The Crystal and Mineral Vault


Welcome to our Crystal and Mineral Knowledge Hub, where science tradition and mindful practice come together. This space is dedicated to exploring the formation properties and cultural associations of crystals and minerals through Mineral Vault profiles and practical guides designed to encourage informed discovery and deeper understanding.

Go to our Mineral Guides for science based knowledge and the 'How to Guides' for spiritual practices.

Unakite Crystals

The Crystal and Mineral Vault

Unakite: Plain Grey Granite Until Hot Fluids Had Other Ideas

by Laura Konst
Unakite is not a mineral but a metamorphic rock: granite that was altered by hot hydrothermal fluids which converted its plagioclase feldspar into green Epidote, leaving the original pink Orthoclase and Quartz intact. Named after the Unaka Mountains of North Carolina, it is one of the more geologically instructive collector rocks available, with a visible mineral alteration story in every specimen.
Labradorite Freeform

The Crystal and Mineral Vault

Labradorite: The Stone the Inuit Called Frozen Aurora

by Laura Konst
Labradorite is one of the most abundant minerals in the Earth’s crust and one of the most visually extraordinary. Its labradorescence, the shifting flashes of blue, green, gold, and red that appear to move within the stone, is produced by thin-film optical interference between nanoscale mineral layers formed during slow geological cooling. This Mineral Vault guide explores the physics behind the colour play, the plagioclase series, the Inuit traditions that called it frozen aurora, and what to look for in Spectrolite material.
Amazonite Statement Piece

The Crystal and Mineral Vault

Amazonite: The Feldspar That Was Never From the Amazon

by Laura Konst
Amazonite has never been found in the Amazon, its colour is not fully understood by science, and it belongs to the most abundant mineral group on Earth. For a mineral that looks so straightforward, it raises a surprising number of interesting questions, and the answers are worth knowing.
Charoite Cube on Slice

The Crystal and Mineral Vault

Charoite: The Purple Mineral That Exists Nowhere Else on Earth

by Laura Konst
Charoite is one of the rarest minerals on Earth, found in a single location along the Chara River in Siberia, Russia. Formed through the metasomatic alteration of limestone by alkaline fluids, its signature swirling violet and lavender patterns are the result of a complex intergrowth of minerals that occurred deep within the Earth's crust. There is truly nothing else quite like it.