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Fake Crystals a Growing Problem

The Rise of Fake Crystals, Particularly Online

I have to admit I've become slightly obsessed with companies that sell fake crystals online. The amount of fake material being sold to unsuspecting buyers is growing at an alarming rate. 

It's not only consumers who are being scammed, it's also small businesses.

As the practice of using crystals for healing has grown, hundreds of new businesses have appeared, many selling through online marketplaces and social media. Many of the people who run these businesses have limited scientific knowledge of rocks and minerals.

Although that's certainly not a prerequisite for running a crystal business, their limited knowledge is contributing to the amount of fake material entering the supply chain.

Many of these businesses are buying directly from India, Pakistan, Indonesia and China. China's technology is now so advanced that it can be difficult to know for certain whether something is real, fake or dyed.

Although the colour of some material from India and Pakistan is enhanced, the majority, and certainly the most convincing fakes come from China. 

Labradorite, moldavite, quartz, larimar, lapis lazuli, sunstone, malachite and ocean jasper are some of the most common fake crystals.

In metaphysical circles, anything that exhibits 'rainbows' or exceptional colour, sells.

Green glass is often sold as moldavite. The tiny bubbles in polished moldavite that once distinguished real stones from fake can now be produced artificially.

Some rocks and minerals are dyed to replicate others or to make them look higher grade. Coatings are used to enhance schiller in labradorite, and some highly iridescent labradorite stones are produced from clay.   

Hemimorphite is sold as 'Chinese larimar', and fake malachite can be produced from resin or plastic.
Fluorite can be heated which causes colours to fade. Ironically, this makes them look stronger, possibly because the crystal becomes more translucent. This material is sold as Candy Fluorite or Watermelon Fluorite.

The candy fluorite in this photograph is being sold in an online marketplace. The seller describes it as "high-quality natural fluorite from Brazil." This material is all produced in China.
3 candy fluorite freestanding terminated points. Text alongside this listing on Etsy says they're from Brazil. I've seen many crystal balls like this one on Instagram. Although the 'iridescence' looks impressive, it's not natural.

 

This wholesaler advertises regularly on Instagram. Since speaking with them, many more crystal balls like this have appeared in their posts.

Having seen a UK business selling a crystal ball just like this, I asked where it was from and explained my reason for asking. They said it was from Brazil.  

A few days later, all crystal balls disappeared from their website and Instagram pages.

I have seen some spectacular crystal balls being offered for sale by businesses in Brazil. They're high-grade, and many are beautifully iridescent. None, however, exhibit the kind of iridescence seen in material from China.

The iridescence is created by applying a coating of titanium. This involves bonding a layer of titanium or titanium oxide to the surface of the crystal ball using a process called vapour deposition. The coating creates a stunning iridescent effect. 

Something else to be aware of when buying a crystal ball is that many are glass or lead crystal. Lead crystal is not quartz, it's glass infused with lead, which makes it more sparkly.

Quite recently, I saw an impressive blue lace agate sphere on Instagram. This this stone can only be found in Namibia, Zambia and Malawi, but it may also have been discovered quite recently in Romania.

Blue lace agate from the Ysterputs mine in southern Namibia is the finest in the world. The mine has been closed for many years, so stone from this location is rare and highly sought after.

The colour of this sphere, which is being sold by a Chinese business, looks too good to be true. However, it may be genuine because a significant amount of high-grade material from Namibia is known to have been sold to China. The problem however, is the only way of knowing for certain would be to have it tested.

I have seen this identical sphere being offered for sale with exactly the same text many times on Instagram. Each time the advert appears, the business name changes.  Giving in to temptation, I contacted one seller to ask where the agate was mined.     


Having said in my reply that blue lace agate isn't found in Brazil, my subsequent messages were ignored.

When I next saw the same advert with the name of yet another business, I asked the same question. The seller initially told me it was from Brazil or Africa. When I said I needed to know for certain, they said the raw material was purchased from Namibia, but the spheres were cut and polished in their factory in China.

This sphere is much bluer than a very nice piece of blue lace agate from Namibia that I have in my own collection. That may be down to lighting or the camera, but I have learned from experience how things work in China.  

Here's another message I sent after seeing a video clip of several 'celestite spheres.' When cut and polished, celestite and blue calcite can look very similar. However, celestite is a different mineral from calcite and is also more expensive. 

After seeing this post, I asked the seller if they had these towers in smoky quartz. I was told they were currently out of stock. I'm almost certain this is smoky quartz and am positive it's not fluorite. 
smoky quartz crystal towersMinerals being labelled or described incorrectly is another growing problem. This next listing, which is from an online marketplace, features a sphere being sold by a seller in the UK.

Ruby and fuchsite are different minerals that often occur together. Ruby is the mineral corundum, while fuchsite (pronounced fooksite) is a chromium-rich mica that's usually green. Therefore, this sphere should be described as 'ruby in fuchsite,' which is green mica.'
ruby fuchsite sphere being held in someone's handMade-up names are also widely used. Rainbow amethyst, titanium quartz, aura quartz (both are treated with titanium and other metal oxides), sugar chalcedony (probably because of the layer of minute crystals), lavender fluorite, and aqua rose are just a few examples.

Cherry quartz is a man-made material apparently constructed from cinnabar and quartz. Cinnabar is an ore of mercury so is highly toxic. Most cherry quartz is coloured glass.
exclamation mark in a red triangle(*)
When buying crystals online, one of the most important things to do is to look for a trading address. Very few small businesses publish their address. An address offers some reassurance that a company is genuine. It doesn't have to be in a prominent position.

If the business has a website, I initially look at the T&Cs page, which is where our address is on the Stone Mania website. I then look on the 'Returns' or 'Contact' page. Once you start looking you'll be surprised how few businesses indicate where they are. In many cases, you won't even find a telephone number.

It can be very difficult to establish a business's location from a website.

Most UK-based businesses have a .co.uk address, but some have .com or .org. The 'Shipping' page will sometimes enable you to determine where goods are dispatched from.

Businesses in India and China that trade in online marketplaces often state they're in the UK. Some publish an address, but it's not where they're based or where merchandise is stored. 

This business contacted me on Instagram. When I asked where they were, they told me they were in Pakistan. After a quick search online I found they had two shops on Etsy. Looking at their post-sale feedback, the main complaint was about how long it took for goods to arrive.

There was nothing on any page of either shop to indicate they were not based in London or Dublin.
The header banner of two shops on EtsyA business that I followed for a while on social media publishes interesting videos of fine minerals and subjects related to geology. Many of their followers are serious rock and mineral collectors. Nothing about their page indicates they mass-produce low-grade crystals in China.  

Their profile contains a link to their Etsy shop. The banner at the top of the page says they're in "England." However, it didn't take long to discover they're in China. 

Their merchandise could not be any more different to what they feature in their social media posts. Although they have over a thousand positive reviews, it quickly becomes clear that most of their customers struggle to write in English.  

You may be surprised to learn that many reviews published online are fake. Selling fake reviews, likes, and followers is big business.
yellow hearts being advertised as citrine in an Instagram postThese love hearts being sold by another company on social media, which claims to be in the UK, are not citrine. They're not even heated amethyst, they  look like glass.

When shopping for crystals online, it's important to research the material you're looking to buy and learn as much as you can about the business selling it.

Remember that anyone from any country in the world can sell through a website or online marketplace. If something looks too good to be true, it probably is.

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