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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