Buying

The word 'natural' hides a lot in the crystal trade: dye, heat, irradiation, even a false name. Here's what it means and what to ask.

Most 'ethically sourced' crystal labels mean nothing because the supply chain isn't traceable. Here's what actually matters when you buy.

Heat-treated, irradiated, dyed, stabilised. The honest issue with crystal treatments is disclosure, not the treatments themselves. Here is the guide.

The most useful first move with crystals is learning what they actually are. Here is the honest beginner's guide, starting from the mineralogy.

The single question that sorts honest crystal sellers from the rest is: where did this come from? Here is the buyer's guide that comes out of that.

Quartz varieties are the safe default. Clear, rose, smoky, amethyst and citrine all handle water, and so does any hard stone with a closed polished…

Yes. Settle two things about the object: how it looks from every side, and what was done to it before it reached the shop. The…

Lepidolite is one of the pegmatite minerals mined for lithium, and its shelf price has not followed lithium back down. That last part is my…

Yes, with one question asked first and in writing. Is the photograph the piece I will receive? A listing can show one piece from a…

The channel follows the stone. Some properties survive a photograph and some are destroyed by one, and which kind you are buying is a fact…

Buy from sellers whose business is specimens, not decor, and put your checking into the name on the label. Manufactured stone is concentrated at the…

Buy two books: one crystal book from the ten below, which will teach you the tradition and how people work with stones, and one mineral…