There is no gold in goldstone. Its glitter is copper, grown into countless tiny metal crystals inside a furnace starved of air. Goldstone is glass, made by people, and that copper sparkle is the whole reason to own one.
The goldstone meaning is ambition and good cheer. Often called the stone of ambition, it's a bright, glittering piece for keeping your spirits up while you chase a goal, and there's a one-glance check that tells it from sunstone, the natural stone it's most often confused with.
Goldstone quick facts
- Chakra: Sacral
- Zodiac: Sagittarius
- Element: Earth, air, fire, water
- Planet: Jupiter
- Color: Reddish brown with copper glitter, also deep blue, green and purple
- Hardness: About 5.5 to 6 on the Mohs scale, like other glass
- Made: In glassworks, by melting silica with copper in a sealed furnace
- Pairs with: carnelian, citrine, green aventurine
Glitter with a goal
Goldstone looks like a cloud of copper sparks frozen in glass, and its modern meaning starts there.
Ambition. Its bright glitter is linked to drive and to keeping your eyes on a goal, which is how it earned its nickname.
Good cheer. It's a stone for a lift on a dull day, a little sparkle within reach of your desk or bedside.
Confidence. As a sacral chakra stone, it's tied to creativity and to believing in your own ideas.
A goldstone amulet from 12th- to 13th-century Persia, now in the University of Pennsylvania's collection, shows the craft is old. In 1600s Venice the Doge, the city's elected ruler, granted the Miotti family an exclusive license to make it. A popular story credits monks with an accidental discovery, which is why it's sometimes called monk's gold, but no record from before the Miotti backs it up. Its Italian name, avventurina, comes from avventura, chance or adventure, and natural aventurine later borrowed the name, as our green aventurine guide tells.
Sacral chakra and Sagittarius
Goldstone is placed on the sacral chakra below the navel, the energy center of creativity and joy. Its sign is Sagittarius, the optimistic archer ruled by Jupiter, the planet of growth and good fortune, and some guides give it all four elements at once.
Red, blue, green and purple goldstone
- Red or brown goldstone: the classic copper kind, linked to ambition and drive. This is the goldstone in our towers.
- Blue goldstone: deep blue glass, made with cobalt, glittering like a starry sky and linked to calm and wishes.
- Green goldstone: colored with chromium, linked to growth and luck.
- Purple goldstone: made with manganese, linked to imagination.
Desks, studios and graduations
- On a desk, as a cheerful focus for a big goal
- In a creative space, for a spark of new ideas
- As a gift for a graduate or someone starting a business
- On a shelf, simply for the glitter
- Beside natural stones, as a bright contrast
A glittering tower
Set it out. Our goldstone tower is classic copper goldstone, standing upright with its glitter catching the light from every side as you walk past. Many people set a tower with its point aimed toward a goal list or a vision board, a small daily nudge in the right direction.
A spark for the week. On Monday morning, set your goldstone where the light hits it. Name the one thing you most want to get done this week. Each time it catches your eye, ask whether you've taken a step toward it today.
Goldstone or sunstone?
Goldstone is often mixed up with sunstone, and sometimes with aventurine. One look at the glitter usually settles it.
| Goldstone | Sunstone | Aventurine | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Man-made glass | Natural feldspar | Natural quartz rock |
| The sparkle | Tiny copper crystals, evenly spread like glitter | Flakes of copper or hematite, uneven | Flat flakes of mica, uneven |
| Color | Even reddish brown, or blue, green or purple | Peach, orange, red or golden | Mostly green, also other colors |
| The one-glance check | Perfectly even glitter from edge to edge | A soft, patchy shimmer | Scattered, patchy glints |
Ours is sold by its true name, goldstone.
Goldstone with carnelian, citrine and green aventurine
Carnelian shares the sacral chakra and adds bold orange courage, a natural partner for a goal stone, and our carnelian tree of life earrings are an easy way to carry it. Citrine brings sunny confidence to goldstone's drive, as in our citrine crystal chip bracelet and our citrine guide. Green aventurine, the natural stone named after goldstone, adds luck, and our raw green aventurine keychain keeps it close.
The rest of our sacral chakra stones are in our sacral chakra crystals.
Caring for goldstone
Goldstone is glass, about 5.5 to 6 on the Mohs scale, so it can chip if dropped and scratch if stored with quartz. Wipe it with a soft, damp cloth and dry it. It's safe in water, though sudden temperature changes can crack any glass.
Rest it on a windowsill overnight or beside a singing bowl to refresh it. Quick care facts for every stone we carry are in our crystal care chart. Every crystal in our shop is smudged with sage and charged in the moonlight before it ships.
Goldstone FAQ
Is goldstone man-made?
Yes. Goldstone is glass, made by melting silica with copper in a sealed furnace.
Does goldstone contain gold?
No. The golden glitter is copper.
Is goldstone the same as sunstone?
No. Sunstone is a natural feldspar. Goldstone is man-made glass whose glitter looks similar.
What does blue goldstone mean?
Blue goldstone, made with cobalt, is linked to calm, dreams and wishes.
Is goldstone valuable?
It's affordable, which makes it an easy gift. Its value is in the glitter, not in rarity.
Is goldstone a real stone?
It's real glass, not a natural stone, though it's been carved and polished like one for centuries.
See also: how to tell real crystals from man-made ones.
How copper becomes glitter
Goldstone starts as a melt of silica and copper oxide. The furnace is sealed so almost no air gets in, and the batch is held in a narrow band of temperature. Without oxygen, the copper can't stay dissolved as a colored oxide. Instead, it grows into countless tiny crystals of pure, metallic copper, each a shiny speck that catches the light. Then the batch is cooled into one solid mass, and the glassmaker cuts out the best, most evenly sparkling part from near its center.
Swap the copper for cobalt or manganese and the glass comes out blue or purple, and chromium makes green. For a time in Venice, making it was the work of one licensed family.
Each piece we sell is one of a kind, and the one pictured is the one you'll receive.