Mother's Day is just right around the corner. All around the globe, there are moms that go above and beyond, and sacrifice so much for us. So, this year we should treat her with what she really deserves... Emeralds!  

Emerald is a variety of the mineral Beryl, which is a silicate of Beryllium and Aluminum. It gets its famously rich green color from trace amounts of Chromium and/or Vanadium. The color can range from yellow-green, to blue-green, with the primary color always being green. The inclusions and fissures in an Emerald are sometimes referred to as 'Jardin', French for 'Garden', because of it's mossy display.

Emeralds have been found all over the world like, Afghanistan, Brazil, China, Madagascar, and so much more! The finest quality Emeralds are mined in Columbia, which is one of the largest producers of this beautiful Gem. On its own, Columbia produces over 50% of Emeralds. Another large producer is Zambia, producing about 25%. One of the earliest discoveries of Emerald mines was located in Ancient Egypt around 330 BC. 

Shop these pieces and more on our website or any of our 3 locations, Santa Fe & Taos, NM & Sedona, AZ.

Grape Chalcedony is very new to the Crystal market, it was introduced around 2016. Although it's discovery is very recent, that didn't stop the popularity from growing like it did, with a name like that, no wonder it is already loved by so many. Tiny spheres of purple Quartz make up this remarkable mineral resembling a cluster of grapes. Because of this, most people know this Crystal by the name "Grape Agate" but it is actually not an Agate at all. In fact, the true technical term for this Crystal is Botryoidal Purple Chalcedony, but that is a mouth full and doesn't sound as exciting as Grape Agate! 

It was found in a small section of Indonesia, more specifically the Mamuju area of the Western Sulawesi Coast. Grape Chalcedony can be found in a variety of colors, some being blue, green, & grey, but the most prominent color being purple. The purples can range from a dark rich purple to a light lilac purple. Some Crystals have been found with multiple colors in them, like purple and green, these are extremely rare and a bit more valuable. 

Grape Chalcedony is considered a dream stone. It has been said that if you place the Crystal on your nightstand or under your pillow at night, it will help help you remember and understand your dreams better and also help fight of the bad dreams. It's a Crystal with nurturing properties, it can promote a feeling of kindness and inner peace. It brings feelings of self confidence and security. Grape Chalcedony is truly something special. Its almost hard to believe this came out of the ground! 

Shop the collection at any of our Galleries, Santa Fe & Taos, NM & Sedona, AZ.

April is here, that means it's Diamond month, yay! This month we will be shinning the spotlight on Herkimer and Payson Diamonds.

Herkimer Diamond is an exceptional Mineral loved and sought after by many people, especially by Mineral enthusiasts. Herkimer is a double terminated Crystal (points on both ends) and is naturally faceted. It originates from Herkimer County New York,  plenty of people visit the city of Herkimer to mine this Diamond. For the best results, people use crowbars, sledgehammers and heavy chisels to chip away at the Dolostone to reveal pockets or cavities full of Herkimer Diamonds. Some pockets can be as small as a pea, and some can be a big as six feet in diameter, containing up to thousands of Diamonds in the one pocket. An extremely rare and lucky find would contain a Herkimer Diamond with Enhydro (water bubble inside) and flakes of Anthraxolite (bits of black coal-like substance) floating around inside the water bubble.
 
Formed in the mountains of Sedona Arizona, Payson Diamonds are also naturally faceted and a double terminated Crystal, found in a wide range of clarity and sizes. Payson crystals are often naturally stained a reddish rust color from the Arizona limonite. Many people are drawn to this Diamond because of the Metaphysical properties associated with it. It's believed that Payson Diamonds are the high energy seekers of the Crystal world. Payson Diamonds are also considered a Power Stone in the workplace, bringing positive attention through your achievements. 

Visit us at any of our 3 locations, Santa Fe, & Taos, NM, and Sedona, Az.

Aquamarine​ is a durable stone that mirrors the tint of various bodies of water. The name itself is Latin  for "seawater", Aqua meaning "water" and Marina meaning "of the sea". In ancient times, many people had lots of presumptions about what powers this stone has. Out at sea, Romans referred Aquamarine as the "sailors gem" believing it brought them a safe passage during the stormy weather. It was also believed by some that the stone was a symbol for happiness and everlasting youth. In medieval times, people were convinced that Aquamarine would reawaken the love between married couples. 

The stone can show a variety of colors, such as blue, green, yellow, or it may even appear colorless depending on the angle it's viewed. The term for this is called The Pleochroic Effect. To bring out the  color, majority of the stones have been heat treated. Around 800 degrees Fahrenheit will bring out the blue tones and fade out the green/yellow tones. Back in the 19th century, the sea green color was most popular, but today the blue tones are much more favored. 

