Misleading Gemstone Names

Misleading Gemstone Names
Read jewelry ads and you'll see descriptive terms tacked-on to the names of gemstones, like Oriental emerald (it's really a green sapphire), American ruby (a garnet) and Australian jade (treated quartz).
Sometimes extra terms do describe the source or type of gem that's being advertised, but many are deceptive, and some sellers hope you won't notice that they replace what you think is a more expensive gem with either a look-alike gem that's less expensive or components made from glass and other materials.

There are hundreds and hundreds of examples of misleading gemstone names. Here are some of the most common.


Diamond Impostors
German diamond: quartz

Herkimer diamond: double-terminated quartz

Bohemian Diamond: quartz
Most of the stones advertised with diamond in the name, but with a qualifying term in front of the word, are quartz.

Emerald Impostors
African emerald: green fluorite

Bohemian emerald: green fluorspar

Broghton emerald: green glass

Chatham emerald: synthetic emerald

Cape emerald: Prehnite

Gilson emerald: synthetic emerald

Emeraldine: chalcedony that's dyed green

Oriental emerald: sapphire

Evening emerald: peridot

Spanish emerald: glass

Ruby Impostors
Adelaide ruby: Australian garnet

Australian ruby: garnet
Bohemian ruby: garnet

California ruby: garnet

Cape ruby: garnet

Montana ruby: garnet

San Diego ruby: red tourmaline

Siberian ruby: tourmaline

Sapphire Impostors
Brazilian sapphire: blue tourmaline

Burma sapphire: synthetic sapphire

Hope sapphire: synthetic blue spinel or lab grown sapphire
True sapphire is sometimes called descriptive names, like Kashmir sapphire, which is a deep blue version of the gem, but most of today's sellers use the stone's color as a descriptive label.

Jade Impostors
African jade: garnet

Colorado jade: feldspar

Honan jade: soapstone

Indian jade: aventurine

Manchurian jade: soapstone

Swiss jade: jasper

Pearl Impostors
Atlas pearls: calcite beads

Delta pearls: imitations

Roman pearls: glass beads

Swarovski pearls: glass beads

Opal Impostors
Ceylon opal: moonstone

Blue opal: lazulite

Lapis Impostors
Swiss lapis: chalcedony or dyed jasper

German lapis: dyed jasper

Canadian lapis: sodalite

Turquoise Impostors
African turquoise: jasper

Chinese turquoise: calcite, soapstone

Sacred turquoise: smithsonite

Utah turquoise: variscite

Vienna turquoise: simulated at one time but may contain reconstituted turquoise

Yellow turquoise: often jasper or serpentine
Amazonite and chrysocolla are two gemstones that resemble turquoise and are sometimes confused with it.

The jewelry made from "impostor" gems might be just what you're looking for, so don't hesitate to buy it, but do some homework before you make a purchase so that you understand exactly what you are buying.