Quick answer
Work from constraints, not from a mood. Tell the finder what you can spend, whether the piece has to survive daily wear, how hard you are on your hands, and what colour you actually like - and it returns stones that fit all four, the size that budget really buys, and what to watch out for on each. Every result is a stone you can wear safely for years, which is why soft and brittle stones drop out as soon as you ask for daily wear.
This finder answers one question: given what you can spend and how you will use it, which stones will still look right in two years? It does not ask what you want the crystal to do for you, and that is deliberate - a stone cannot do that, and the guides behind this tool say so plainly.
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Every stone, with what rules it out
The table below is the finder without the form. It shows hardness, whether the stone survives daily wear, whether it is sensible in a ring, the price band each stone normally sells in, and what to watch for. If you only read one column, read the daily-wear one: it is the difference between a stone you keep wearing and one that lives in a drawer by spring.
| Stone | Mohs | Daily wear | Ring | Typical price band | Avoid on this stone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agate | 6.5-7 | Yes | Yes | $2-$50 | dyeing (very common, blue especially); heating |
| Amazonite | 6-6.5 | With care | No | $4-$60 | dyeing; coating |
| Amethyst | 7-7 | Yes | Yes | $3-$70 | heating (turns citrine); dyeing (low grade); synthetic |
| Aquamarine | 7.5-8 | Yes | Yes | $40-$600 | heating (removes green, routine) |
| Azurite | 3.5-4 | Occasional only | No | $5-$85 | resin sealing |
| Black Obsidian | 5-5.5 | With care | No | $2-$35 | No common treatment |
| Calcite | 3-3 | Display only | No | $3-$70 | dyeing (rare) |
| Carnelian | 6.5-7 | Yes | Yes | $2-$45 | heating (deepens red, routine); dyeing |
| Cinnabar | 2-2.5 | Display only | No | $15-$90 | reconstituted resin with HgS (very common in carvings) |
| Citrine | 7-7 | Yes | Yes | $3-$60 | heating (amethyst, very common); irradiation (rare) |
| Clear Quartz | 7-7 | Yes | Yes | $2-$45 | irradiation (rare); vapor coating (aqua aura) |
| Emerald | 7.5-8 | Occasional only | No | $80-$5000 | oiling (routine); fracture filling with resin (routine, must be disclosed) |
| Fluorite | 4-4 | Occasional only | No | $3-$120 | No common treatment |
| Garnet | 6.5-7.5 | Yes | Yes | $4-$120 | heating (some species); glass filling (rare) |
| Green Aventurine | 6-7 | Yes | Yes | $2-$45 | dyeing (other colours) |
| Hematite | 5-6 | With care | No | $2-$35 | magnetic hematite is usually synthetic (iron + ferrite) |
| Jade | 6-7 | With care | No | $20-$2000 | bleaching + polymer impregnation (B/C grade); dyeing; waxing |
| Jasper | 6.5-7 | Yes | Yes | $2-$45 | dyeing; waxing |
| Kyanite | 4.5-7 | Occasional only | No | $10-$80 | dyeing (rare) |
| Labradorite | 6-6.5 | With care | No | $4-$70 | No common treatment |
| Lapis Lazuli | 5-6 | With care | No | $5-$95 | dyeing; waxing; imitation with dyed jasper |
| Malachite | 3.5-4 | Occasional only | No | $5-$250 | resin sealing; reconstitution; dyeing |
| Moonstone | 6-6.5 | With care | No | $4-$75 | coating (imitation) |
| Opal | 5.5-6.5 | Occasional only | No | $8-$400 | sugar-acid treatment (black); smoking; synthetic |
| Pearl | 2.5-4.5 | Occasional only | No | $20-$500 | bleaching; dyeing; irradiation |
| Peridot | 6.5-7 | With care | No | $30-$250 | No common treatment |
| Pink Tourmaline | 7-7.5 | Yes | Yes | $35-$450 | heating (routine); irradiation |
| Pyrite | 6-6.5 | Occasional only | No | $3-$80 | No common treatment |
| Rhodonite | 5.5-6.5 | With care | No | $4-$70 | No common treatment |
| Rose Quartz | 7-7 | Yes | Yes | $3-$65 | dyeing; irradiation (rare, deep pink) |
| Ruby | 9-9 | Yes | Yes | $60-$8000 | heating (routine); lead glass filling (must be disclosed); dyeing (low grade) |
| Sapphire | 9-9 | Yes | Yes | $60-$6000 | heating (routine); diffusion (must be disclosed); glass filling |
| Selenite | 2-2 | Display only | No | $12-$90 | No common treatment |
| Smoky Quartz | 7-7 | Yes | Yes | $2-$45 | irradiation (common); heating (lightens) |
| Snowflake Obsidian | 5-5.5 | With care | No | $2-$35 | No common treatment |
| Sodalite | 5.5-6 | With care | No | $3-$45 | dyeing |
| Tiger's Eye | 6.5-7 | Yes | Yes | $3-$60 | heating (red tiger's eye); dyeing (blue) |
| Topaz | 8-8 | With care | Yes | $30-$400 | irradiation + heating (blue, routine); coating (mystic topaz) |
| Turquoise | 5-6 | Occasional only | No | $6-$300 | stabilising with resin; waxing; dyeing |
Why the finder asks about your hands
A ring is the only piece of jewellery that meets doors, keys, dishwater and gym equipment every day, so the answer to "can I wear this daily" depends on your hands more than on the stone. A stone at Mohs 6 survives a desk job and does not survive a workshop. That is also why the finder will not offer you malachite, selenite or opal for daily wear at any budget: hardness and brittleness set the floor, and no amount of careful handling raises it. The full reasoning is in our wearing rules, and the money side is in the price guide.
What the finder will not do
It will not tell you which stone suits your personality, matches your chakras, or attracts anything. Those are claims about effects, and this site does not make them - our position is set out in does crystal healing work. What the tool will do is stop you buying a stone that will be scratched within a month or that you will overpay for, which is a much more common problem and one that has a factual answer.
Sources
- Mohs hardness scale as published in mineralogy references; values cross-checked against species data maintained by Mindat, the mineral database of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy.
- Treatment and disclosure practice follows the terminology used by the Gemological Institute of America in its gem-treatment guidance.
- Stone identification limits: hardness testing, specific gravity and refractive index are the standard tests, described in the GIA Gem Encyclopedia.
Disclaimer
This is reference information for buying, wearing and caring for stones, not a laboratory identification and not medical advice. Hardness values follow standard mineralogy and a given piece can behave differently if it is treated, fractured or unusually thin. For anything you intend to put in your mouth, on broken skin or in a container of drinking water, treat a jeweller's or a mineralogist's in-person assessment as the only reliable answer.
