"Gleamy Moonstone" on Ebay---NOT a Gemstone! Just Pressed Glass

Matte "Gleamy" Glass Beads--NOT Moonstones

Thank you to reader Jeri--who sent me a message regarding a "gem" being sold on ebay, called "Gleamy Moonstone."  I did a search on ebay, and got 2600+ results.  ALL of these strands of beads are from China, and NONE of them are actual, natural Moonstones or Rainbow Moonstones, as they claim.  These are just pressed glass beads!  They come in a variety of colors and either in a matte (frosted) finish or polished.  All are round beads.  Some "creative" sellers are marketing these glass beads as being from "Sri Lanka" or other locations.  None of that is true---these are just man-made glass beads from China.

There are a large number of individual shops from China selling these, but all feature the same stock photos.  Here are some examples of these glass beads---which are not gemstones---and range in price from a few cents a strand on auction, to buy-it-now strands from about $4 depending on the diameter of the glass beads:

"WHITE GLEAMY" BEADS:

"White Gleamy" Glass Beads -- NOT Moonstone

Matte "White Gleamy" Glass Beads

"GREY GLEAMY" BEADS:

"Grey Gleamy" Glass Beads

"Grey Gleamy" Glass 

OTHER COLORS

There are a variety of colors of this glass bead---pink, blue, yellow, green, teal, purple, in addition to the grey and white.  These glass beads from China come in either a matte or shiny finish, and are always round, and are very inexpensive. 

Various Colors of Glass Beads

More Colors of Glass Beads

Here's a strand of supposed "Sri Lanka Moonstones" which are Opalite Glass beads:

Glass Opalite Being Sold as Moonstones

There are a couple of sellers on Etsy who are selling strands or jewelry made from these beads, and are describing them accurately as "Gleamy Moonstone glass beads" so that's good. 

BUYER BEWARE---Ebay is full of scams regarding gemstones, and this is yet another.  These are not "natural" or "genuine" gemstones, NOT moonstones, they're not from Sri Lanka or Burma or Madagascar....they are just pressed glass round beads.  They are worth what they're selling them for---a couple of dollars a strand.  If you love the look of these glass beads, they're a great price! But if you THINK you're buying a gemstone, you are not!  Just a heads up.

What Is Angel Aura Opalite? Is It a Gemstone?

I stumbled across pictures of "Angel Aura Opalite" this morning, and the colors really caught my eye---I honestly gasped at how beautiful it is!  But what is it exactly?  Is it a gemstone?  What is "Angel Aura"? 

Angel Aura Opalite Crescent Moons

What is Opalite?
It's not a gemstone or a mineral---it is a type of opalescent glass.  Opalite is always man-made glass.  It is NOT quartz.  

Mystic Coatings
There are different metals, such as gold, silver, platinum, and/or titanium, that are used to coat gemstones, rhinestones, crystals, or CZ, that cause beautiful rainbows of colors.  These look like a soap bubble, or oil on water---a rainbow of blues, greens, teals, many different and always-changing colors. 

Angel Aura Quartz

Angel Aura is a coating that's very popular.  Through a special vapor deposition process, genuine silver and platinum vapor is fused to heated quartz (or other stone) in a vacuum chamber.  This allows the gold atoms to fuse with the outside crystals.   Sometimes this same coating is called "Starlight" on CZ jewelry, for example.

Rainbow Aura Quartz

This same process using other vaporized metals on quartz or glass or on other minerals results in  "Rainbow Aura" (titanium and gold) or golden "Sunset Aura" or  "Flame Aura" (electrostatic-bonded titanium onto unheated quartz) or  "Opal Aura" but the process is the same---vaporized metals are permanently bonded to crystals, often quartz crystals, but sometimes on other gems such as topaz, or CZ or crystals (such as Swarovski crystals).  Although this process is usually permanent, sometimes the coating can get scratched so it's best to be careful when wearing mystic coated jewelry.

Aqua Aura Quartz

When gold is fused to quartz, it's called "Aqua Aura" and leaves a beautiful blue-rainbow coating.


Sadly, there are even fake "aura quartz" stones---these are perhaps just painted or cheaply coated (and it scratches right off), or sometimes "quartz clusters" are just pieces glued together, so beware when buying online.



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These "mystic" coated crystals or gemstones have been around for a long time.  The results are extremely beautiful in a wide range of colors.  Mystic coated quartz is very popular, including mystic coated Amethyst, as well as Mystic Topaz.

Angel Aura Opalite Arrowhead

Angel Aura Opalite is a coated glass, not a gemstone--but is incredibly beautiful and fascinating to look at!  

Is "Monalisa Stone" a Gemstone? Answer: No

Someone asked me about a new stone called "Monalisa" stone, and I've never heard of it until today.  Just googling that reveals that it is a manufactured GLASS stone in India, and sold as a glass stone from Indiamart.com. 

It is NOT a gemstone.

Here is Indiamart's array of colors available for this glass stone:

Offered as "treated gemstone"--NOT!

It's a pretty "cat's eye" effect glass stone that is seen in a lot of costume jewelry.  I've seen it many times but never knew it was called "Monalisa stone" until today.  These glass beads are made with horizontal filaments inside that give it that distinctive "cat's eye" effect.  Please note that there are genuine gemstones that display this cat's eye effect---everything from rubies to quartz.  But these aren't gemstones---these Monalisa stones are manufactured glass, and is clearly stated as glass.  Here's a link to indiamart's website---they are honestly selling these glass "badam" stones (Hindi for "almond"---their shape) and are not trying to sell them as mineral gems. 


Google reveals that this new term, Monalisa Stone, is found pretty much exclusively on Etsy.  Etsy jewelry designers seem to offer these "new gems" probably because the gemstone wholesalers in India heavily market their stones to Etsy sellers who really don't investigate what something is (such as silverite).  But a simple google search, which took me a minute, shows right away that this is GLASS, not a gemstone!

However, there are some sellers who are offering this glass as a "gemstone" which is wrong.  It is not a gemstone, it is a glass stone.

Just glass with embedded filaments

Pretty--not a gemstone though

I'm not begrudging anyone for selling jewelry or trying to "call out" anyone, but as an example, there is a seller who has this Monalisa Stone set in a sterling bangle and although it's very pretty (in various colors and shapes), it's NOT a gemstone and nowhere do they say that this is glass.  They say or imply that it's a natural gemstone like their other jewelry---and that's really not right. 

There are many pieces of jewelry on Etsy with this Monalisa stone, and some sellers say it's glass, some don't say what it is, and some outright claim this is a gemstone.  It's NOT a gemstone---it's definitely glass. 

It's pretty---but buyer beware: it's glass, not a mineral. (Have I said that enough? LOL)

You can see the post through the glass, and fracture features of glass on the side.