Elements of Fine Jewelry

Amethyst is the purple variety of the quartz mineral species. It’s the gem that’s most commonly associated with the color purple, even though there are other purple gems such as sapphire and tanzanite. Its purple color can be cool and bluish, or a reddish purple that’s sometimes referred to as “raspberry.”

Amethyst is the birthstone for February and the gem for the 6th and 17th wedding anniversaries.

Often described by gem aficionados as “emerald by day, ruby by night,” alexandrite is the very rare color-change variety of the mineral chrysoberyl. Originally discovered in Russia’s Ural Mountains in the 1830s, it’s now found in Sri Lanka, East Africa, and Brazil, but fine material is exceptionally rare and valuable. When certain types of long, thin inclusions are oriented parallel to each other, they can create another phenomenon, called chatoyancy or the cat’s-eye effect. Few gems are as fascinating – or as stunning – as cat’s-eye alexandrite.

Alexandrite one of three birthstone for June. It is also the gem of the 55th wedding anniversary.

Aquamarine is the green-blue to blue variety of the mineral beryl. (Emerald is the green to bluish green variety of the same mineral.) Its color is usually a light pastel greenish blue.
Aquamarine crystals are known to be large in size and relatively clean and well-formed, making them particularly valuable to collectors of mineral specimens.

Aquamarine is one of the birthstone for March and the gem of the 19th wedding anniversary.

Bloodstone, also known as heliotrope, is a variety of chalcedony (cryptocrystalline quartz) that is traditionally semi-translucent to opaque dark green jasper with red inclusions of iron oxides, especially hematite. It typically a dark-green cabochon that contains red spots of iron oxide, the “blood” that brings health and strength to the wearer. In India, fine bloodstones may be crushed into a powder and used as an aphrodisiac.

 Bloodstone is one of two birthstones for March. Its alternate name heliotrope comes from the ancient Greek word meaning “to turn the sun.” In ancient times, these stones were believed to turn the sun red if they were placed in water. Some believe the color pattern has religious significance, representing the blood of Christ.

Most bloodstone is from India. However, it can be found in Brazil, Australia, China and the United States, among other countries, often filling fractures or cavities in other rocks or as pebbles in riverbeds.

Diamonds are among nature’s most precious and beautiful creations. This hardest gem of all is made of just one element: carbon. It’s valued for its colorless nature and purity. Most diamonds are primeval—over a billion years old—and form deep within the earth.

Diamond is recognized today as the birthstone for April and marks the 60th and 75th wedding anniversaries.

DIAMOND QUALITY

CARAT WEIGHT - One carat is equal to 0.20 grams. Only one in 1,000 diamonds weighs more than one carat.

COLOR - Using the GIA scale of D-to-Z, measures the colorlessness of a diamond, comparing it to master stones

CLARITY - Clarity grades are based on the number, size, relief, and positions of blemishes or inclusions that can be seen under 10x magnification

CUT - A diamond's cut proportions, symmetry, and polish to maximize brightness, scintillation, and fire.

Emerald is the most famous member of the beryl family. Legends endowed the wearer with the ability to foresee the future when emerald was placed under the tongue, as well as to reveal truth and be protected against evil spells. Emerald was once also believed to cure diseases like cholera and malaria. Wearing an emerald was believed to reveal the truth or falseness of a lover’s oath as well as make one an eloquent speaker.

Emerald’s lush green has soothed souls and excited imaginations since antiquity. Legend states the emerald was one of the four precious stones given by God to King Solomon. These four stones were said to have endowed the king with power over all creation.

Often considered the definition of green, its color reflects new spring growth, which makes it the perfect choice of a birthstone for the month of May. It’s also the gemstone for twentieth and thirty-fifth wedding anniversaries.

Most people do not realize garnets come in a wide variety of gem types and colors, with many cutting options.

Garnet is the birthstone for January and the gem for the 2nd anniversary.

Moonstone’s delicate beauty and its long-established heritage make it perhaps the most familiar gem-quality member of the feldspar group. Perhaps the most captivating aspect of adularescence is its appearance of motion. The misty light seems to roll across the gem’s surface as you change the viewing angle. Thus, Moonstone is priced for its billowy blue adularescence, caused by light scattering from an intergrowth of microscopic, alternating layers.

Moonstone has been associated with Roman and Greek lunar deities and is often associated with love, passion and fertility; it is believed to bring great luck. Hindu mythology claims that it is made of solidified moonbeams

Moonstone is a birthstone for June, along with pearl and alexandrite.

Perfect shining spheres. Lustrous baroque forms. Seductive strands, warm to the touch. Pearls are simply and purely organic.

Pearl is the birthstone for June and the gem of the third and thirtieth anniversaries.

Natural Pearls are rare and form in the bodies, or mantle tissue, of certain mollusks, without human intervention of any kind.

Cultured Pearls require human intervention and care. Today, most of the mollusks used in the culturing process are raised specifically for that purpose, although some wild mollusks are still collected and used. There are four major types of cultured whole pearls:

Freshwater Cultured Pearls are the most commonly produced pearls and they are one of the most popular pearl types among shoppers and jewelry designers. This is due to their remarkable range of sizes, shapes and colors. They are usually cultured in freshwater lakes and ponds, often with many pearls grown from a single oyster. China is the leading source for freshwater cultured pearls.

Tahitian Cultured Pearls, sometimes referred to as black pearls, have a wide color range. They might be gray, black or brown, and they can have blue, green, purple or pink overtones. These pearls are cultivated primarily around the islands of French Polynesia (the most familiar of these is Tahiti).

Akoya Cultured Pearls are the most familiar saltwater cultured pearl. Many customers think of white or cream colored akoyas as the classic pearl used for jewelry, especially single-strand necklaces. Most come from Japan and China.

South Sea Cultured Pearls can be white to silver or golden, depending on the type of oyster. Their large size and thick nacre, due to a long growth period, plus their limited critical growing conditions contribute to their value. Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines are leading sources of these pearls.

For more on pearls, visit read this article by GIA, the world’s foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones, and pearls

Ruby is one of the most coveted of gems. Red is the color of our most intense emotions—love and anger, passion and fury. It’s associated with objects of power and desire—like fast cars and red roses. Early cultures treasured rubies for their similarity to the redness of the blood that flowed through their veins, and believed that rubies held the power of life.

Ruby is one of the most historically significant colored stones. Rubies are mentioned four times in the Bible, in association with attributes like beauty and wisdom and has been called the most precious of the 12 stones created by God. In the ancient language of Sanskrit, ruby is called ratnaraj, or “king of precious stones.”

Ruby has accumulated a host of legends over the centuries. People in India believed that rubies enabled their owners to live in peace with their enemies. In Burma (a ruby source since at least 600 AD—now called Myanmar), warriors possessed rubies to make them invincible in battle. However, it wasn’t enough to just wear the rubies. They had to insert them into their flesh and make them part of their bodies.

Rubies can command the highest per-carat price of any colored stone. The most renowned rubies, like those from Myanmar, the Himalayas, and northern Vietnam, typically form in marble. They’re found in layers that are distributed irregularly within the surrounding marble.