18 Types of White Stones for Jewelry

Do you like white stones in jewelry? White is an elegant color that matches any other, and white gems, whether as pendants or beads, give your overall look the desirable glints and highlights such as only the color white can give. Want to know the different kinds of white gemstones? Here is a list of white rocks worn on jewelry, from the most expensive to the more affordable.

White Moonstone Bracelet

A raw crystal of white diamond
Source: Helgi via Wikimedia Commons

White Diamond

Diamonds are arguably the most popular gemstones of all, not least among the white stones. Diamonds are clear in their purest form, but actually occur in a great variety of color, including red, yellow, green, black and translucent white gems. The white precious stones are the hardest mineral known to humanity, earning the white rocks the highest prices among precious stones. The white gemstones are the traditional and modern birthstone for the month of April, both in the Western and the Hindu calendar. See —

A shell fossilized in opal
Source: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

White Opal

Opal comes in a great variety of colors, including black, red, yellow, green, with the most common being the opaque white stones called milk opals. Like other opals, the white gemstones can reflect many colors, owing to their internal structure that diffracts light. The white precious stones are the traditional and modern birthstones for the month of October. Around 97% of the white gems come from Australia, which accordingly designated opals as the country’s national gemstone.

White Spinel

Though popularly known for their red color, spinels also come in translucent to opaque stones of but very light shade. These white rocks are called white spinels. There used to be an occurrence of the natural white gemstones in Sri Lanka, but the white stones are now lost. Hence, most of the white gems in the market now are synthetic, not natural.

A white londonite crystal
Source: Leon Hupperichs via Wikimedia Commons

White Rhodizite and Londonite

While also available in yellow, rhodizite and londonite occur as white stones. The white rocks are borate minerals similar to salt but resistant to weathering. While the two white gemstones are visually indistinguishable, londonite is a relatively new species of white rocks whose approval as a separate mineral was made only in 1999. These white gems are differentiated from their rhodizite cousin with their richer cesium content. Gem-quality londonite comes from Madagascar, while white jewels of the rhodizite species are found in Madagascar, Russia and the United States.

A white star sapphire
Source: Daniel Torres, Jr. via Wikimedia Commons

White Star Sapphire

Star sapphires are sapphires that give a six-rayed star shine when struck by a single light source. While sapphires are popularly known to be blue in color, star sapphires also naturally occur as white stones. Sapphires in general are the traditional birthstone for April and the zodiac sign Taurus, but have been made the modern birthstones for the month of September, while the precious stones are assigned to the month of July in the Hindu calendar.

White Moonstone Necklace

White Moonstone

As white as the name sounds, moonstones are pearly, opalescent white stones, which come from the family of minerals called feldspars, along with sunstone, oligoclase and andesine. The white gemstones are composed of alternate layers of orthoclase and albite, which refract light, giving the white gems the appearance of glowing from within. The white rocks were traditional birthstones for the month of August, but have been made the modern birthstones for June. See also Moonstone: Stone of Security.

Awesome white crystals of beryllonite
Source: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Beryllonite

Beryllonite is a rare species of white gems. The white gemstones may be transparent in clarity, but their refractive index is no higher than quartz; hence, the white stones do not make very brilliant gemstones. The white rocks were first discovered in Maine, United States in 1888.

White Jade Bracelet

White Jade

White jade comes from the kind of jade called nephrite. The white stones may be translucent or opaque. The Chinese call the translucent white gemstones by the term mutton fat jade, and the opaque white rocks by the name chicken bone jade. The white semi-precious stones were highly prized in China and New Zealand. See also Jade: Stone of Fortune.

White Cassiterite

While usually black, cassiterite also occurs as white stones, as well as red and yellow. The white gemstones are generally opaque, but are translucent in thin crystals. The white rocks are a tin ore, with cassiterite in general providing the most important source of tin to this day.

White crystals of prehnite
Source: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

White Prehnite

While usually green or yellow, prehnite also occurs as white stones. The white gemstones are translucent, though sometimes transparent. The white gems were the first mineral to be named after a person, having been named after Hendrik Von Prehn, a Dutch commander in South Africa.

