PADMARAGAYA :

Synonym for padparadscha(h)/ padmaradscham.

PADMARADJA :

Synonym for padparadscha(h).

PADPARADSCHA :

Etym. from the word (Singalese) : padparash = dawn

other : derivation from the words : Pati = Lord, and Radja = King signifies : royal amulet

= a natural sapphire of yellow-orange colour to reddish-orange (the colour of dawn), (also said to have the colour of a lotus flower)

PAEDEROS :

A Synonym of opal

PAGODlTE :

Variety of pyrophyllite or of agalmatolite (a dense variety of pyrophyllite) containing also other elements such as Fe, Mn , Ni or Cr ; with this material the Chinese make small sculpted objects

- colour : marbled red and grey, yellowish, greenish , blackish

- Hardness : 2 to 3

- S.G. : 2.75 to 2.80

- R.I. : ± 1.6

The name of Pagodite is sometimes used to designate objects in steatite.

PAINITE :

Boro-silicate of calcium and of aluminium

5Al₂O₃ . Ca₂[(Si,BH)O₄]

Physical and optical properties:

- Colour : ruby red

- Transparency : transparent

- Hardness : 7.5 to 8

- S.G. : 4.01

- I. R. : 1.787 – 1.816

- Birefringence : 0.029

- Uniaxial negative
- System hexagonal

PAISBERGITE :

Synonym for pajsbergite.

PAI YU :

Chinese Name for designating a jadeite or a nephrite of white colour.

PAJSBERGITE :

Variety of rhodonite, crystallised, of pale pink colour associated to Quartz and found at Pajsberg in Sweden.

PALAEOALBITE :

Original old name used for scapolite.

PANTAURE :

A Name given in ancient times to emerald .

PANTHA :

Indian Name for a white and translucent jadeite .

PAO YU :

Synonym for Pai Yu.

PAPHOS DIAMOND :

Prohibited Appellation for a Quartz

PARACOLUMBITE :

Synonym of ilmenite.

PARADISE JASPER :

Local Name for designating a jasper showing different shades of reds and coming from Morgan Hill California

PARADOXITE :

Variety of orthose.

PARAILMENITE :

Synonym of ilmenite.

PARALOGITE :

Variety of white scapolite (hardness 7.5)

PARANTHINE :

Mineralogical Name for scapolite.

PARTSCHENITE :

Variety of spessartite garnet from the Partschen-Alps in Tyrol

PASSAUITE :

Variety of scapolite.

PASTE :

Name given to glass when it is used as an imitation of gemstones.

PASTELLITE :

Variety of Quartz

PATE de RIZ :

French Name given to an imitation in glass for nephrite .

PAULITE :

Regional Name for hyperstene.

Etym. : from the Isle of St Paul, of the coast of Labrador

PEARL of FIRE :

Synonym for billitonite .

PECHGRANAT :

German Name. Variety of melanite garnet of a brown nearly black colour.

PECHOPAL :

German name. Variety of common opal, known equally under the name of resinite opal .

PECKLAMITE :

Synonym for enstatite.

PECTOLITE or PEKTOLITH :

Silicate of Calcium ; semi-translucent to opaque, compact and fibrous mineral

2[NaCa₂Si₃O₈OH]

Colours :white to greyish

Hardness : 5

S.G. : 2.87

System : monoclinic

PECTOLITE JADE :

Prohibited Appellation for a pectolite.

PEDEROS :

Name given in ancient times to emerald.

PEDRA VERDE :

Name given by the Portuguese to a nephrite.

PEGANITE :

Variety of variscite from Saxony

PEGMATOLITE :

Common Orthose; milky, mostly pink the colour of skin

PEIPING JADE :

Is in general designating nephrite ; name serving equally to designate small jadeites sold on the market of Peiping ; one of the three biggest markets in China for jade .

PELHAMINE :

Variety of greyish green serpentine from Pelham in Massachusetts.

PELIOM :

Variety of cordierite, dark blue or blue with reddish veins .

PENCIL STONE :

English Name serving to designate agalmatolite.

PENSYLVANIA DIAMOND :

Prohibited Appellation for a pyrite.

PEPLOLITE :

Alteration of cordierite.

PERCIVALITE :

Variety of jadeite.

PEREDELL :

German term. Variety of greenish yellow citrine called equally fraudulesly chrysolite from Saxony

PEREDELL TOPAZ :

German term. Serves equally to designate a light green to yellowish green topaz .

