All About the GemStones

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Alexandrite - June Birthstone. Synthetic Corundum (9 in hardness). It is a fine non flawed stone & is Labratory Grown Alexandrite Corundum but grown in a lab (very Tough). Super Brilliant & well cut with a very strong Violets/blues color. It color changes when viewed in different lights or at different angles. Strong color changes from bluish to bluish purple to purplish red. The scans fail to display the actual colors but the stone has great colors & color changes. The stone is totally free of inclusions. Excellent Color Change! 5mm, 6mm, oval

CZ - April Birthstone -(Cubic Zirconia) a Man made stone that is very durable & looks like a Diamond (but without the cost). extra nicely cut. A good hard durable stone.  5mm, 6mm, oval

Febuary Birthstone -Genuine natural untreated medium colored African Amethyst. Nice color & free of inclusions visible with the eye. Well cut. A very nice stone. Darker than scan - Definately a medium colored to Darker beautiful stone! Stone is from Africa. 5mm, 6mm, oval

Amethyst- 7 in hardness. Comes from a pale violet to an intense deep brilliant color (african).Legends say the Amethyst stone has supernatural powers and brings luck, ensures constancy, protects against magic and home sickness. The Greek say Amethyst is a guard against getting drunk. High heat must be avoided as amethyst will turn to a citrine color at about 900*f.

Peridot - August Birthstone - Stone is a Genuine natural untreated medium colored. Nice color see scan as it appears very accurate & free of inclusions visible with the eye. Well cut.  Top Color and A very nice stone. 5mm, 6mm, oval

Peridot -(term used for top grades of this gemstone)- Also called Crysolite (more yellowish varity) from greek -Legend says it has the power to desolve enchantments and put evil spirits to flight -  Olivine is the darker varity. Arizona and Burma are two places (of many) this gem is found. hardness 6 1/2-7 and is a fairly tough durable stone. Avoid Sulfuric acid (battery acid) as it will effect stone.

Diamond- Hardness of 10- the hardest substance known to man-  Diamond even vary in hardness amongst each other and from different localities around the world.

Spinel- Natural stone  (also comes in a lab grown variety) - a very durable tough stone. hardness of 8- and comes naturally in almost all colors. It has been confused over the centuries with rubies and many crown jewels are actually spinels.Burma and Sri lanka (ceylon) are common sources of this lovely gemstone.

Opal- Precious Opal is mostly found in Australia but comon opal is found all over the world as is some fine preciors opal but in very small deposits (example Nevada black opal) hardness varies from 5 1/2 to 6 1/2. Firy jelly opals come from Mexico. Most opals tend to be suspect to cracking in time so much care should be used when wearing in jewelry. Very sensitive to heat and pressure and acids,alkalies.. All in all a very beautiful and extremely popular stone over the ages and finer stones can command Very high prices.

Andalucite is found mostly in Brazil. It is a genuine untreated natural stone. Approx 1/3 ct in weight. Most stones were mined 10 years ago & few have been found since. Andalucite has three colors within the stone & usually one of the colors dominate. greenish, brownish & orangish. When looked at from different angles & lights the stone gives off different colors. this stone is eye clean & very nice in my opinion. It has more a brown to orangish colors. only available in 5mm & ovals 4x6.

Garnet - January Birthstone- natural not treated in any manner. medium color - clean stone and nicely cut .Stone is from Africa . The stone is Slightly lighter than scan shows but a great medium colored Garnet stone. Clean non flawed & is a nice lively stone(more brilliant than scan shows) 5mm, 6mm, oval

Garnet- 7-71/2 in hardness-Garnets come in many different types and colors. I have had all colors except blue and i hear the color changing ones can tend toward bluish shades. Tsavorite (green) is a more expemsive variety and in its finer shades and qualities can comand very high prices.Pyropr (red) Almadine (violets) Spessartite (orangish) Rhodolite (african - nice violets to pinkish reds) Grosular (tsavorite toyellows to colorless whites). A very sturdy durable and wearable stone

Blue Topaz -Often used for the December Birthstone - Stone is a Genuine . Nice color see scan as it appears very accurate & free of inclusions visible with the eye. Well cut. A medium blue very nice stone.  5mm, 6mm, oval

Topaz- Blue,gold pinkish red, brown,pale green -8 in hardness - Sulfuric acid will effect these stones if in contact. Name came from the ancient island of Topazos (red sea).Topaz are found in many parts of the world.

Sapphire synthetic-September Birthstone - Comes in Pink, Blue, & Gold. It is a fine non flawed stone & is Labratory Grown Corundum (very Tough). very nice top color for Sapphire. 5mm, 6mm, oval

Natural Sapphire- hardness of 9- very durable stone

Ruby - July Birthstone - Synthetic- It is a fine non flawed stone & is Labratory Grown Corundum (very Tough). 1/2ct + oval stone. .. very nice top color for Ruby. 5mm, 6mm, oval

Ruby Natural- hardness of 9- very durable stone-

June Birthstone -Stone is a Hot Blue Flash (rainbow)

Aquamarine - March Birthstone - Light in color. Brazilian and very well cut. A clean stone without any inclusions. very nice but light in color.

Aquamarine- name is latin - Water of the Sea - Darker blues command a high price if clean and larger. Most Aquamarine is Brazil or African. It was often used as an amulet stone for travelers of the sea.

Beryl- 7 1/2 - 8 in hardness- This group includes Emerald and Aquamarine as the prized gems  but also Morganite (pink), Heliodor (yellow),Goshenite (colorless), Golden Beryl (yellow-to gold), Bixbite (red). The name is greek and its meaning is lost in time.

Pink Tourmaline- extra nice-  November Birthstone- a premium stone

Tourmaline- 7-71/2 in hardness (mohs scale) All colors occur in tourmaline and its name was coined by the Dutch who brought it to Europe in 1700 from Ceylon (Sri Lanka). (turamali) - When viewed from various angles a tourmaline stone will usually vary in color shades.Some color have special names. Rubellite (red), Schorl (black), Indicolite(blue) are a few.

Mali Garnet - 5 & 6 mm- greenish yellow in color very rare stone- clean extra well cut. from Mali Africa.

Lapis Lazuli- 5-6 Hardness. Name means blue stone- The only good material is Afgan and it goes downhill from there. Much from South America is dyed and the Russian is ok... Egyptian Lapis from the tombs show trade with the Afgans and Persia. The idea is to get a stone without cracks - but shades and pyrite (called gold) inclusions is preferred by some and not by others. But in the end Quality is clearly noticable when holding it.

Tanzanite- hardness 6 1/2 - 7 .Color runs from Sapphire blue to amethysty- violets. A very popular stone that is expensive in its finer grades and sizes. Its name came from the country of Tanzania in Africa. Tiffany in 1967  introduced it to the US and its scientific name is blue zoisite. Most is heat treated to turn the brownish shades more to the violet blues.

Emerald- Lab grown Synthetic Spinel Doublets- all sizes available.

Pearl- Fresh water and salt water pearls exist. What I sell mostly are freshwater pearls from China or Burma. Freshwater pearls vary in shape and in luster. The idea situation is to get a nice luster. Treating is usually done to the black pearls but the rest generally are a natural color (browns, lavenders, pinks, apricot shades. Hardness is about 3-4 on the moh scale and all pearls are damaged if they come in contact with acidic materials such as wine, vinegar, or any acid solution, cosmetics or hair spray. With a little care a pearl can last a lifetime. :-)

Peral Luster is called "orient" and is caused by layers of overlapping aragonite and skins of conchiolin nearer to the pearl surface. The color is derived from the type of water and the mullusc it is grown in.

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