GEMSTONES
EMERALD
Emeralds come in shades of green. The name emerald comes from the Greek ‘smaragdos’ via the Old French ‘esmeralde’, and really just means ‘green gemstone’.
‘Emeralds promise good luck and enhance the well-being.
Fine emeralds are also found in countries such as Colombia, Zambia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Russia. Zambia, Zimbabwe and Brazil in particular have a good reputation for fine emeralds in the international trade.
In top quality, fine emeralds are even more valuable than diamonds. So it was no wonder that the treasure chests of Indian maharajas and maharanis contained wonderful emeralds.
RUBELLITE TOURMALINE
Tourmalines come in almost every color possible. The name tourmaline comes from the Singhalese words ‘tura mali’. In translation, this means something like ‘stone with mixed colours’, referring to the colour spectrum of this gemstone.
It is the gemstone of love and of friendship, and is said to render them firm and long-lasting.
Tourmalines are found almost all over the world. There are major deposits in Brazil, Sri Lanka and South and South-West Africa. Other finds have been made in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Tourmalines are also found in the USA, mainly in California and Maine.
A tourmaline of an intense red is known as a ‘rubellite’, but only if it continues to display the same fine ruby red in artificial light as it did in daylight. If the colour is lighter, the stone is called a pink or shocking pink tourmaline. One particularly popular variety is the green Tourmaline, known as a ‘verdelite’ in the trade. The tourmaline has even more names: stones with two colors are known as bicolored tourmalines, and those with more than two as multicolored tourmalines. Tourmalines from Malawi are a vivid yellow color, known as ‘canary tourmalines’. The absolute highlight among the tourmalines is the ‘Paraiba tourmaline’, a gemstone of an intense blue to blue-green.
AMETHYST
Amethyst usually comes in shades of purple but can be seen in Violet, Secondary Hues Red and Blue. The name comes from the Greek words ‘amethystos’ meaning ‘not intoxicated’ in translation.
In popular belief, the amethyst offers protection against drunkenness
The deposits with the greatest economic significance are in various states in southern Brazil and in neighboring Uruguay. The third major export country is Madagascar. However, this gemstone is spread all over the world. Most of the material from Brazil is light-coloured, a tender purple. In Madagascar, it is generally red or violet hues which are found. Uruguay supplies the most beautiful and the deepest colour, but it is mostly blemished.
In Tibet there were amethyst rosaries, for there the gemstone was dedicated to Buddha and was said to promote clarity of mind.
CITRINE
Citrine is a variety of quartz whose color ranges from a pale yellow to brown. The name citrine is derived from the French word citron - lemon. It is pale yellow to a Madeira orange in all of its glorious golden and yellow colors.
Citrine symbolizes light-heartedness, joy and happiness. It calms and soothes. It is reputed to make men handsome and intelligent and sterile women fertile and happy.
Citrine is found in Brazil, Madagascar, Spain, Uruguay, Scotland, USA (California, Colorado, North Carolina, Georgia, and Nevada) and Russia. Brazil is the main source of citrine.
PERIDOT
Peridot is a stone with a sparkling pale green color. It occurs in lime, yellowish green, olive green or medium dark green hues.
In the gemstone trade it is called ‘peridot’, derived from the Greek word ‘peridona’, which means something like ‘to give richness’.
Peridot increases strength & physical vitality. This very popular stone is believed to attract love. Peridot calms a raging anger. It is also useful to dispel negative emotions, and it is believed to promote sleep when worn to bed.
Peridot is found in Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Burma, Pakistan, Norway, and USA (Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, and New Mexico). Much of the today’s Peridot comes from Arizona. The most beautiful stones come from the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, the peridot as a gemstone also exists in Myanmar, China, the USA, Africa and Australia.
RUBY
Rubies can occur in shades of Red & Pink. The name ‘ruby’ was derived from the Latin word ‘rubens’, meaning ‘red’.
Ruby allows the fire of passion and love to advance.
The most important ruby deposits of the nineties lie in the small town of Mong Hsu in the North-East of Myanmar Ceylon rubies, which have now become very rare, are mainly light red, like ripe raspberries. Other ruby deposits are located in Northern Pakistan in the Hunza Valley, Kashmir, Tadzhikistan, Laos, Nepal, and Afghanistan.
