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Real vs Fake Crystals & Gemstones

Plenty of “crystals” for sale are dyed, heat-treated, reconstituted, glass or synthetic. None of that is necessarily fraud — but you should know what you’re buying. Below are the universal tests, then guides for the stones that are faked most.

Quick tests before you buy

Too perfect, too cheap, too saturated: uniform electric colour across a whole batch usually means dye or glass.
Bubbles: trapped round bubbles mean glass, not crystal.
Temperature: real stone feels cool and warms slowly; glass and plastic warm fast.
Hardness: glass is ≈5.5 — real quartz (7) scratches it, not the other way round.
Dye in cracks: colour pooling in fractures is a dye giveaway (common in agate and “turquoise” howlite).

Real vs fake, stone by stone

Frequently asked questions

Is heat-treated citrine fake?

Most citrine on the market is heat-treated amethyst. It’s real quartz, just not naturally that colour — look for the white base and concentrated orange tips. More on citrine ›

How can I tell real turquoise from howlite?

Dyed howlite mimics turquoise cheaply. Howlite is softer (Mohs ≈3.5 vs turquoise ≈5–6), white with grey veining, and the dye often rubs off with acetone. More on turquoise ›