Black Gemstones: List of 15 Black Gems

When you think of jewelry colors, do you imagine a shiny white diamond or rich red ruby? You might even imagine the reflective colors of moonstones before thinking about black gemstones.

Who wears black gemstone rings or jewelry? Maybe you’re thinking of the goth or emo crowd, but black jewelry isn’t exclusive. All you really need is an appreciation for the color black. Just like black clothing is known for being slimming, black gemstones offer their own aesthetic and magical benefits. 

Maybe you’re attracted to the mystical, dark, and witchy energy that black gemstones offer! Black gems are a great choice for jewelry, with their mysterious look, healing properties, and sometimes even rarity. You might be surprised to know that there are even some expensive black gemstones out there!

Here we’ll cover everything you need to know about black stones and crystals, including the black gemstones meaning, black gemstones names and pictures, healing properties, and lovely jewelry ideas to channel your deepest energies.

List of Black Crystals and Stones

• Onyx

• Tahitian Black Pearl

• Black Tourmaline

• Obsidian

• Black Jet

• Black Diamond

• Hypersthene

• Black Opal

• Black Garnet

• Black Jade

• Nummite

• Black Zircon

• Zebra Jasper

• Black Spinel

• Hematite

Before we dive into our list, what should we know about black gemstones' meaning?

Black Gemstones Meaning

Black gemstones don’t symbolize the evil you might imagine at first glance! These mysterious and intriguing crystals represent the balance between life and death, good and bad; they symbolize knowledge, protection, and, surprisingly enough, fertility. 

Fertile, black soil is the root of plant life, which gives life to virtually everything in the world! With this in mind, we can easily see the reason behind black’s fertile associations and the link between many black gemstones to the grounding root chakra. 

With darkness comes knowledge, as life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Black gemstones help us acknowledge deeper truths, both good and bad. They also symbolize clarity of thought, protection, and communication. Just think: the first forms of writing were black ink on white paper, the most visible, lasting color. 

Without further ado, let’s jump into our list!

Onyx

Onyx is a truly magical gemstone. Even Cleopatra wore onyx as a protective talisman. Legend has it that her onyx crystal vibrated to warn her about negative energies nearby!

Black onyx is a layered chalcedony with mystical bands of white along its dark black body. Color-wise, onyx is generally a black gemstone with white lines with an opaque luster. Although rare, completely black varieties exist as well. Be wary if someone tries to sell you an all-black onyx gemstone  — often, they are dyed since finding them naturally is rare.

Many women in history wore onyx for different reasons. Queen Victoria wore a black onyx ring to mourn the death of her husband, Prince Albert, making the stone popular for mourning fashion. However, Ancient Greeks sensed strength behind onyx gemstones that connected better to protection than grief.

Ranking a 7 Mohs mineral hardness scale, onyx got its name from the Greek word for claw, onux. Ancient Greek mythology posits that onyx is really goddess-of-love Aphrodite’s fingernails, which were mischievously cut by her son and companion Eros, better known as Cupid, before transforming into the gem.

Such divine connotations make sense when we take a look at onyx’s healing powers! First, they work like spiritual collagen, helping our skin, nail, and hair health! These dark orbs ward off negative energy, as well as relieve anxiety and pain associated with childbirth. Ladies, we can thank Aphrodite for that!

Funny enough, black crystal identification was sometimes tricky with onyx, as it was commonly confused for black sapphire. In contrast to sapphire, however, onyx is a pretty affordable stone, with a loose onyx gemstone typically costing around $15-$20. Add some slick darkness and mystery to your style without breaking the bank by sporting an onyx ring like Cleopatra and Queen Victoria!

Tahitian Black Pearl

No matter what you hear in Pirates of the Caribbean, a black pearl isn’t cursed! Black pearl gemstones are rare, gorgeous stones that channel the same ethereal femininity as their white counterparts! Found only in the South Pacific, Tahitian pearls are black because they form inside a black-lipped oyster called Pinctada margaritifera.

