A Little Guide to the Mohs Scale
If you’ve ever shopped for a gemstone, you may have seen a number attached to it: turquoise is a 5–6, quartz is a 7, sapphire is a 9, diamond is a 10.
Those numbers refer to the Mohs scale of hardness. And while they tell us something useful about how a stone will behave in jewelry, they don't tell us whether a stone is beautiful, valuable, natural, or even necessarily how durable it is.
So what do they mean?
The Mohs scale was developed in the early 1800s by mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. It ranks minerals from 1 to 10 based on their resistance to scratching. A harder mineral can scratch a softer one. Diamond sits at 10 (the hardest); talc sits at 1 (the softest).
But there are two important things to understand:
The Mohs scale measures scratch resistance, not overall strength.
And the scale isn't linear. A 10 isn't simply twice as hard as a 5. In fact, the difference between diamond at 10 and sapphire at 9 is much greater than those neighboring numbers might suggest.
The Mohs Scale: Hardness is not quality.
A softer stone isn't a lower-quality stone.
Mohs hardness describes one physical property of a mineral: its resistance to scratching. It doesn't grade the beauty, rarity, value, or quality of an individual stone.
Turquoise is a perfect example. It generally falls around 5–6 on the Mohs scale, while ruby and sapphire sit at 9. That doesn't make a beautiful piece of turquoise somehow “lesser” than a sapphire. They are simply different natural materials with different characteristics.
And within turquoise itself, we see enormous natural variation in color, matrix, texture, and character.
That's part of why we love it.
Hardness is one characteristic of a stone. It isn't a beauty score.
The Mohs Scale: Hardness is only one part of durability.
When we're deciding how a stone should be set, worn, and cared for, hardness is only part of the story. Gemstone durability also involves toughness and stability.
Hardness: How easily will it scratch?
Toughness: How easily will it chip or break if it's hit?
Stability: How well does it tolerate things like heat, chemicals, light, or moisture?
Diamond is the hardest natural mineral on Earth, but even a diamond can chip if struck in just the wrong place. “Hardest” doesn't mean “indestructible.”
The Mohs Scale: What does this mean for the jewelry you wear?
8–10: Very scratch resistant
Diamond, sapphire, ruby, and topaz live toward the harder end of the scale. They're generally very resistant to everyday scratching, although no stone is damage-proof.
Around 7: Pretty darn resilient
Quartz-family stones, including amethyst and citrine, sit around 7.
That's important because quartz is also incredibly common in the world around us, including in ordinary dust and sand. Materials softer than quartz can therefore pick up scratches through everyday life more easily than people might expect.
Around 5–6: Wear it, love it, take care of it
Turquoise lives here.
A 5–6 doesn't mean:
“Don't wear this.”
It means:
“Know what you're wearing.”
We don't believe jewelry is meant to spend its life tucked safely in a box. We make ours to be worn. But knowing what you're wearing helps you love it well.
The Mohs Scale: Where you wear a stone matters, too.
A turquoise pendant and a turquoise ring may contain exactly the same material, but they live very different lives.
Think about everything your hands encounter in a day: countertops, door handles, bags, gardening, exercise, hand washing, soaps, and lotions. Rings and bracelets naturally experience much more impact and abrasion than a pendant hanging safely against your chest or a pair of earrings.
That's why a softer stone isn't automatically unsuitable for jewelry. The piece it's set into, and the way you wear it, matters enormously.
Same stone. Very different daily lives.
The Mohs Scale: Can my stone scratch?
Yes. Any gemstone can eventually show signs of wear, and a material harder than your stone can scratch it.
This also means your jewelry can scratch your jewelry. A diamond ring tossed into a dish beside turquoise, for example, can damage the softer stone.
You don't need an elaborate jewelry-storage system. Just give stone-set pieces a little room rather than letting everything tumble against each other.
So how should I care for turquoise jewelry?
Turquoise has been worn as jewelry for thousands of years. It doesn't need to be feared, it just appreciates a little consideration.
We recommend removing turquoise jewelry before swimming, showering, exercising, gardening, or using household cleaners.
Try to apply lotions, sunscreen, perfumes, and other products before putting your jewelry on rather than directly onto the stone.
And when you're not wearing it, store it where harder jewelry can't repeatedly rub against it.
What about stabilized turquoise jewelry?
Stabilized turquoise is still real turquoise. Stabilization is a process used to strengthen more porous turquoise so it can better withstand everyday wear.
This is different from dyed material or reconstituted turquoise, which are separate treatments and materials.
Because turquoise naturally varies in density, hardness, color, and matrix, not every stone requires the same treatment. Some turquoise is naturally hard enough to be cut and set as-is, while other material benefits from stabilization.
The important thing to remember is that “stabilized” does not automatically mean “fake.” It describes how the stone has been treated, not whether it began as turquoise.
A FEW QUICK QUESTIONS
Does a higher Mohs number mean a better stone?
No. It simply means the stone is more resistant to scratching.
Why does my turquoise look different from the one online?
Because natural stones vary. Color, matrix, and markings can make every stone a little different.
That variation isn't a flaw. It's part of what makes natural stones so special.
Can turquoise be worn every day?
Yes, with reasonable care.
Pieces worn on the hands and wrists naturally experience more wear than necklaces or earrings, so rings and cuffs may show signs of life sooner.
Will my stone look exactly the same forever?
Probably not.
Jewelry lives alongside us. Metals develop patina, surfaces acquire wear, and natural materials can change subtly with years of use and exposure.
Proper care helps preserve them, but we don't expect jewelry to remain completely untouched by the life being lived in it.
THE SHORT VERSION
Mohs tells you:
How resistant your stone is to scratching.
Mohs doesn't tell you:
Whether your stone is beautiful, valuable, natural, or “good.”
And Mohs alone can't tell you:
Whether a stone can chip, crack, fade, or react to chemicals.
For everyday wear:
Know your stone. Wear it. Love it. And give softer stones a little extra care.
We love natural materials precisely because they aren't all the same. Different colors, matrix, markings, hardnesses, and histories are part of what makes stones feel alive.
Learning a little about the material in your jewelry doesn't make us want to baby it. It helps us understand how to care for it so it can collect years, and hopefully generations, of stories.
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