Two gemstones.
Side by side.

GEMSTONE ONE

Muscovite

Muscovite: potassium aluminium mica; sheet silicate, Mohs 2–2.5. Explore identification, origins, buying, safe handling and care.

Colour & appearance

Colourless, silvery-white, pale tan and impurity-tinted green or rose

Mineral family

Potassium aluminium mica; sheet silicate

Mohs hardness

2–2.5

Representative source regions

Brazil; India; Russia; United States

Brazil India Russia United States

Jewellery & care

Exceptionally decorative mica may be used in protected artistic settings, but it flakes and scratches too easily for conventional exposed jewellery. The illustrative image is not an authenticated mineral specimen or product photog...

ColourlessWhiteGreen

Read the Muscovite guide

GEMSTONE TWO

Sapphire

Sapphire is a gem variety of corundum, often associated with blue but also found in other colours. Its hardness makes it an enduring jewellery material, although the secu...

Colour & appearance

Blue and other colours

Mineral family

Corundum (Al₂O₃)

Mohs hardness

9

Representative source regions

Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Myanmar, Australia, Thailand and Montana in the United States are recognised sources. The Kashmir region is historically famous for highly valued blue sapphires.

Sri Lanka Madagascar Myanmar Australia Thailand United States

Jewellery & care

Choose the style and setting to suit the specific stone, treatment information and intended use.

Blue

Read the Sapphire guide

Hardness measures scratch resistance, not breakage. Source regions are educational examples, not claims about the provenance of an individual GEMHOOD product. Images may be digital gemstone illustrations.