As I did a search on eBay recently on the term ‘titanium drusy’ I was struck by the fact that 95% of the listings were not titanium drusy at all, but rather stones with some paint slapped on them, being passed off as the real thing. In this article I will try to shed some light on what titanium drusy is, and how to tell the fake ones apart.

Drusy (also spelled as druzy) stones have become very popular over the last few years, becoming an accepted genre of gems as prominent designers have won prestigious awards with jewelry featuring drusy gemstones.

Drusies are created by a natural process that forms tiny crystals on a matrix surface. The beauty of drusy comes from the sparkle of these crystals. Drusy formations can be created from various minerals but the most common are agates.

Drusies are beautiful in their own right, but they are often enhanced in a chemical process called Chemical Vapor Deposition(CVD) in which the drusies are exposed in a gaseous environment that contains a metal like titanium. During the process the metal bonds on a molecular level with the mineral resulting in a spectacular rainbow of colors. By varying the metals and process parameters a host of colors and shades can be created. The most common compound used is titanium but others are cobalt, Silicone-Dioxide, gold, and silver.

Titanium drusy has built quite a reputation for its beauty. Good quality drusy stones and the CVD process used to coat them are expensive yet critical to create a beautiful, sparkling gemstone. Unfortunately, unscrupulous manufacturers and sellers are using the reputation of titanium drusy to sell cheap knock-offs. The most common shortcut is to take a stone with a jagged surface (may or may not be genuine drusy) and coat it with a colored paint. Unfortunately, the vast majority of so-called 'titanium drusy' listings on eBay falls in this category.

Fortunately, fake titanium drusy is rather easy to recognize. The paint used in the knock-offs tends to settle in the grooves of the drusy and evens out the surface, the crystalline structure looses in definition and sparkle. Below are some pictures of fakes, note how the surface has lost its jagged edges. The 3rd picture of a stone marketed as silver coated drusy, yet it is merely a silver colored paint:

And here are some pictures of the genuine titanium and silver coated drusies, note how the crystal structure is preserved, this is what gives the gemstone its marvelous color and sparkle:

I hope this guide gave you an insight into the value of the gemstone so that you can make an educated purchase. If you found it helpful, please consider giving it your vote. Happy shopping.