Born in water like white pearls, black pearls represent the gods’ tears in Greek mythology. This tear imagery also appears in the Bible, where Eve’s tears were thought to have turned into shiny pearls. Like a tear, these stones aren’t very durable, only ranking a 2.5-5 on the Mohs scale. 

While white pearls remind us of a full moon, Tahitian pearls are like the new moon. A symbol of new beginnings, it’s no surprise that crystal healers love using pearls to enhance fertility. With the feminine energy offered by this June birthstone, pearls connect with our heart chakra and support healing by rebalancing hormones and soothing deep emotional wounds.

Black Tourmaline

Black is the most common color in the list of diverse hues you’ll see in tourmaline, a boron silicate mineral. These black stones are members of the schorl family, a major species of tourmaline comprising 95% of the earth’s tourmaline. 

What does tourmaline mean? The stone gets its name from the Sinhalese tormalli, which means mixed-color gems. Fittingly, tourmaline forms in more colors than almost any other gem in the world. 

Remember how onyx reportedly vibrated to alert Cleopatra of negative energy? Black tourmaline has a similar feature through its pyroelectricity, the ability to hold an electrical charge when heated!

Black tourmaline is entirely opaque, with a 7-7.5 ranking on the Mohs scale. What is the best black gemstone? If we’re talking about protective properties, crystal healers will likely vote black tourmaline! Its hardness and durability are consistent with its reputation as the most protective gem. 

Black tourmaline is also known to boost your immune system, detoxify your body, absorb negative energies to turn them into positive ones, and soothe obsessive worries. 

Is your birthday coming up? December or January Capricorns get to call black tourmaline their zodiac stone. 

Obsidian

Did you know some gemstones can be repurposed into both jewelry and homeware? Obsidian is one! 

This volcanic glass variety was historically cut into weapons or spears and continues to be cut into arrowheads, albeit now as decorative carvings. After all, with a ranking of 5 on the Mohs mineral hardness scale, obsidian isn’t the first gemstone of choice for a fight!

As humans, we tend to live in conflict. We embody conflicting emotions, mistakes, good, evil, and everything in between. Obsidians reflect that same truth - they help us understand the yin and yang, the light and dark, of our souls. 

Obsidian’s truth urges crystal healers to seek guidance from the stone. Emotionally, obsidian helps us accept ourselves and frees up our root chakra for better stability and balance. 

When it comes to jewelry, crystal cutters shape obsidian into round, oval, and cabochon shapes to give them a shiny, polished look. Since they’re not as durable as other stones, be sure to store obsidian jewelry separately to prevent scratching. 

Black Jet 

Black jet is a lignite stone (AKA: brown coal) that comes from decaying wood. Immense pressure and heat fossilize the wood into lignite. 

Despite variable chemical compositions, all black jet gemstones share a richness in carbon. They were some of the earliest forms of black jewelry, with the Romans using them as hair accessories, pendants, and rings to deflect the negative energy of the evil eye! In addition to an onyx ring, Queen Victoria also wore black jet jewelry while she mourned her husband’s death. 

Depressing, right? Black jet isn’t all sadness and grief, though. Crystal healers love black jet for its emotional healing properties, as it is known to break negative patterns and offer wearers more stability, grounding, and clarity in life. This stabilizing property comes as no surprise if you know which zodiac black jet connects with — Capricorn —you can’t get more grounding than that!

Black Diamond

One of the four precious gemstones, diamonds are beloved symbols of love and commitment all over the world. 

Did you know that diamonds come in all sorts of colors, including black? Black diamonds are usually heat-treated white diamonds and don’t have the same high value. 

Are black crystals rare? If we’re talking about natural black diamonds — yes. Very rare. 

How do white diamonds turn black naturally? Through many dark inclusions and fractures. Most black diamonds have an opaque metallic-looking luster, while a select few have a more translucent look with peppered black throughout their white bodies. 

