Yes, I truly thought about the qualities of chalcedony and carnelian and maybe I didn't explain myself with my idea of opaque. I know those do let some light through but not as much as a polished tourmaline stone would. How would you describe it? Semi-opaque, maybe? Or would you use a different word altogether?
And the porcelain colors, although beyond beautiful, I have also never understood why VCA didn't go and look in nature. The major pluses I can see for VCA utilizing porcelain is that it does offer consistency in color in every lot as well and is limitless in color options. But isn't the beauty of the variations in individual pieces what we all love about all of our stones in our jewelry?