Fake Crystals: What to Look Out For

Fake crystals and incorrectly described rocks and minerals are widely sold online, from dyed howlite passed off as turquoise to glass sold as moldavite. This article explains the difference between fake, imitation and treated stones and discusses some of the most common examples.

Don't Get Scammed When Shopping for Crystals

It's easy to get scammed when buying crystals online. Fake crystals, which include those imitated using a different natural stone, have been around for thousands of years.

A manufacturer usually produces a fake product to meet high demand, especially for something rare or in short supply. Imitations and fakes can be sold for a lower price, allowing the seller to make a profit while offering a cheaper alternative.

Generally speaking, imitation and fake are not the same. People who buy imitations do so in the knowledge of what they're buying. These products don't tend to be produced to deceive people into believing they're buying the real thing.

With regard to rocks and minerals, imitation pearls and opals are good examples.

Many people buy products knowing they're fake, which is fine if that's what they want to do. It only becomes a problem when something is sold with the intention of deceiving or defrauding someone into believing it's genuine.

Although fake products are often sold at a lower price, they can also be sold at the same price and, in some cases, are far more expensive than the genuine item.

Mineral Manipulation: The Art of Deception

Fake stones are often made from synthetic materials such as glass, resin or plastic. They can also be produced by dyeing cheaper, more readily available minerals.

In some cases the deception is obvious once you know what to look for. In others, treatments and imitations can be convincing enough to fool buyers who reasonably believe they're purchasing a natural, untreated stone. 

 

Fake Crystal Balls

Another crystal that's often fake is quartz, particularly crystal balls, which can be made of glass or lead crystal. Lead crystal is glass infused with lead, which enhances its optical properties. Lead is added during manufacturing to increase the refractive index, which makes the glass more reflective and sparkly.

The more lead that's added, the greater the brilliance and clarity.

In China, where crystal balls are mass-produced, a process is used that dramatically enhances the 'iridescence' caused by thin-film interference.

This optical effect occurs when light reflects between extremely thin internal layers or fractures within the crystal. It's this interference, rather than simple refraction or dispersion, that produces the colours.

I discuss this in more detail in another article in our blog: Fake Crystals, a Growing Problem.

 

'Natural' Lemon Quartz

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This gemstone was being sold as 'natural' lemon quartz. Lemon quartz doesn't occur naturally; it's produced by irradiating and heat-treating colourless quartz or pale amethyst.

Labelling it as 'natural' suggests the seller is either unaware that it doesn't occur naturally or is not being honest. That said, mislabelling a stone that's been heated to alter its colour is not the same as selling something fake.

Heat treatments, which are widely accepted in the trade, are generally considered an enhancement. Therefore, it's not deceptive to call this lemon quartz, but it is to call it "natural" lemon quartz.

 

Citrine Geodes

On the website where this citrine geode was being sold, the owner states they travel the world in search of the finest minerals and gemstones.

Natural citrine rarely occurs as a geode. One article I read on what appeared to be a trustworthy geology-related website spoke in great detail about citrine geodes, yet those in their photos were all heated amethyst.

Burnt orange-coloured crystals are a dead giveaway.

Almost all citrine geodes and certainly large pieces like this are heated amethyst. Calling this geode citrine is widely accepted, but labelling it as "natural citrine" is a cause for concern.

 

So Much Misleading Information

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Three factors impact the accuracy of information published about crystals, rocks, and minerals. The first is a lack of expertise or knowledge, which can lead to a misunderstanding about the material being sold.

The second relates to those who deliberately deceive by providing false or misleading information, and the third concerns those who are blatantly fraudulent. These people are actively seeking to deceive and scam you.

They'll tell you their shungite is the finest grade when it's actually a rock that contains small amounts of shungite. They'll sell you lapis lazuli that's been dyed, which we've experienced first-hand.

 

Fake Turquoise

There's an abundance of fake turquoise on the market. Howlite has long been used for this purpose it's relatively cheap, easy to dye and its dark-coloured veins can resemble the matrix often seen in natural turquoise. However, much of the howlite sold is actually magnesite.

Howlite and magnesite can look very similar, but magnesite is far more readily available and considerably cheaper. 

Synthetic materials are also often used. These include plastic, ceramic, and glass. Reconstituted turquoise is also common, and so are compressed turquoise chips set in resin.

Reconstituted turquoise is made from pulverised turquoise (low-grade or waste material), or sometimes other minerals such as howlite or magnesite. Dyes and pigments are used to achieve the desired colour, and copper compounds are sometimes added to mimic the mineral's natural chemistry.

Low-grade stones often contain very little actual turquoise, or none at all.

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Fake Moldavite

This is a good example of fake moldavite. It looks like green glass, but a more obvious clue is the price. If a piece of moldavite of this size were to be found, which would be highly unusual, it would sell for serious money.

