Gemstone Globe Materials

At JustGlobes we strive to offer the highest quality and most detail ranges of Gemstone globes. Our gemstone globes are made using around 30 semi precious stones, some of which are described here.

Malachite
Malachite is a copper carbonate mineral, which essentially means that it is composed of Copper, Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen.

The name Malachite is derived from Greek which roughly translates to "mallow-green stone". This name given to the stone as the colour resembles that of the Mallow plant.

Malachite was used as an expensive paint pigment up to about 1800. Malachite is a good pigment as it very lightfast, meaning it doesn't fade with time or exposure to the sun as much as the majority of other minerals. This is an excellent trait for gemstone globes as materials that can resist fading over time will make for a brighter, more colourful gemstone globe for longer.

Malachite has a downside as a pigment and that is that it varies in colour noticeably depending on Oxygen concentration, this obviously produced inconsistent colour. For globes however, this is not a problem as each gemstone world globe is handmade, they are all unique and ever so slightly different. Colour variations in the semi precious occur in our gemstone world globes regularly due to changes in supply location, we feel this adds to the exclusivity and charm of the globes.

Recent historical evidence suggests that Malachite has been mined for around 300 years.

Mother Of Pearl
is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer, it also it the material that makes up pearls. It is extremely strong and resilient making it a great globe material.

Oyster shells are used in the mother of pearl gemstone world globes at JustGlobes. They are both readily available and have a large and relatively flat inner shell layer making them the idea source for the mother of pearl globes.

When mother of pearl is broken down into individual components it is actually formed from calcium carbonate  similar to chalk, a common material used to write on black boards. This may seem unflattering to what is an expensive and precious material, but the way that mother of pearl is formed tells a better story of how mother of pearl has come to be considered a precious material.

Tiny layers of calcium carbonate smaller and thinner that the eye can see and layered on top and side by side each other. These are jointed together by a matrix of organic material formed by the mollusc (in our case Oyster) itself. A good way to imagine mother of pearl is to think of the tiles that one might see in a bathroom in layers, one of top of another. This is a very simple yet beautifully organised pattern that creates the shimmer effect that makes mother of pearl so appealing.

Jasper
Jasper is a form of silica and can have a variety of different colours; red, yellow, brown, green and even blue.

Jasper breaks with a smooth surface, this is an excellent ornamental quality hence Jasper is a widely used material in gemstone products. As can be seen in the picture above Jasper is a very deep and beautiful material, perfect for globes. It can also be highly polished to increase its visual effect.

Jasper means "spotted or speckled stone", and is derived ultimately from Persian.