Adding a therapeutic-quality gemstone to your personal pharmacy may seem as easy as clicking a button on our website.
But we must always remember that these gemstones are not manufactured. We can’t just call upon a supplier at any time and ask for any gemstone.
Healing gemstones come from the Earth, are given to us by the Earth, and are only available as the Earth deems life needs them. As we wear her gemstones, we bring their energies into her atmosphere, where they can, in a homeopathic amount, benefit all.
In this blog post, I’d like to give you some insight into the cycles of gemstone availability. I’ll address why certain gems disappear unexpectedly and some other important considerations.
Is Any Gem Always Available?
Natural Carnelian, the primary gem in our Natural Carnelian & White Beryl necklace
Some therapeutic-quality gemstones have been readily available whenever we’ve wanted them. I’ve learned the hard way not to take this for granted, however, because any number of things can happen to cut off supply. Mines dry up, get sold, or shut down due to war. Most of the time, we never know the reason. The gems simply disappear from the market.
Heated Carnelian has been available since at least the 1980s, and a natural variety appeared in the early 2010s. But as of 2020, we have not found therapeutic-quality natural Carnelian except from vendors carrying old stock. Otherwise, the only Carnelian available is jewelry grade, which consists of beads that have two or more colors. Our therapeutic-grade natural Carnelian consists of just one color per bead.
Onyx is another example. Since its black color is popular in jewelry, the gem has always been plentiful. Some years, however, the Onyx we found had such large drill holes that we couldn’t use it. At the 2020 Tucson Gem Show, we noticed that other types of black stones were taking the place of Onyx, so it was harder to find.
Mines Close or Get Sold
It seems that the Earth provides gemstones in cycles. Certain mines become exhausted and their gemstones are simply no longer available. It may be years if not decades before a new deposit is located.
Rhodocrosite, the primary gemstone in our Loving Me formula
Rhodochrosite, the primary gemstone in our Loving Me formula, was unavailable for many years for this reason. It reappeared in the early 2000s when the mine that the world relied on in the past for this gemstone reopened. We enjoyed several years of adequate supply of healing Rhodocrosite. At the gem show this year (2020), we learned that the mine had been sold and is now being used to recover gold instead. This means that the high-quality Rhodocrosite we use is no longer available.
In the case of Australian Opal, Earth is no longer providing rough that is thick enough to make spheres. Sure, you’ll find Opal rondels and jewelry cabochons, because these come from thin slices of rough. But Opal spheres are much harder to come by and the price of those that remain is rising. The overall availability of Opal in general has also dried up, and many mines have closed as a result.
Quality
In general, healing gems tend to be difficult to find. What we see simply does not meet our therapeutic-quality standards. Sometimes we find a large parcel that has only one or two strands of material that we can use. Whenever we do find any gemstone of top quality, we try to buy as much of it as we can.
After spending eight days scouring the 2020 Tucson Gem Show, we were unable to find any therapeutic-quality Moon Quartz—we just didn’t see any. Nor did we bring home any Tree Agate, Azurite-Malachite, or Mother of Pearl. The Tree Agate we saw was too pale and its colors were muddy. Natural Azurite-Malachite has been unavailable for years, so we weren’t surprised we didn’t encounter any. We did see some manufactured Azurite-Malachite, which is now being made to look more natural, but it does not have the therapeutic value that the real, natural gemstone has. Last, the Mother of Pearl we came across was poorly cut and its flash was not centered in the stone.
Sugilite spheres are very hard to find, and when we do find them, the price is unreasonable. We found none in Tucson this year. We did find Sugilite rondels, but only a few strands had beads with consistent enough color.
Over the years, we’ve been disappointed to discover that the quality of some gemstones is generally declining—among them, Rhodonite and Blue-Flash Moonstone. We used to be able to find beautiful, consistently colored therapeutic-quality Rhodonite, often bright pink. The material coming out of the mines is no longer that way. Much of it is peppered with black spots—but not enough to be called Black Rhodonite. At the same time, Black Rhodonite has been coming out of the ground with blotchy brownish patches. Every year, Blue-Flash Moonstone is harder to find. This year, all the material we saw was filled with cracks and spots.
