Diamonds ain’t always a girl’s best friend. For Keijah Hamilton, amethyst is her homegirl.

Sparkling in a rich purple, the hue of royalty and Hamilton’s favorite color, amethyst has been revered since ancient times as the crystal of wisdom, clarity and a reliever of anxiety. These are traits Hamilton leaned on after jumping off the corporate ladder at a large global diamond jewelry retailer.

It was early 2021, a Monday morning in Huntsville, Ala. The weekend hadn’t been enough to recover from the burnout of corporate America hell. A general manager at the time at a retail store in the mall, Hamilton was working 60-hour weeks, but the pay wasn’t hitting. She felt guilty hiring workers for little more than minimum wage. She witnessed people she’d just hired get promoted over her, despite having been with the company since 2018. Pay raises were always a fight to approve.

Enough was enough. So Hamilton started her workday that Monday morning with a call to her district manager and told her that she was done. The district manager didn’t even fight to keep her. The nonchalant response solidified Hamilton’s decision to leave the company that same day to forge her own path towards success in an industry where the workforce is only two percent Black. She expanded on the skills she practiced in retail stores by making her own self-taught curriculum that consisted of YouTube videos and books on jewelry making techniques. She bought her own tools and sourced her own stones and crystals. In November 2021, just a couple months after quitting, Hamilton obtained a business license to open her own handmade gemstone jewelry and crystal store KeiStone Jewelry.

“I just started moving with intention and  got very in tune with my spirituality at that time,” Hamilton said. “It takes a lot to own your own business, and I really had to start building up confidence within myself to be like, ‘OK. I can do this.’”

Hamilton’s timing wasn’t perfect, she had just bought a home. But in the world of business, she was golden. The billion dollar-plus industry of crystals fared well during the pandemic while worldwide demand for diamonds plummeted during the pandemic. Imports from India alone dropped from $1.5 billion to $1 million within just two months in 2020. Data from Google Trends shows a spike in searches for “crystals,” “crystal shops near me” and “crystal healing” the same year Hamilton quit her job.

Hamilton said loving these stones is human nature.

“Throughout history, it’s been a very meaningful thing to be into crystals,” Hamilton said. “It’s more rare in nature to get a quality stone in a color that’s very vibrant. And so humans, we see something shiny – something with a really nice color – it’s already naturally rare. So there’s a history of ‘Wow. This is something that should be treasured and it’s precious.’”

Less than three years after founding KeiStone, Hamilton now designs and sells rings, bracelets, necklaces and other treasured items that amplify one’s intention by using crystals and wire wrapping, one of the earliest jewelry making techniques. Lofi hip hop beats guide customers into her shop located at Clinton Row in downtown Huntsville. Her shelves glisten and gleam with her craftsmanship: dainty, swirly pieces dripping in semi-precious stones to bulkier bracelets made of brass, copper, sterling silver and stainless steel. A sign that says “Black woman owned” hangs near Hamilton’s workspace where she creates merchandise for KeiStone and custom pieces for clients, such as this silver ring encrusted with tiger’s eye, a stone associated with courage and strength.

The allure of Hamilton’s work sparks people’s curiosity, but it’s her warmth that welcomes strangers as if they’re a lifelong friend and her knowledge about both crystals and gemstones that secures her clientele. She kept the diamond certification she earned while at Kay Jewelers and is currently studying how crystal deposits are made, the origins of different stones and how to examine a crystal’s cut, color and clarity while pursuing her gemology degree. Hamilton said the future of her artistry looks like making engagement rings and entering jewelry competitions, but doing so from a place that helps others.

Being an independent jewelry maker gives Hamilton an ability to share her passion for crystals minus the pretentiousness. At a fine jewelry store, Hamilton was serving customers looking to grow their wealth by buying the most expensive thing. But it’s all about connection at KeiStone because one has to get to know themselves in order for the crystal to work for them.

“We live in a very fast-paced, flashy, look-at-me-type society. I want to bring us back to intention,” Hamilton said. “I want to honor people’s stories, their lives, what’s important to them. And I think that crystals really serve as a reminder of what you want out of your life.”

It’s not just science. It’s history.

Intention setting is part of the origins of crystal healing, which dates back to 4000 BCE. Egyptian practices are the most well-known forms of crystal work. Jewelry embellished with Lapis Lazuli, one of the world’s oldest stones associated with initiation and spiritual enlightenment, were popular with Egyptian women because they believed it connected them to the sky goddess Isis. Quartz crystals were tools that balanced energies in the body while they were alive and then guided the dead to the afterlife.

Metals also brought meaning to its wearers. When gold and silver became financially inaccessible for Black people, copper and brass became the go-to, Hamilton said. Brass, a metal that mimics gold with its combination of nickel and copper, is a mark of royalty and closeness to a higher power in Ghana. Today, copper, which is known as a conductor, is typically wrapped around crystals to amplify its mystical energies.

