Jewelry Lovers

The color predominating at the time is reflected from the alexandrite. Thus it constitutes an extreme example of the so-called day-and-night stones, whose color appears different according to the lighting. It is consequently appreciated by connoisseurs who know its secret. It was discovered in the thirties of the last century on the slopes of the [...]

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For the first time we encounter in this delicate, virginal gem, a gemstone from the ranks of the rock-forming feldspars. Taken all together as a group, the feldspars are the most widely distributed mineral association. Their chemical composition divides them into three different combinations of calcium, sodium, and potassium coupled with alumina and silica, all [...]

Read the rest of Delicate, Virginal gem Moonstones: Child of the Dawning Day

A few years ago a hitherto unknown and unusually interesting occurrence was discovered in Tanzania supplying green, so-called prase, opal, which owes its color to a small nickel content derived from weathered serpentine. Since the opal here, as in all the other localities, crops out relatively near the earth’s surface in fairly easily workable rocks, [...]

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On all continents, in the sand of the seashore, in fissures in the Alps—everywhere quartz is to be found, the most ubiquitous mineral on our earth. The reason for this is that silicon dioxide penetrated throughout the entire magmatic cycle and participated, as quartz, in all stages of rock and mineral formation. In gem quality, [...]

Read the rest of Jewelry Made of Quartz: Jack of All Trades

In her magic garden of crystal blossoms deep in the earth, the Earth Goddess cherished a treasure of choicest excellence, to which she gave an abundance of melting colors, as well as high refraction (1.72) and vivid fire (0.02 1), notable hardness (8) and complete absence of cleavage. From the sum of this generous endowment [...]

Read the rest of Gemstone Jewelry Lover Spinel: Herald of the Princely Corundums

Ever since man became acquainted with topaz, this noble stone has been paying dearly for the melodiousness of its name, which was formerly bestowed on the whole range of all yellow to golden brown gemstones. At the heart of such misnomers is the citrine, a variety of quartz mostly obtained through the heating of amethyst. [...]

Read the rest of Yellow Diamond Topaz: Captive Gold of the Sun

Nature has conferred on zircon several quite outstanding optical properties which furnish brilliant-cut specimens with a particularly striking appearance. High adamantine luster and very vivid fire elevate zircon into the immediate proximity of diamond. Its specific gravity is unequalled by any other transparent gemstone. Its high refractive index of 1.95 and powerful color-dispersive ability of [...]

Read the rest of Zircon: the Enigmatic Gemstone

Agate—diversely beautiful, multicolored, and variously formed as it is, its endless abundance of abstract designs can only be hinted at by the descriptions “spotted, cloudy, marbled, banded, or dappled.” To the ancient Greeks and Romans it was already known in the form of colored pebbles collected from the Achates River in Sicily.

Read the rest of Natural Agate: the Parade of Opaque Ornamental Stones

Pure chance is often the best ally for discovering the secrets of Mother Earth. She surely still holds many surprises in store. Though relevant preliminary studies did effect positive results in this case, it was nevertheless a happy accident for the Finnish mineralogist Laitakari when, during the Russian-Finnish winter campaign of 1939/40 while inspecting fortification [...]

Read the rest of Labradorite and Spectrolite: Vibrant Rainbows

In jade is sealed the alliance between man and gemstone through thousands of years. Its use was not confined only to man’s ornamental and protective needs in the form of jewelry and amulets, but also served him in the early Stone Age as one of the elementary implements of his culture—as tools for hammering, splitting, [...]

Read the rest of Jade: Jewel of Heaven