A very popular cut for Aquamarine is the Emerald cut followed by Oval & Pear shaped cuts. To find the highest quality stones, you will need to travel over to Brazil. This is also where one of the largest Aquamarine was found, weighing in at 243lbs! It was then cut into many smaller pieces, yielding over 200,000 carats. The stone can also be found in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, India, United States, Pakistan, and Madagascar (where some darker blue stones are found).  

 Garnet is the name of a group of minerals that come in a rainbow of colors, from deep red in the pyrope garnet (pictured above), to the vibrant green of tsavorites. The most common color of garnet ranges from fire red to a deep violet-red hue.

 Fuchsite, also known as chrome mica is one of the matrices that this gemstone is found. Fuchsite fluoresces lime green under a normal longwave U.V. light which surely is a site to see! It measures (1' 8" tall, 11" wide and 5.5" thickness) it weighs (52 LBS). 
    The garnet jewelry collection is available in all three galleries and the Fuchsite-garnet will be featured in our Santa Fe location beginning January 2022.

Care: Clean your Blue Topaz jewelry with a soft brush.

Touchstone offers some wonderful choices when it comes to opal and tourmaline jewelry for your October birthdays.

 Opals are translucent with flashes of color due to the amorphous non - crystalline order. It is like a liquid caught in a frozen state with particles floating around with no defined order so we call it a mineraloid and not a mineral.
Care: Opals are a delicate gemstone that need special care. Please do not  knock them as they can scratch easily. (Not recommended to wear while doing house work or gardening!)  Clean your opal jewelry with a mild soap and a very soft brush. 
Source: Opals are found in Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Tanzania, and the United States. 

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Tourmaline is one of the most vivid of gemstones. IT comes in many combinations of color including "watermelon" tourmaline as shown in this pair of earrings and the necklace pictured.

The necklace has a full display of tourmaline in both rough gems and also natural forms of dark greenish black tourmaline crystals at each station. The center piece is a large watermelon tourmaline showpiece. Source: Tourmaline is found in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Australia, Canada, and the US. Tourmaline is also the gemstone for the state of Maine.

 Citrine is our colorful birthstone for the month of November. Citrine, not unlike Fall leaves is pale yellow to orange brown, to root beer like deeper hues. So lets cozy up to citrine with its warm earth tone colors to bring into our décor and fashion jewelry. To help you with finding the right piece of citrine Touchstone Gallery offers many choices in citrine in carved hearts, wonderful geode tables on hand crafted metal stands, geode butterfly wings, and faceted jewelry. 
Metaphysical properties: Abundance, prosperity, things that are related to the harvest this time of year.
About: Natural citrine is rare when found in nature. It is a type of crystalline quartz that may have started as amethyst. You may ask why would you turn amethyst to citrine? Well, like all things we like to have variety. So we take amethyst and heat treat it to change amethyst to citrine. It is still a natural mineral, just that we have speeded up the process by a few million of years of climactic forces on the mineral. 
Care: Since citrine is essentially quartz it is a hard mineral and makes wonderful faceted jewelry.  Clean your citrine jewelry with warm water, mild detergent and soft brush. 
Source: Brazil is the leading producers of citrine but can be found in other areas of the world like Bolivia; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Madagascar; Mexico; Myanmar; Namibia; Peru; Russia; South Africa; United States; Zambia.

 
Sapphire is a precious gemstone that is a type of corundum, consisting of aluminum oxide (α-Al2O3) with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. 
 Sapphires are typically blue, but can also be in fancy colors like purple, pink, yellow, orange and green. Some even have two colors and called "Parti" sapphires.

This month though, we are talking black star sapphires, stones that due to their unique crystal structures reflect light in the shape of a star. This stone’s black color is a result of iron and titanium traces present in the mineral.

Susan's Pick of the Month, has it all - An original necklace featuring black star sapphire, crazy lace agate, freshwater pearl, coconut druzy geodes, black onyx, faceted quartz crystal - all captured in a sterling silver "Circle of Life" design.


Where Found: Sapphires have been found in Kashmir, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, the world leader for the source of sapphires for over 2,000 years. Black Star Sapphire is mostly mined in Thailand, West Africa and India
Legend and Lore: depending on the color, sapphires can symbolize different things, sincerity, truth, faithfulness and nobility. Black Star sapphire symbolizes strength and confidence, and brings calm in stressful situations. 
Care: Because Sapphire is a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale it is an excellent choice in jewelry. Warm, soapy water is always a safe choice for cleaning the September birthstone.