Posted by Dakota Stones on 10/29/2018 to Articles
Today we venture to the creepier side of the gemstone industry to find out how these strange, beautiful stones got their names.


Bloodstone is also referred to as Heliotrope in Greek, which simply means "sun turning." Many believed that the sun turns red when this stone is immersed in water.




Cat's Eye displays a narrow band of concentrated light -- also known as chatoyancy -- due to inclusions of fine, parallel fibers in the stone.





Dragon Blood Jasper. Local legend in Western Australia, where Dragon Blood Jasper is mined, has it that the stone is the remains of ancient dragons.





Dog Teeth Amethyst is a combination of amethyst and white quartz, and is named after a flower, the Dog Tooth Violet, which has a similar color.





Moonstones owe their name to the quality of adularescence -- the diffraction of light as it hits thin layers within the gem.






Phantom quartz is a variety of quartz, or "rock crystal", that forms over pre-existing crystals. The included crystal is visible due to some variation in composition making the boundary of the included crystal visible. Such crystals display the outlines of numerous smaller crystals, known as "phantoms."


Dumortierite is a minor blue gemstone that usually forms as inclusions in Quartz. Its most common color is blue or grayish-blue, though pink and purple colors are also known. "Sunset" may just be a descriptive addition that denote a dark blue color.