Stones
Pandora promises an array of eye-catching stones that add sparkle and color to your precious pieces. Explore our variety of different stones and how they work in our hand-finished jewelry designs.
Durability
A stone’s durability is an important factor in determining the type of jewelry it's best for and to indicate how to care for and treat the stone. Gemstone durability is measured in three categories: hardness, toughness and stability.
Hardness
Hardness is an expression of the stone’s ability to resist scratches. The Mohs scale is commonly used to rate hardness and ranks minerals from one to ten, with ten being the hardest.
Toughness
Toughness is measured by how well a stone resists breaking, chipping or cracking on impact. Every stone, even a diamond, will fracture if it is hit hard enough. Toughness is rated as either poor, fair, good, excellent or exceptional.
Stability
A material will be altered by exposure to light, heat or chemicals and its tendency towards alteration is referred to as it 'stability'. Many stones should not be exposed to acids and some, such as amethysts, are light sensitive, fading if exposed to strong light for long periods.
Stone treatments
Referring to parts of the process controlled by humans, with the exception of cutting and polishing which improve the appearance, durability or value of a gemstone, treatments are a way of refining a stone’s appearance and are comparable to the way in which other natural materials, such as leather and cotton, are treated through processes such as tanning, bleaching or scouring.
Bleaching
Lightens and whitens gems such as pearls.
Diffusion
Adds color to the surface of colorless gems, while the center remains colorless.
Dyeing
Adds color and improves color uniformity in stones and pearls.
Fracture Filling
Injects colorless plastic or glass into a stone to hide cracks or fractures and improve the stone’s clarity and durability.
Heat
Lightens, darkens or changes the color of stones or improves clarity.
Impregnation
Improves appearance and diminishes imperfections by adding colorless oils, wax or resins to a stone.
Irradiation
Deepens or adds color to colored diamonds, stones and pearls.
Laser drilling
Removes dark inclusions from diamonds to improve clarity.
Keep your Pandora perfect
Keep your Pandora collection as sparkly as you are! Discover how to clean your jewelry and give it the care it deserves.