For thousands of years, the ruby has been considered one of the most valuable gemstones on Earth. It has everything a precious stone should have: magnificent colour, excellent hardness and outstanding brilliance. In addition to that, it is an extremely rare gemstone, especially in its finer qualities.
MORGANITE
Morganite is a rare light pink to rose-colored gem-quality variety of beryl. In 1910, the New York Academy of Sciences named the pink variety of beryl “morganite” after financier J. P. Morgan.
Orange/yellow varieties of morganite can also be found, and color banding is common. There are morganites in many fine pink hues. Some are decidedly pink, whilst others tend more to lilac or light violet. Or there may be a hint of orange; also known as “pink beryl”, “rose beryl” and “pink emerald”.
Morganites bring a sense of joy and inner strength.
ROCK CRYSTAL
Rock Crystal is the name given to all clear colorless quartz. The name has an uncertain origin, possibly derived from the German word quartz, a word of ancient and uncertain origins.
Quartz is often associated with balance, clarity, and energy.
The best rock crystal sources are in the famous Hot Springs area of Arkansas, USA; Cumberland, England; St. Gotthard, Switzerland; Brazil and Madagascar. It is in wide use as a gemstone due to its beauty, affordability, availability, and ease of cutting.
COGNAC
Cognac sometimes has the amber gold of fine cognac or the blush of a peach, and all the beautiful warm browns and oranges in between. Some rare and exceptional examples are pale pink to a sherry red. Smokey quartz is a gray, translucent version of quartz. It ranges in clarity from almost complete transparency to a brownish-gray crystal that is almost opaque. The name is derived from its brown to gray color. Very dark smoky quartz is called Morion.
Topaz is found in Brazil, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Africa and China.
Topaz supposedly helps dispel all enchantment and helps to improve eyesight and increase strength.
GARNET
It is true to say that red is the colour most often encountered, but the garnet also exists in various shades of green, a tender to intense yellow, a fiery orange and some fine earth-coloured nuances. The only colour it cannot offer is blue. Garnet received its name from the ancient Greeks because the color reminded them of the “granatum,” or pomegranate seed.
Garnets mostly come from African countries, but also from India, Russia and Central and South America.
The stone revitalizes, purifies and balances energy, bringing serenity or passionate as appropriate. Perhaps the strongest virtue of the garnet is its ability to help one overcome depression.
MANDARIN
It is an intensely radiant orange-red gemstone. The spessartite was originally named after the site of a find made in Germany. Under the trade name ‘mandarin-garnet’, this wonderfully orange noble garnet became world-famous in no time at all.
It is said to be an antidepressant & helps to suppress nightmares.
Spessartite has also been found in Sri Lanka, Upper Burma, Madagascar, Brazil, Australia, Kenya and Tanzania.
So what makes the mandarin garnet so special? First, of course, there is its colour, that radiant orange, sometimes with slight brown undertones, in the whole range of hues from ripe peach to deep reddish-orange. Apart from its magnificent colour, of course there is its rarity. No-one can say how long there will be as reliable a supply of this gemstone in the trade as there is at present. So, colour, luminosity, hardness and rarity combine to make this gemstone, beautiful but at the same time easy to look after, something really special.
TSAVORITE
The green of the tsavorite runs from vivid and light to deep and velvety and, like all garnets, it has particularly good brilliance. Tiffany’s in New York gave this name to the previous emerald-green stone which was discovered in 1967 by a British geologist, Campbell R. Bridges, in the north-east of Tanzania – after the place where the discovery was made.
It Alleviates jealousy, anger, resentment & enhances confidence & assertion without aggression.
Probably the best known green garnet is the tsavorite or tsavolite, which also belongs to the grossularite group. The star of green garnets is the rare demantoid, a gemstone for connoisseurs and gemstone lovers. Its brilliance is positively tremendous, even greater than that of the diamond.
SPINEL
Spinel comes in a variety of colors including oranges, pinks, blues, lavenders, mauves and vivid reds. In addition to Burma, spinel is mined in Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Tadzhikistan, part of the former Soviet Union.
Spinel is thought to protect the owner from harm, to reconcile differences, and to soothe away sadness.
Spinel is a favorite of gem dealers and collectors on account of its brilliance, hardness and wide range of spectacular colours. Of particular interest is a vivid hot pink with a tinge of orange mined in Burma. It is one of the most spectacular gemstone colours seen in any species at all. Spinel also comes in beautiful blue tones called cobalt spinel, but these are very, very rare.