 

Tiffany Stone and Opalised Fluorite

Opalised fluorite is often sold as Tiffany Stone, but not all opalised fluorite is Tiffany Stone.

Tiffany Stone is a rare variety of opalised fluorite found only in Utah, USA. The location where it's found has been closed for many years, making it difficult to source and highly sought after by collectors.

 

Heated and Irradiated Quartz

Heated amethyst is often sold as natural citrine. Smoky quartz may be clear quartz that's been irradiated, a treatment commonly used to produce darker or nearly black crystals.

 

Onyx, Black and Green

Black onyx is usually dyed agate, because natural black onyx is rare.

The green banded stone that many people know as onyx is not onyx at all. It's banded calcite, correctly called onyx marble or Mexican onyx. Much of this material comes from Pakistan.

Calcite is often used instead of real onyx because it's cheaper, more readily available and far softer than chalcedony, which makes it far easier to work with.

Calcite, which has a hardness of 3 on the Mohs scale, will scratch very easily with a steel blade. Onyx, which is 7, will not.

 

Lapis Howlite

Lapis howlite is not a recognised mineral or gemstone name. It's a trade name for a stone that's been dyed to resemble lapis lazuli.

In an issue of Gems & Gemology published in 1993, GIA (the Gemological Institute of America) discussed material being sold as “howlite lapis”. Laboratory testing showed that it was not dyed howlite, but dyed magnesite, which is cheaper and more readily available than howlite. The two can look very similar.

Several crystal retailers still sell “lapis howlite”, with one even claiming that it's an alternative name for howlite.

Even after being reduced, these dyed stones cost more than our genuine lapis lazuli tumbled stones.

 

Blue Tigers Eye

Sadly, the internet is full of examples like this, and the problem has exploded in recent years because of the amount of merchandise coming in from China. Another contributing factor is that platforms like eBay and Etsy have made it so easy for anyone to sell online.

Many small businesses buy directly from overseas suppliers, which can make effective communication difficult due to language and cultural differences. Furthermore, finding honest and trustworthy people to do business with is not easy.

These stones are not blue tigers eye. They look like dyed brown tigers eye, but could be almost anything..

Navigating the Maze of Misinformation

A well-designed website can attract considerable traffic, but it can be difficult to establish who's behind it and whether the content is accurate.

I recently discovered a website with hundreds of articles on a wide variety of subjects. Although some were accurate, many were not, particularly regarding rocks and minerals. One article discussed stones that can be submerged in water.

The sole purpose of the Mohs scale of mineral hardness is to measure the scratch resistance of one mineral against another. While it's true that many soft minerals do not react well to water, the reason is not because of their hardness.

The following screenshots are from an article published by a U.S.-based business that ranks well on Google for the search term: "How to Identify Fake Crystals."

So much of what they say is inaccurate that it's difficult to know where to begin.

The scale is called the "Mohs" scale because it was named after Friedrich Mohs. "Real crystals" do not score higher. Rocks and minerals are assigned a number according to their hardness.

Diamond grades 10, while talc, the softest mineral, is 1. Gypsum grades 2 and calcite grades 3. These three soft minerals are all natural.

What the author says about how to tell whether a crystal is fake is also incorrect.

While crystals with exotic names may raise suspicions of being fake, it's unreliable. Spinels found near San Carlos, Gila County, Arizona, may be called Arizona Spinel. Blue moonstone is often used to describe moonstone with a blue hue.

This natural Strawberry Quartz gemstone (from our collection) is from Kazakhstan. This type of quartz gets its pink to red colour from hematite inclusions or other pink or red-coloured minerals. Strawberry Quartz is quite rare, so many stones are fake.

 

Opalite Is Not Tiffany Stone

The website this information came from has a vast reference section. In another article, they write that opalite is also known as opalised fluorite, ice cream opal, and Tiffany Stone.

Opalite and Tiffany Stone are two different materials; one is a rock, the other is glass. The names "opalised fluorite" and "ice cream opal" are used, albeit incorrectly, as alternative names for Tiffany Stone.

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On their product page for opalite they say, "This man-made version of opal is 100% natural. A one-of-a-kind stone with a letter of authenticity."

Most opalite is manufactured in China. A man-made material cannot be 100% natural. More worryingly, what does the letter of authenticity confirm, and who issued it?

 

Blue Lace Agate

This post from another crystal website says blue lace agate is unique to Ysterputs. Although the Ysterputs mine in southern Namibia is where blue lace agate was discovered, it can also be found in several other African countries.

A Final Thought...

If you're unsure whether something is genuine, look at similar items to see how they compare. Asking questions in knowledgeable groups on Reddit or Facebook can also be useful.

As fake rocks and minerals become more convincing and increasingly common, buying from an untrustworthy source can be a costly mistake.

Article Photos

The rocks and minerals in the pop-up photos in this article are from our collection, except for the fake turquoise!