A piece of Astley Clarke jewellery; a journey through our online boutique or an afternoon sipping tea at the showroom is a journey of discovery. This is a place to be inspired and embrace gemstones you never knew existed. So to begin, we would love to introduce you to the world of gemstones; a love that borders on the fanatical here at Astley Clarke.
By modern definition, a gemstone is a mineral or other natural material that is beautiful enough, durable enough, and rare enough, to be used for personal adornment. Most gemstones are rather rare minerals. They are naturally occurring elements or compounds that have distinctive chemical composition or physical properties. Gemstones display the desirable attributes of beauty, rarity, and durability. Some gemstones are organic, or come from living substances; amber being fossilised tree resin; jet, a form of coal and the pearl which develops from the nacre of living molluscs.
Apatite
Beryl
Aquamarine (blue)
Bixbite (red)
Emerald (green)
Heliodor (yellow)
Morganite (pink)
Chalcedony / Agate
Bloodstone
Carnelian
Chrysoprase
Jasper
Onyx
Sard
Chrysoberyl
Alexandrite
Chrysolite
Diopside
Gemstones with the same or similar chemical composition are placed together in groups or families. Ruby and sapphire, for example, share a chemical composition and are members of the corundum group. This chart shows the family tree of the main gemstone groups that are used in jewellery.
Feldspar
Moonstone
Labradorite
Sunstone
Fluorite
Garnet
Pyrope
Rhodolite
Almandite
Spessartite
Grossular
Jade
Malachite
Quartz
Amethyst
Smokey Quartz
Morion
Citrine
Rock Crystal
Rose Quartz
Rutilated Quartz
Tiger's Eye
Spinel
Tourmaline
Achroite (colourless)
Indicolite (dark blue)
Watermelon tourmaline
Bicoloured Tourmaline
Rubellite (pink)
verdelite (green)
Zircon
Zoisite
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