Treated Gems
Treatment is another issue and a huge concern. Natural Blue Topaz and White Beryl are hard to find because most vendors would rather heat or radiate them to improve their color and make them more profitable—but that makes them non-therapeutic. Citrine usually contains zoning—beads that are partially yellow and partially white, which goes away with heating. We rarely see natural homogeneously colored Citrine, though we did find some really beautiful material this year (2020).
Buyer Beware
Another problem occurs when a gemstone becomes unavailable, but suppliers keep its name and substitute gems that look similar. This is what happened when Poppy Jasper became unavailable in the mid 2010s. Today, if you order Poppy Jasper, make sure you don’t get Red Jasper and/or another type of reddish jasper in its place. Poppy Jasper has a speckled appearance and clearly displays three or four colors in every bead (a red background with black, white, and/or ochre). Red Jasper is clearly red and may have minimal black. Other types of Jasper contain red, black, and a grayish mineral. This material does not have the therapeutic benefits I describe for Poppy Jasper.
Foreign Competition
For certain gems, we’re also faced with foreign competition. The best 5A-quality Siberian Jade has become unavailable because of such high demand from buyers in China, where its healing value is widely revered. If you’re interested in purchasing the best Siberian Jade, it must be pre-ordered, and you may have to wait for it to become available.
The Effect of COVID-19
In Tucson, we learned that due to COVID-19, gem-cutting factories in Asia had been closed. We anticipate this might affect the supply chain, which has already been impacted by new import constraints. The material we find at the upcoming 2021 Tucson Gem Show may very well be the same as what we saw this year, which means our current inventory may be all we have for some time.
Fortunately, because we tend to buy entire lots of therapeutic-quality stones whenever we can, we are well stocked and should be able to continue to serve you with the Gemstone Therapy Levels 1 and 2 therapeutic tools well into the future.
Trade Wars
Though the Gemstone Therapy Institute has has not yet felt the impact, the tariffs imposed on Chinese goods may affect gemstone availability and certainly will affect price. In 2019, President Trump imposed a 25% tax on billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese goods, including gemstones. Most of our spherically shaped gemstones are cut in China and are presently available at pre-tariff prices.
New Gemstones
Our Lifeline necklace consists of Tanzanite, Pink Chalcedony, Blue Tourmaline, and Blue Flash Moonstone.
While some gemstones disappear for a while, new gemstones are occasionally discovered. This is always exciting, as we never know what new gems the Earth will provide. Tanzanite entered the market in the late 1960s, and Lilac Quartz, Finest Carnelian, and Rosellite more recently. We are always grateful when something special comes our way. In the past, we have been blessed with occasional small batches of extraordinary Rutilated Quartz, Blue Sapphire, Tanzanite, and Pink Sapphire, to name a few. In 2020, translucent Agate has been a pleasant surprise, as has 5A-color Yellow Sapphire. We also saw a great deal of large 5A Tourmaline.
A few hopeful signs come from the fluorite family and Light Green Aventurine. Since 2018, we’ve seen an increase in the presence of fluorite rough and have been anticipating medicinal-quality spheres. Unfortunately, most of the spheres we saw this year were filled with cracks. I also saw Light Green Aventurine that was more translucent than ever before, but the cut was so poorly done that it was non-therapeutic. It also may have been dyed.
Our Policies
At the Gemstone Therapy Institute, we are committed to bringing you medicinal-quality gemstones that are carefully high-graded. If the Earth isn’t offering gemstones of a quality that meets our parameters, we aren’t going to sell them—not even at a lower price. We also believe that every gemstone bead has a mission and a purpose. Those gemstones that are unable to serve therapeutically will fulfill their calling as common jewelry, and broken beads will be returned to the Earth.
Moving Forward
Our advice above all else is to listen to your inner guidance and nudges when selecting healing gemstones for yourself. This may come as a thought, desire, or sense of compatibility. It’s different for everyone. We suggest several other selection techniques on our website.
That being said, the avid collector may want to take advantage whenever possible of those gemstones becoming unavailable, and of special gemstones when they appear because parcels tend to be so relatively small. In most cases, you have the choice of working with these gemstones as necklaces or the more-affordable bracelet/therapy strand, or in parcels of eight single gems. The single gems can be used for single-sphere therapy, which includes making and applying custom gemandalas for yourself and others.
We keep a waiting list for those who would like to know when a certain gemstone becomes available. Give us a call or send us an email if you have something in mind. We are here to help you find the healing gifts of Earth that will serve you best.
Contact the Gemstone Therapy Institute