SAPPHIRE
Velvety blue, Liquid blue, Evening-sky blue, Cornflower blue Sapphire is found in other shades besides blue, from the gold of a sunrise, to the fiery reddish-orange of sunset, to the delicate violet of twilight. These diverse colors are referred to as “fancy” color sapphires.. Indeed, the very name in Latin, “Sapphiru,” means blue.
Sapphires are found in India, Ceylon, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Brazil and Africa but the most prized sapphires are from Myanmar (Burma), Kashmir and Sri Lanka. The purer the blue of the sapphire, the greater the price the gemstone can command, however, many people find that the darker hues of sapphire can be just as appealing.
A gift of a sapphire symbolizes a pledge of trust and loyalty. It is from this tradition that sapphire has long been a popular choice for engagement rings.
There is an orange variety with a fine pink undertone which bears the poetic name ‘Padparascha’, which means something like ‘lotus flower’. The star sapphires are another rarity; half-dome-cut sapphires with a star like light effect which seems to glide across the surface of the stone when it is moved. Top-quality sapphires remain extremely rare in all the gemstone mines of the world.
TURQUOISE
Turquoise is an opaque, light to dark blue or blue-green gem. The finest color is an intense blue.
This gemstone has been attributed with healing powers, promoting the wearer’s status and wealth, protection from evil and brings good luck.
The most well-known deposits are in the USA, Mexico, Israel, Iran, Afghanistan and China. In earlier times, turquoises were often worn on the turbans of kings, and often surrounded with pearls, in order to protect their wearer against the ‘evil eye’. As talismans, they adorned daggers, sabers and the bridles of horses.
The turquoise is said to be responsible for faithfulness and constancy in relationships & is often given as a gift of friendship.
BERYL
The name ‘beryl’ came from India. It was derived from the Sanskrit word ‘veruliyam’.
Beryl is found in all corners of the globe, with individual colors being determined by the other minerals found in those regions. South America and Asia tend to produce blues and greens, while Africa produces yellows and greens and the rarest color, red, is only found in one location, the Wah Wah Mountains in Utah.
Beryl is believed to bring good luck and give eternal youthfulness.
AQUAMARINE
Aquamarine is most often light in tone and ranges from greenish blue to blue-green; the color usually is more intense in larger stones. The name aquamarine is derived from the Latin word aqua, meaning water, and marina, meaning the sea.
The serene color of aquamarine is said to cool the temper, allowing the wearer to remain calm and levelheaded.
This gemstone is mined mainly in Brazil, but also is found in Nigeria, Madagascar, Zambia, Pakistan, and Mozambique.
ONYX
Onyx is a gemstone with alternating light and dark bands, which are colored in brown, red, black, white and grey. The name comes from the Greek word ‘onyx’, which means nail or claw.
The chief localities of onyx are India and South America.
Onyx jewelry is worn to defend against negativity that is directed at you.
OPAL
Opal occurs in different colors, ranging from semi-transparent to opaque. The name Opal was probably derived from Sanskrit “upala“, meaning ‘valuable stone’.
The most common is white opal. Today’s supplies of opal come primarily from Australia, Mexico and the United States.
For ages people have believed in the healing power of Opal. It is reported to be able to solve depressions and to help its wearer find the true and real love.
ROSE QUARTZ
Rose Quartz exhibits a pale pink to rosy red hue.Commonly known as the ‘Love Stone’, Rose Quartz is excellent for healing emotional wounds.
They are found near Rumford, Maine, USA, but most crystals on the market come from Minas Gerais, Brazil. Transparent rose quartz is very rare, and usually so pale that it does not show very much colour at all except in large sizes.
CHALCEDONY
Chalcedony comes in white to grey, greyish-blue or light or deep pastel blues. The name is said to have come from the city of its discovery, Chalcedon on the Bosporus is named for the ancient seaport of Chalcedon (now KADIKOY, Turkey).
Blue Chalcedony has an anti-inflammatory effect and lowers temperature and blood pressure. It increases physical energy.
The clarity ranges from nearly transparent to nearly opaque.
TANZANITE
Tanzanite comes in purplish blue hues. It has been said that Tanzanite’s original color is actually a reddish brown, and intense heat, is what actually turns this stone to its infamous bluish tones.
Tanzanite was discovered in 1967, mined only in Tanzania, hence the name, at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. This makes tanzanites one of the rarest gemstones worldwide.