Blue Goldstone
man-made cobalt/manganese glass with metallic inclusions
Cobalt glass with copper crystals suspended in it, sold under a truly excellent name and a truly bad one, 'galaxy stone' is honest poetry, 'blue sandstone' is a lie. It is the same Venetian technology as red goldstone with a different colourant. People carry it for intuition, clarity and communication.
Seen · you don't have this one yet
Entirely manufactured, same process as red goldstone with cobalt, manganese or chromium replacing part of the copper. Sold very widely as 'blue sandstone', which is a misnomer — there is no sand and no stone.
Mineral facts
Hardness
5-6 Mohs
Formula
SiO2 glass + Co (blue) / Mn (purple) / Cr (green) + Cu
Family
man-made
Where it comes from
manufactured, principally China, India, Italy
What it is
Cobalt glass with copper crystals suspended in it, sold under a truly excellent name and a truly bad one, 'galaxy stone' is honest poetry, 'blue sandstone' is a lie. It is the same Venetian technology as red goldstone with a different colourant. The night-sky effect is entirely deliberate and entirely manufactured.
What it is confused with
lapis-lazuli, sodalite, aventurine, dyed-quartzite, sunstone
A deep, absolutely uniform midnight-blue (or purple, or green) glass carrying the same dense even cloud of tiny metallic flecks as red goldstone, the effect is a night sky, which is why it is sold as galaxy stone. The blue is a saturated cobalt tone with no variation, banding, zoning or matrix anywhere, which no natural blue mineral achieves. Round bubbles, swirl lines and occasional mould seams under 10x. Glassy conchoidal fracture on any chip.
Commonly faked · check before you buy
How to tell
Perfect colour uniformity plus perfectly even metallic sparkle plus round bubbles equals manufactured glass. Lapis has irregular calcite veining and unevenly distributed angular pyrite; blue goldstone has neither. Chip an edge and you get glassy conchoidal fracture with no grain.
Entirely manufactured, same process as red goldstone with cobalt, manganese or chromium replacing part of the copper. Sold very widely as 'blue sandstone', which is a misnomer, there is no sand and no stone.
What it means for you
The Moon is at 1° Scorpio today. Blue Goldstone is a man-made, 5-6 on the Mohs scale, and it is the stone traditionally carried when the problem is proximity rather than intensity.
You know what this one would do for you. You just don't have it.
Blue Goldstone for every sign
Aries
The night sky in it was designed by a person.
Sold as galaxy stone, which is honest poetry, and as blue sandstone, which is a lie, since there is no sand and no stone in it. Cobalt glass with copper crystals grown inside, same Venetian process, different colourant. The night sky in it was designed by a person.
Taurus
Same Venetian process as the red, different colourant.
Cobalt glass with copper crystals suspended in it, sold as galaxy stone, which is honest poetry, and as blue sandstone, which contains neither sand nor stone. Same Venetian process as the red, different colourant. The night sky in it was built on purpose by somebody with a furnace.
Gemini
There is no sand and no stone anywhere in it.
Two names for it, one honest. Galaxy stone is fair poetry and blue sandstone is a flat lie, because there is no sand and no stone anywhere in it. Cobalt glass with copper crystals suspended through it, the same Venetian process with the colourant swapped.
Cancer
The night sky effect was designed, and it works.
Cobalt glass with copper crystals suspended through it, sold as galaxy stone, which is honest, and as blue sandstone, which is not. There is no sand in it and no stone. The night sky effect was designed, and it works.
Leo
Galaxy stone is poetry. Blue sandstone is a lie.
Two names for it, one honest and one not. Galaxy stone is fair poetry for cobalt glass with copper flecks suspended through it. Blue sandstone is a lie, since no sand and no stone appear anywhere in the process. The absolutely uniform midnight blue gives it away.
Virgo
Galaxy stone is honest. Blue sandstone is a lie.
Galaxy stone is honest poetry. Blue sandstone is a lie, since there is no sand and no stone in it, only cobalt glass with copper crystals suspended through the melt. Chip an edge and you get glassy conchoidal fracture with no grain at all. The night sky was designed.
Libra
Galaxy stone is poetry. Blue sandstone is a lie.
Sold under one honest name and one dishonest one. Galaxy stone is poetry. Blue sandstone is a lie, because there is no sand in it and no stone either, only cobalt glass with copper flecks suspended through it. The night sky effect was designed by a person.
Scorpio
Galaxy stone is poetry. Blue sandstone is a fabrication.
Cobalt glass with copper crystals suspended through it, sold under one honest name and one dishonest one. Galaxy stone is fair poetry. Blue sandstone is a fabrication, since there is no sand and no stone anywhere in the material.
Sagittarius
Galaxy stone is honest poetry and blue sandstone is a lie.
Same Venetian process as the red version, with cobalt replacing part of the copper. Galaxy stone is honest poetry and blue sandstone is a lie, since there is neither sand nor stone in it. The night-sky effect was entirely deliberate.
Capricorn
Blue sandstone contains neither sand nor stone.
Same Venetian process as the red kind, with cobalt doing the body colour and copper doing the sparkle. It sells under one excellent name and one dishonest one: galaxy stone is fair poetry, blue sandstone contains neither sand nor stone. The night sky effect is entirely deliberate.
Aquarius
Galaxy stone is honest poetry. Blue sandstone is a lie.
Cobalt glass with copper crystals suspended through it, made by the same Venetian process with a different colourant. Galaxy stone is honest poetry for it. Blue sandstone is a lie, since there is no sand in it and no stone.
Pisces
Nothing in it is sand and nothing in it is stone.
The night sky effect is deliberate: cobalt glass carrying an even suspension of copper crystals, made the same way as the red version. Galaxy stone is a fair name for it. Blue sandstone is not, since nothing in it is sand and nothing in it is stone.
Correspondences
What tradition attaches to this stone. Folklore, not chemistry.
Element
spirit
Planet
Uranus
Chakra
third-eye, crown
Signs
sagittarius, aquarius, pisces
What tradition says
In crystal lore, blue goldstone is associated with ambition, learning and reaching beyond one's circumstances; as with all manufactured materials, practitioners disagree over whether the attributions carry.
Care
- Water is fine. Dry it afterwards.
- Inert glass; water and salt fine. Chips and scratches like any glass. Warm water and a soft cloth.
Contains cobalt or manganese compounds bound in a glass matrix, inert and safe to handle. Do not make elixirs from any manufactured glass.
Common questions
What does blue goldstone mean?
Blue Goldstone is carried for intuition, clarity and communication. Cobalt glass with copper crystals suspended in it, sold under a truly excellent name and a truly bad one, 'galaxy stone' is honest poetry, 'blue sandstone' is a lie.. Tradition links it to the third-eye, crown chakra.
Is blue goldstone real or fake?
Entirely manufactured, same process as red goldstone with cobalt, manganese or chromium replacing part of the copper. Sold very widely as 'blue sandstone', which is a misnomer — there is no sand and no stone.. Perfect colour uniformity plus perfectly even metallic sparkle plus round bubbles equals manufactured glass. Lapis has irregular calcite veining and unevenly distributed angular pyrite; blue goldstone has neither.. Entirely manufactured, same process as red goldstone with cobalt, manganese or chromium replacing part of the copper.
Can blue goldstone go in water?
A short rinse is fine for blue goldstone, then dry it.
Common · deep midnight blue with gold sparkle, violet-purple, bottle green
Where this leads
FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND REFLECTION. NOT MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FINANCIAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. How this works