Let’s journey around the globe to explore where carnelian is found, what makes each locale unique, how to spot the subtle differences in grade and color, and the various trade names. Lovely, warm reddish-brown carnelian is July's second or alternative birthday crystal. Carnelian, sometimes spelled cornelian, is a reddish‑orange variety of chalcedony - part of the quartz family - that’s been prized since antiquity for its warm glow and rich symbolism. Its name likely derives from the Latin caro, meaning “flesh,” reflecting the stone’s range of hues from pale peach to deep burnt orange. Yet carnelian isn’t alone in its color family: it’s often confused or conflated with sard, sardonyx…