Now we are seeing an uptick in “crystals” being sold in a variety of places outside of metaphysical and rock shops. So I developed a rating system for the information provided to see if you can be an informed consumer with the information provided. It is a 0-10 scale with the potential for more than 10 points for exceptionally well described specimens. I have also made an instagram dedicated to examples and education.

Let’s jump right in.

There are three main categories: Name, source/Location information, Treatment. There is an additional price and care information category plus various positive and negative points.

Name 0-3 points

0 obscure or new crystal name

1 common crystal name

2 common or generic mineral name (ex: feldspar)

3 correct mineral name (ex: oligoclase)

-1 wrong name (mineral/crystal name mismatch)

-1 wrong name for sample

-1 says crystal, is a rock ex: granite crystal

-1 – -5 stupid crystal name

-3 not a mineral, rock, or crystal but labeled as such

Source 0-3 points

0 no source information

1 country

2 region and country

3 mine, (region, country)

+1 if how they acquired it (ex: from rock show, wholesale etc)

-1 obvious lies

-5 “ethical” with no source information

Treatment 0-3 points

0 no information obviously has some treatment (carved)

1 obviously treated and has some information but maybe misleading

2 some treatment information (ex: carved, tumbled)

3 mentions treatment or not and is correct to sample, or has detailed treatment ex: electroplated with gold

-1 obviously carved and not mentioned

-2 obviously carved and sold as natural crystal

Misc. 1 point

+1 any care information (ex: keep out of direct sunlight)

+1 reasonable price

-1 – -5 for over priced

-1 – -5 for needs some sort of warning and no information

Other various points:

-5 health claims like cures cancer

+1 for mineralogic information like crystal system

+1 for chemical composition

+1 for total mineral description including hardness etc.

+1 for name of mine, and type of mining (ex: secondary, primary)

Send your examples in! The plan is to celebrate and shout out the excellent labeling, but not to name and shame ones that need work. There isn’t a movement for this type of information YET in the crystal industry. We are finally moving towards talking about ethics so lets start getting some improvement and transparency on the labels!

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