Some brides prefer a more dramatic wedding wing, opting for black diamond as a unique statement. Jewelry designers often pair black diamonds with white gold and platinum, or even with colorless diamonds, to highlight the stone’s striking hue.

This April birthstone sports an impressive 10 on the Mohs mineral hardness scale, making these carbon minerals some of the most durable gemstones in the world. Their healing properties include enhanced strength and clarity, and a boosted immune system. No wonder they’re named after the Greek word for “invincible”  — adamas!

Hypersthene

Hypersthene is also known as “velvet labradorite,” but don’t be fooled! Although you can find hypersthene in Labrador, Canada, the similarities end there. While hypersthene’s surface is soft and the stone brings us calming, soothing energy like velvet, it’s not part of the labradorite family. 

Instead, hypersthene is an iron magnesium silicate of the Pyroxene mineral family. You can find them as masses of small, prismatic crystals within feldspar deposits in Canada, China, Australia, the USA, and Norway. 

This black crystal has many emotional healing properties and can help you:

• Enhance self-love

• Increase confidence

• Embrace independence

• Find mental clarity

• Promote self-reflection

Hypersthene is hard at work on our sense of self-worth; so, it makes sense that it connects to not just one, but 5 chakras — root, solar plexus, throat, third eye, and crown. 

Black Opal

Australia is the only place you can find black opals, the rarest of all opal varieties. One specimen called “The Virgin Rainbow” sits in an Adelaide museum, valued at $1 million. Not only does it have a rich, luscious black color; it also features the traditional opal’s play of color in such a way that it glows in the dark! Clearly, black opal is a black crystal that changes your life both spiritually and financially. 

An October birthstone, opals get their name from the ancient Greek opallos, which means “to see a change.” Greeks might also yell a frustrated “Opa!” if they scratch an opal, as the stone’s ranking of 5 on the Mineral hardness scale makes it quite delicate!

What about spiritual healing with black opals? Crystal healers use black opals to restore and cleanse the body. Nicknamed the “Stone of Prediction,” black opals help you communicate more freely and maintain a more organized home!

What else is black opal used for? Believe it or not, makeup! Indeed, black opal flakes are sometimes used in cosmetics to create heavenly, shimmery shades of black eye shadow.

Black Garnet

Garnet embodies a large family of crystals, including ugrandites and pyralspites. These stones symbolize passion and everlasting love and derive their name from the Latin granatum, meaning seed, after their resemblance to pomegranate seeds. 

Ancient travelers and tradesmen wore garnets to light their way across treacherous roads, while early Anglo-Saxons decorated their weapons with garnets for good luck and added strength. 

Black garnets symbolize strength, feminine energy, and safety. Their grounding energy links them with the lower chakras and helps us feel more stable, similar to other grounding black gemstones. 

Since there are so many different garnets, prices range dramatically, from $500 - $10,000 per carat. Perfect for both the spender and the saver!

Black Jade

Jade is a semi-precious gemstone that encompasses both jadeite and nephrite. Both varieties come in black (and many other colors) and score between a 6 and 7 on the Mohs mineral hardness scale. 

Jadeite is a sodium aluminum silicate, and nephrite is a calcium magnesium silicate. You might imagine regal green stone carvings of Chinese dragons and statues when you think of jade. That’s because the stone’s history dates back to 2000 BC China! 

Similar to the balancing symbolism of other black gemstones like obsidian, jade symbolizes the connection between nature and heaven! That’s why you might notice jade statues of animals like dragons and tortoises. 

Once a spiritual stone, jade became a symbol for social power, as the 18th-century Emperor Qianlong collected immense quantities of jade. He even loved jade enough to write poems about it. 

Jade has many healing properties, including:

• Reduced skin redness

• Enhanced blood circulation

• Boosted immune system

• Body detoxification

• Improved kidney health

• Increased self-love and confidence

With its ability to increase self-love, jade aligns with our heart chakra. If you’re feeling scared, emotionally repressed, or distrusting of others, hold a jade stone close to open up your heart chakra and help you feel nurtured. 

