in clarity from almost complete transparency to a brownish-gray crystal that is almost opaque. Some can also be black. Like other quartz gems, it is a silicon dioxide crystal. The smoky colour results from free silicon, formed from the silicon dioxide by natural irradiation.

Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. Its crystal structure is a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical formula of SiO2.

There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones. Since antiquity, varieties of quartz have been the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hardstone carvings, especially in Europe and the Middle East.