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Free US shipping on orders $75+  ·  Every piece one of one  ·  Denver, Colorado

Rough. Raw. Always hard.

Raw Crystals, for Sale

UncutUnpolishedOne of one

Raw crystals are minerals sold the way nature shaped them, with no cutting and no polishing. Every raw piece here is one of one, labeled with its mineral and locality and photographed in daylight exactly as it ships.

In stock.

Raw crystals for sale in the current drop

Raw crystals for sale in the current drop: 2 one-of-one pieces, each labeled with the mineral and where it was mined.

Smokin'Elestial Smoky Quartz, Minas Gerais, Brazil  ·  Mohs 7Price at dropRock On.Raw Kyanite Cluster, Brazil  ·  Mohs 4.5 to 7Price at drop

Raw crystals and polished stones

Raw crystals show what a mineral looks like in nature, while polished stones show what a cutter made of it. Raw pieces keep their growth marks, etching and inclusions on the surface, where a lot of the science shows. In most shops, raw stones and rough crystals mean the same thing: uncut material, either whole crystals or broken chunks.

Raw crystals in this collection

The raw crystals in this collection come from the first drop:

  • Elestial Smoky Quartz, Minas Gerais, Brazil: smoky quartz grown in stacked, etched layers with many small tips.
  • Raw Kyanite Cluster, Brazil: blue blades of kyanite in pale matrix, a mineral with two hardnesses, about 4.5 along the blade and close to 7 across it.

Raw citrine, larimar, tourmaline and aquamarine

Raw citrine and raw larimar are two of the most searched raw stones, along with black tourmaline and aquamarine, and each needs its own check:

  • Most raw citrine is amethyst heat treated until it turns orange, with the color strongest at the tips.
  • Raw larimar is a blue variety of the mineral pectolite, found only in the Dominican Republic.
  • Raw black tourmaline, or schorl, grows in long prisms with grooves running their length.
  • Raw aquamarine is blue beryl in six-sided prisms, and Mount Antero in Colorado is a famous source.

What to look for in raw crystals

Look for three things in raw crystals: natural faces, honest damage and no added color. Natural faces are flat, often striated or etched, and meet at sharp edges, while broken quartz shows curved, shell-like surfaces called conchoidal fracture. Some damage is normal on raw material, and the photo shows all of it. Raw does not mean untreated, though: dyed and heated rough exists, and every geoslut label says when a stone was treated or coated.

Raw crystal care

Raw crystal care starts with hardness, because rough surfaces trap dust and some minerals are soft or brittle. Quartz at Mohs 7 can be rinsed in plain water and air dried. Kyanite can split along its blades if knocked, and raw kunzite fades in strong light, so keep it out of the sun.

Raw Crystals for Sale FAQ

Are raw crystals better than polished ones?

Raw crystals are not better than polished ones, only different: raw shows how the mineral grew, and polished shows off its color and clarity.

Is raw citrine real?

Raw citrine is real quartz, but most of it is amethyst heat treated to orange rather than natural citrine.

Can raw crystals get wet?

Raw crystals can get wet when the mineral is water safe, like quartz, but soft, brittle or crumbly pieces are better dusted.

Where is larimar found?

Larimar is found only in the Dominican Republic, in the province of Barahona.

Sources