…This title may be a given, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked about metaphysical properties of gemstones. I honestly don’t know.
Gemology is the scientific study of rarer, valuable, and durable/wearable crystals. I deal with mostly faceted material for jewelry. This involves the use of lab tools to help identify stones, as well as assess the condition.
I have personally never noticed any benefits of crystals in a healing sense; unless you consider the fact I love to be around them! The scintillation and vibrant colors are visually stimulating—and thus, bring happiness. Beyond that, I have not discovered any benefits health wise.
Please know, I mean no disrespect toward anyone who believes there are healing properties in gems. Amber, for one, has been believed to relieve discomfort in babies who are teething. Please read these articles for more information
Amber https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6612214/
Tourmaline https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6024927/
Quartz https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7170867/
If you’ve even skimmed the above articles, you can see, in theory, there are elements that could impact the human body. The quartz one addresses cancer; this article showing risks; so not all appear to be wonderful.
When handling something like quartz, one can make an argument for energy absorption or vibrations. We know pure crystal quartz (typically synthetic) is used in time keeping. What benefit does it really have to us though? Here’s one perspective…
Most of the Earth’s surface is quartz. Just the dust in one’s home, or taking a walk—esp barefooted can bring you in contact with quartz. Then we have microcrystalline quartz, like quartzite that has smaller crystals (rose quartz for example) and inclusions that I would question if they would disrupt or confuse vibrations. Cryptocrystalline quartz, agates being one, are so microscopic, but are not a single crystal. I would expect the vibrations would be grossly obstructed.
There has been a great push to market gems to more sensitive individuals looking for something natural by romanticizing lore. There are no published studies I’ve seen yet proving anymore than a placebo effect or psychosomatic reaction. Nonetheless, if wearing or holding gems helps with mindfulness or make you feel good, go for it! I believe psychosomatic responses can still bring healing.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any scholarly, peer reviewed articles on the metaphysical healing using gems. I’m open to understanding those who believe they’ve experienced benefits too.