Want to see the rarest of these white gemstones? Jump to —

10 Rarest White Stones for Jewelry
Bizzare extraordinary white crystals of andalusite

White Andalusite and Kyanite

Available in yellow and green, andalusite also occurs as white stones. The clarity of the white rocks varies from transparent to nearly opaque. The white gemstones were named from Andalusia, Spain, where the white gems were first discovered in 1789. Andalusite and kyanite are largely similar minerals belonging to the aluminosilicate series.

A white crystal of oligoclase

White Oligoclase

While also available in shades of yellow, red and green, oligoclase, otherwise known as India sunstone, occurs as white stones. These white gemstones are feldspar like orthoclase, moonstone, sunstone and andesine. The white rocks range in clarity from translucent to opaque. While the white semi-precious stones are traditionally sourced from India and Sri Lanka, excellent and accordingly expensive specimens of the white gems are found in Brazil.

Gorgeous white crystals of danburite
Source: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

White Danburite

Though danburite usually occurs as colorless stones, danburite may be cloudy enough to appear white. The white gemstones in this sense are similar to diamond, clear yet white in appearance, though the white rocks are not as brilliant as diamond. The white stones were named after the city of Danbury in the U.S., where the white gems were first discovered in 1839. The white jewels are also found in Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

Pieces of white pearls

White Pearl

Pearls are typically round white stones that occur, not by geologic activity, but by biological processes. The white gemstones are formed when foreign bodies, like sand, are lodged inside shelled mollusks, which coat the foreign particles with calcium carbonate to relieve the discomfort. While the white precious stones used to be the traditional birthstones for the months of February and November, the white gems are now designated as the modern birthstones for the month of June, both in the US and Britain, as well as in the Hindu calendar. South sea pearls can be very expensive, but cultured freshwater pearls may be rather affordable.

White Chalcedony Bracelet

White Chalcedony

While chalcedony is a family of variously colored quartz — including agate, onyx, jasper, carnelian and bloodstone — the name chalcedony is generally used to refer to the white gemstones, including the valuable white gems with bluish sheen. The white stones may also be extracted from the white portions of agate or onyx. See also Chalcedony: Stone of Virtue.

Jasper Bracelet

White Jasper

Jasper is a variety of chalcedony that is most often opaque and consisting of different colors. The white gemstone comes from several varieties of jasper, including Mookaite and ocean jasper. Jasper in general is the birthstone for the month of March, and is associated with the zodiac signs Aries, Aquarius and Virgo.

A piece of howlite
Source: Ra’ike via Wikimedia Commons

Howlite

Howlites are usually opaque white rocks streaked with grey or black veins. The white gemstones are rather soft, but remain valuable for jewelry, since the white stones are found only in two places in the world: Canada and the United States of America.

White Aventurine

While most commonly green, aventurine also occurs as white stones, as well as yellow and brown. Like chalcedony, the white gemstones are a form of quartz, but distinguished from the former with their translucence, as well as platy shimmer called aventurescence. The creamy white semi-precious stones are found in Chile, Spain and Russia.

A piece of raw milk quartz
Source: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Milk Quartz

Like chalcedony, citrine and tiger’s eye, milk quartz, or milky quartz, are white rocks that come from the quartz family. The white stones, however, are seldom used for jewelry due to their rough cloudiness, not to mention that the white gemstones are the most common type of opaque quartz, found almost anywhere.

Other White Stones

There exist other species of white stones, but these white rocks are rather rarely used in jewelry. These white stones include analcime, albite, orthoclase, euclase, anglesite, datolite, fosterite, hambergite, jeremejevite and kaliborite. There are also other sources of white gemstones for jewelry-making beside actual stones. White bones can be made into elegant pieces of jewelry. Ivory or elephant tusks had also been popularly made into jewelry, as have white corals; but the author does not advocate the poaching of wild animals or the destruction of coral reefs, so he won’t endorse these materials for jewelry-making.

Are you looking for white gems to wear or make into jewelry? The color white matches any other color, and jewelries with white stones in them are great to complement your outfit. However, if you are looking for stones, not actually white, but clear, see also Clear Gemstones in Jewelry.

Published October 15, 2013