Nuummite

Nuummite is also known as the “Sorcerer’s Stone,” but it’s been around long before Harry Potter. At 3 billion years old, this metamorphic rock is one of the oldest minerals ever discovered on Earth.

Where can you find these ancient rocks? Way up north in Greenland! The nation’s capital, Nuuk, gave this stone its name after its discovery there in 1810. 

Like other black gemstones, nuummite symbolizes life and death. It’s also one of the most grounding crystals around. Nuummite in particular represents the unknown -— which might seem scary for some. Still, the stone actually offers us a sacred space to connect with a higher power, serving as a bridge between the physical and metaphysical. 

Let’s check out another one of the world’s oldest gemstones!

Black Zircon

Mystical zircon displays flashes of light in different colors, not too different from the refractive index of diamonds! This December birthstone hosts some radioactive elements within its body, specifically uranium, thorium, and hafnium. 

Ancient Indian mythology names zircon as a spiritual stone that populated the sacred Kalpa Tree as its green crystal “leaves.” Now, zircon signifies prosperity, purity, and fidelity.

Crystal healers applaud zircon’s emotional and spiritual benefits, like improving self-confidence, enhancing mental clarity, and attracting benevolent people into your life. 

Want to channel that positive energy with zircon jewelry? You can do so on a budget, since zircon is very affordable! For that reason, home decorators and craftsmen also use it in ceramics. 

Zebra Jasper

A beloved member of the quartz and chalcedony families, jasper has an opaque appearance and comes in all sorts of colors. Unsurprisingly, the zebra variety resembles the savannah horse, with black and white stripes throughout! 

Zebra jasper supports emotional balance and sympathy while helping you stay on track towards your goals. Its black and white colors suggest balance, as do its seemingly contrasting properties of strength, willpower, sympathy, and happiness. 

If you’re going through a rough patch in life like a stressful job, for example, consider carrying a zebra jasper stone with you to help you overcome your struggle and reach your goals!

Black Spinel

You might think of a ruby-looking gemstone when you imagine spinel. But spinel comes in many colors, including black! These isometric oxides comprise iron, zinc, and magnesium. Other stones are often just one mineral - spinel, on the other hand, is actually a cluster of minerals: gahnite, hercynite, picotite, galaxite, pleonaste, and ceylonite. 

Deriving its name from the Latin spina, or “thorn,” spine helps us balance our sometimes prickly emotions. Personal traumas and emotional wounds mitigate as spinel gives you the power to self-soothe. Other healing properties include:

• Reduced inflammation of the nerves

• Protection from negative energy

• Enhancing mental capacity

Spinel scores an impressive 7.5 ranking on the Mohs mineral hardness scale, providing durability that allows lapidaries to cut them into any shape.

You can wear spinel gemstones cut in round, emerald, cushion, oval, and octahedron shapes. 

Hematite

Hematite is an important source of iron, similar to the red blood in steak. Maybe that’s no coincidence, considering hematite gets its name from the Greek hema, meaning “blood.”  

These dark, iron oxide minerals are 70% iron, making them one of the heaviest gemstones around! Heaviness doesn’t always translate to durability, though, since hematite only ranks a 5-6.5 on the Mohs mineral hardness scale.

Hematite is often cut into cabochons and beads, showcasing a smooth, dreamy black surface for your gemstone jewelry. Wearing hematite beads is a great way to channel grounding energy, no matter where you are. Plus, the way they glimmer in the light is an added style bonus!

Find Your Foundation With Black Gemstones!

By now, you know all the best black gemstones names and properties to help you pick the best black gemstone jewelry for your style and personality. 

Don’t know where to start? Browse our black gemstones for sale today!

Hematite

Onyx

Tahitian Pearls

Zebra Jasper