The roots of crystal work mostly involve Black and brown cultures. Yet Instagram hashtags and Pinterest boards reveal a mostly white space. Hamilton believes crystals can work with anyone as long as someone has good intentions. But they must respect crystals as an ancient practice and not a trend. To Hamilton – and the ancestors that came before her – jewelry making and metal work is a spiritual artform.

“In Egypt, you can look at the joy that they had in the metal work that they had, and it was a spiritual guide – something that could connect us with the divine. Like ‘Wow, we could have something like this on earth like this is special.’”

How to find the right crystal for you

With more than 200 varieties of crystals in existence, choosing the right crystal comes with asking the right questions. What are you looking for in life? What are your goals? Once those questions are explored, the next step is to visit a crystal shop near you so an expert like Hamilton can guide you towards the best option. You’re looking to build your confidence in your career? Carnelian is a good companion to have. Needing more compassion or self-love? Rose can be a great soother.

Hamilton stresses the importance of taking your time and paying attention to bodily sensation when you actually pick up a crystal or one is placed in your hand. Some of her clients mention feeling a warming sensation or a light vibrating while holding a crystal. That’s your intuition talking to you, Hamilton said.

Some of Hamilton’s favorite moments is educating customers – including the occasional nonbeliever – about the gifts that exist for us in crystals. She remembers a mother who only visited her store because of her son’s fascination with stones. But the mother saw the crystals as just rocks sitting on a shelf.

Her mind was quickly changed when Hamilton placed a citrine in her hand. Tears streaked the mother’s face as Hamilton explained how citrine is the stone of positivity and abundance. The mother revealed how she was praying a lot for success. She walked into KeiStone not thinking anything about crystals and walked out with a citrine in hand.

Hamilton said those are the experiences she wants to create at KeiStone. While there’s no scientific evidence showing that crystals ease mental woes or heals energies, Hamilton said people have to get to know themselves in order to tap into what the crystal provides.

“It’s not the stones that are magic. It’s you that’s magic,” Hamilton said “You wear a stone every day that’s supposed to bring confidence and success? Well, it’s a constant reminder for you to be like, ‘OK, I need to work harder.’”

Making the crystal work for you

The crystal experience doesn’t just stop at the shop. Hamilton says she usually sends customers home with a card explaining how they can care for their stones. Since crystals both radiate positive energy while absorbing negative ones, it’s important to keep charging, cleansing and connecting with the stone in mind. Hamilton has seen hematite rings break because they have absorbed too much energy.

Knowing when to charge or cleanse a crystal is a matter of intuition, Hamilton said. Some crystal experts suggest cleansing the crystal after purchase to ward off any energies collected while it was sitting in the shop. Then one can charge the energy of the stone by sitting with it while meditating on their intention. Protection stones, like black tourmaline, may need to be cleansed more often because its main purpose is to absorb and ward off negative energies. Hamilton said that if your crystal feels heavy or has been sitting out for a while unused, that’s probably a sign that it’s time for a good cleanse.

The sun and moon also have mystical capabilities. Sunlight can both burn negative energies or charge a crystal’s potential. Some stones, like amethyst, are sun sensitive. So it is best to do research before performing this method. However, all stones can be placed in moonlight and be cleansed or charged depending on one’s intention. Hamilton suggested sitting crystals out in the moonlight during full and new moon as rituals to keep up with your crystal care.

Hamilton said some people use water charged by the full moon to cleanse crystals. But beware, more porous crystals like selenite are water soluble.

“It won’t immediately dissolve. It’s just the structure of that crystal will break down in water eventually,” Hamilton said. “Also, opals will swell when you get them wet. And that could make them more prone to cracking.”

Connecting with the crystal encourages its energy to work for you. This is a time to focus on your intention, Hamilton said. If you’re using a stone for wealth, placing it in your wallet can help attract more money. If you’re using it for love and compassion, placing the stone close to your heart by wearing a necklace or placing it in your bra can help.

The earth is not unholy

As a woman who was raised in a strict religious household, Hamilton is comfortable with getting questions from Christians who are afraid to use these stones. Crystal work has been criticized by some Christians as a form of idolatry or witchcraft. Scriptures have been used to back their claims.

However, at least 22 gemstones are mentioned in the Bible. Twelve of them make up the breastplate of high priest Aaron in the book of Exodus.

For those who question the intentions of crystal work, Hamilton seeks to remind folks of the creator of those stones.

“This is what he put here,” she said. “He gives us everything that we need to heal us and to get a closer connection to him. It’s about how you use it. Anything can be used with malicious intent, but I think intrinsically, he didn’t bring anything here for it to be bad.”