I was looking at eBay again this morning, and you know what that means – another rant. I’ll try to keep it short.
Here goes.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS COLORED OBSIDIAN!!
If you are still thinking, “yes, but there’s the rare blue obsidian,” READ THE ABOVE AGAIN.
Obsidian is always, always, always black. Sometimes it’s [...]
So you may be sitting there thinking to yourself, “if a sucker is born every minute, that’s a lot of suckers. Gee Elf, how can I make a living off them by selling them crystals?” If you are wondering this, (and who isn’t?), read on!
A new visitor (hi!) asked about how to tell the difference between the baked citrine (heat-treated amethyst), and genuine citrine. I’ll post photos as soon as I can, but in the meantime I think I am familiar enough with them now that I can describe it.
A lot, although not all, of the smoky quartz on the market has been created or “enhanced” through radiation. I found several sites describing this, but this eBay review was the only one I could find with photos of irradiated and natural pieces side-by-side (about halfway down the page). Generally, a very dark [...]
I think my favorite of the fake crystals I have found so far are the “naga eye relics” on eBay. Well, that’s the simplified name. Usually they are “RARE naga eye thai buddha lingam healing relic amulet,” in any order. Samples here and here. In the descriptions they tend to claim [...]