PERIDOT :

Etym. from the Greek peridone = giving with profusion

(Mg, Fe)₂SiO₄

Physical and optical properties:

- Colour : yellow green to yellow olive, green asperagus, green yellowish, green brownish, green

- Transparency : transparent

- Hardness : 6.5 to 7

- S.G. : 3.2 to 3.5 up to 4.5

- R.I. : 1,654 (+0.014)- 1,710 (+0.013 / -0.004)

- Birefringence : 0.036 to 0.038

- Dispersion : 0.012 to 0.013

- Biaxial positive or negative

- Trichroism weak to very weak : colourless to pale green, vivid green, yellow green

- System : orthorhombic

(ORIENTAL) PERIDOT :

Prohibited Appellation for an olive green sapphire

PERIDOT from BRAZIL :

Prohibited Appellation for a green-yellowish tourmaline .

PERIDOT from CEYLON :

Prohibited Appellation for a greenish yellow, honey-yellow or green tourmaline

PERIDOTITE :

Rock counting for numerous varieties associating pyroxenes and the peridots, and containing minerals of the group of the spinels and sometimes of the pyrope garnets

PERIGEM :

Commercial Name for a synthetic spinel of light yellow- greenish colour

PERISTERITE :

Equally called " stone of the devil " ; iridescent variety of albite

colour generally brown-pink, white or creamy with blue reflections, yellow greenish or green-yellowish, it resembles sometimes labradorite

S.G. : 2.62

R.I. : ± 1.54

PERLE or PERLE FINE :

French for a natural not cultivated pearl.

(NATURAL) PEARL :

Etym. , depending on the authors, from the medieval Latin : perle = ball, or from the Latin perula signifying ‘small bag’ , or either from pirula , diminutive for pirus, signifying small pear.

Natural secretion from molluscs composed of concentric layers of oran organic material

( conchyne ) and of calcium-carbonate generally under the form of aragonite (formation of nacre around an intruder element for ex. sand grain)

CaCO₃ + chonchyne ( C₂₂H₄₈N₂O₁₁ )

Physical and optical properties:

- Colour : white, grey, black, silver, pink, golden, yellowish, greenish, creamy

- Hardness : 2.5 to 4.5

- S.G. : 2.61 to 2.78

- R.I. : 1.53 – 1.69

- Birefringence : 0.160

(BLISTER) PEARL :

It are pearl formations (in general of irregular form ) due to a protuberance - natural growth deformation of the inner face of the shell

(CULTURED) PEARL :

Pearl of which the birth and/or the volume is due to human intervention.

Physical and optical properties : same as (natural) pearl

S.G. : 2.70 to 2.90

Hardness : 2.5 to 4

(MABE) PEARL :

A protuberant pearl growth provoked artificially by man on the internal face of the shell .

PEREGRINA PEARL :

‘La Peregrina ‘ meaning : ‘The Pilgrim’ is one of the most famous pearls ever discovered.

History : Details surrounding its discovery are hazy but according to one legend, it was found somewhere in the Americas by a slave diver in the 16th century. The coast of Panama is the most likely place where this one-of-a-kind pearl was discovered as that area was the biggest pearl producer on the new American continent during the early period of Spanish colonization.

Apparently, Spanish colonial authorities thought the find was so significant that they gave this slave freedom as his reward for discovering this remarkable specimen. Weighing at slightly more than ten grams, this egg-sized pearl is famous for its beauty. 

The name given to the pearl is an ideal one since it perfectly portrays the vagabond nature of the pearl. Translated from Spanish, La Peregrina means "The Pilgrim". It was owned by many famous people from different countries, including Philip II of Spain and Napoleon III. It kept on changing hands until 1969 when Elizabeth Taylor became the owner of it.

PERLE CHICOT :

Very old term French term. Synonym for blister pearl.

PERLES des CAVERNES :

French term. Calcareous structures ( oolithes ) attaining at maximum the size of a pea. They are encountered in stagnant waters in caves and certain thermal springs( in Germany at the thermal station of Carlsbad : called ‘dragées (= pills) de Carlsbad’ ).

PERLE de FEU:

French term. Tektite, See agni-mani.

PERLITE :

Variety of grey obsidian or obsidian with a concentric structure

PERLMUTTEROPAL :

German term. Synonym for cacholong.

PERSPEX :

Synonym for diakon, See plastic .

PERTHITE :

Etym. from the town of Perth in Canada

Variety of orthose-albite feldspar with silvery lustre and forming often the veins in amazonite.

PETALITE :

Etym. : from petal, allusion to the foliated disposition of the cleavage directions

Li₂Al₂Si₈0₂₀

Physical and optical properties :

- Colour : colourless, white or grey, yellow pale, greenish or reddish

- Transparency : transparent to opaque

- Hardness : 6 to 6.5

- S.G. : 2.39 to 2.56

- R.I. : 1.502 (+0.003) – 1.518 (+0.001 –0.003)

- Birefringence : 0.016 (0.012-0.017)

- Biaxial positive

- Pleochroism : none

- System : monoclinic

PETRILITE :

Synonym of orthoclase.

PETSCHITE :

Variety of violet scapolite from Tanzania, discovered in 1975

PETUNZE :

Variety of orthose.