The SOLO Guide to Gemstones and Their Meanings
Gemstones are obviously a huge part of SOLO. I choose them first for their color, shape, texture, and the way they look together. But I also love that every stone has a history and meaning associated with it.
Some are connected with strength and confidence. Others with calm, creativity, love, protection, or new beginnings. You may choose a necklace simply because you love the colors, or you may feel connected to the meaning behind a particular stone.
Gemstones are also sometimes dyed to create colors that may not occur naturally. Some stones take dye particularly well, including Howlite and Chalcedony, which is why you may see them in such a wide range of colors. A dyed gemstone is still a genuine gemstone, and the traditional properties and meanings associated with the stone remain the same.
Here is a guide to the gemstones you will find throughout SOLO jewelry and the properties traditionally associated with them.
Agate
Grounding • Balance • Stability
Agate is associated with grounding and emotional stability. It is believed to encourage balance and calm, particularly during times of change. Its natural layers and earthy tones are a reminder of slow, steady strength.
Apatite
Motivation • Clarity • Forward Movement
Apatite is associated with motivation and mental clarity. It is believed to help clear distraction and encourage forward movement, making it a stone often connected with creativity and goal setting.
Aventurine
Growth • Optimism • Opportunity
Aventurine is associated with growth, optimism, and opportunity. Its green color has long connected it with luck, abundance, and being open to new possibilities.
Black Spinel
Protection • Empowerment • Grounding
Black Spinel is associated with protection, empowerment, and grounding. It is believed to help release negativity and restore inner strength.
Bloodstone
Resilience • Strength • Endurance
Bloodstone is associated with resilience and grounded strength, particularly during challenging periods or transitions. Its deep green surface is often flecked with red, giving each stone its distinctive appearance.
Carnelian
Confidence • Creativity • Energy
Carnelian is associated with confidence, bold creativity, and motivation. Its fiery orange and red tones reflect the energetic qualities traditionally connected with the stone.
Chalcedony
Harmony • Calm • Soft Strength
Chalcedony is associated with emotional harmony and gentle strength. It is traditionally considered a calming stone, connected with lifting the spirit and finding a more balanced perspective. Chalcedony is a gemstone that is often dyed so you will see chalcedony in various colors.
Clear Quartz
Clarity • Energy • Intention
Clear Quartz is traditionally known as the “master healer” and is associated with amplifying energy and intention. It is also connected with focus, clarity, and balanced strength.
Dumortierite
Focus • Patience • Mental Clarity
Dumortierite is associated with mental clarity, focus, patience, and steady confidence. It is traditionally considered a grounding stone that encourages clear thinking and discipline, particularly when life feels overwhelming.
Howlite
Stillness • Perspective • Calm
Howlite is associated with stillness and perspective. Traditionally considered a calming stone, it is believed to help ease stress and overthinking. Its white surface with natural gray veining gives it an unmistakable look. Howlite is a natural gemstone that takes dye especially well, so you may see it in a variety of colors beyond its natural white.
Jade
Harmony • Protection • Prosperity
Jade has been treasured across cultures for centuries and is associated with harmony, protection, prosperity, and good luck. Its rich green color is also closely connected with abundance and emotional balance. While jade is best known for its green hues, it naturally occurs in a wide range of colors, including white, yellow, lavender, gray, black, and brown.
Jasper
Grounding • Support • Confidence
Jasper is often called the “nurturing stone” and is associated with grounding, stability, and quiet confidence. Its incredible variety of earthy colors and patterns makes it one of the stones I return to again and again in my designs.
Lapis Lazuli
Wisdom • Truth • Self Awareness
Lapis Lazuli is associated with wisdom, truth, and deep self awareness. Its intense blue color, often scattered with tiny gold colored flecks, has made it a prized stone for thousands of years.
Malachite
Transformation • Renewal • Growth
Malachite is associated with transformation and emotional renewal. Its vibrant green bands and swirls are unmistakable, and the stone has traditionally been connected with protection, growth, and inner strength.
Onyx
Strength • Focus • Protection
Onyx is associated with strength, grounding, and steady focus, particularly during periods of uncertainty. Black Onyx has traditionally been considered a protective stone that encourages stability and confidence.
Opal
Creativity • Openness • Transformation
Opal is associated with creativity, emotional openness, transformation, and fresh starts. Its shifting flashes of color are part of what makes it so special. The stone can look completely different depending on the light and angle.
Pearl
Grace • Self Worth • Wisdom
Pearls are associated with purity, grace, and self worth. Unlike gemstones formed within the earth, pearls develop slowly inside a living mollusk, giving them an organic beauty all their own.
Red Coral
Vitality • Passion • Forward Movement
Red Coral is associated with vitality, passion, and forward movement. Its saturated red color brings warmth and energy to jewelry and has traditionally been connected with strength and protection.
Rhodochrosite
Love • Compassion • Emotional Healing
Rhodochrosite is associated with love, compassion, and emotional healing. Known for its beautiful pink and rose tones, it often has natural white or cream banding that makes each stone unique.
Tiger's Eye
Courage • Focus • Clear Vision
Tiger's Eye is associated with courage, focus, and clear vision, particularly when making decisions or moving through uncertainty. Its golden brown bands seem to shift as they catch the light, giving the stone its signature glow. Tiger’s Eye is naturally found in golden brown, honey, amber, and deep brown tones, with distinctive bands that seem to shift as they catch the light. It also takes dye well and can be found in a variety of enhanced colors, including blue, green, red, and pink.
Turquoise
Protection • Expression • Well Being
Turquoise has been valued for thousands of years and is associated with protection, clear expression, and emotional well being. Its blue and green shades have also been connected with honest communication and positivity.
*Gemstone meanings come from cultural traditions, folklore, and modern crystal practices. They are shared here for their symbolic significance and are not medical or scientific claims.
