Gem Stone collections
AMBER
The name ‘Amber’ was derived from the word ‘ambre’ from Middle English, ‘ambra’ from Medieval Latin and ‘anbar amergris’ from Arabic. Let us look at how amber was made.
Amber is the fossilized resin from ancient forests. This aromatic resin dripped from and oozed down the trees, and filled the internal fissures. During this process it ended up trapping debris such as seeds, leaves, feathers and insects. Through a process of natural polymerization of the original organic compounds the resin got buried and fossilized. The majority of amber that is found today is approximately 30-90 million years old.
Amber – Where Is It Found? The richest and largest amber deposits are found in the Baltic Sea region. The level of succinic acid contained in the amber is what determines its quality. Amber from the Baltic Sea region contains the highest level of succinic acid, and therefore is considered to be the highest quality amber you can find.
During the process of fossilization, a variety of flora and fauna tend to remain trapped in the amber resin and eventually become an integral part of the final gem i.e. amber. Over the centuries fauna like larvae, caterpillars, bees, flies, butterflies, spiders and even land snails have been discovered in amber.
We can find flora like wood fragments, flowers, leaves and many plant parts and ferns in the gem. The more unique the type of fossils found in amber, the higher its value. Other trapped flora and fauna, dust, small pyrite crystals and other minerals may also be found in amber.
Amber Gemstone Colors One can find Baltic Amber in a large spectrum of colors: white, yellow, brown, black, red, green and blue. The most common colors are honey and milky yellow. A small percentage of amber is bone white and the rarest has a green and blue tone.
Amber – What Is It Made Up Of? Amber is not a typical gemstone mineral. Technically, it is organic material. It comes from the resin of the fossilized remains of a living plant. It is a mixture of organic compounds like hydrocarbons, resins, succinic acid, and oils. However, it has none of the crystalline structures common within other gems.
Amber – Legends The early Germans called this Baltic amber by the name of ‘Bernstein’, due to the sweet smell it emitted when burnt. The Greeks called it ‘Elektron’ due to its properties of developing static electricity when rubbed. In the local markets of India, amber is known as ‘Kerba’.
Amber jewelry is said to help one be joyful and happy. The cheery yellow stone is believed to lighten the burdens of life. It is said by Healers that amber helps us realize the full power of our spiritual intellect and activates our altruistic nature. It is said that if the first gift from a man to a woman is made of amber, it means they will marry soon.
MALACHITE
Malachite is a popular stone which has light and dark green banded areas. Many beautiful specimens of malachite contain special combinations with other minerals, such as azurite, cuprite, or chrysocolla.
The name is probably derived from the green color (Greek-malache = mallow), perhaps from its low hardness (Greek-malakos= soft). In fracture or when cut, aggregates show a banding of light and dark layers with concentric rings, straight stripes, or other figurative shapes caused by its shell-like formation. Large mono-colored pieces are rare. In thin plates, it is translucent, otherwise opaque. The coloring agent is copper. As rough stone, it has a weak vitreous or mat luster; on fresh fractures and when polished, it has a silky luster. Malachite is sensitive to heat, acids, ammonia, and hot waters.
The Egyptians have been using malachite mineral, since 3000 AD for amulets and other jewelry and also as an eye shadow. Since ancient times this magnificient fine green crystal has been used in inlay work and in carvings of cathedrals and churches as it is found in huge boulders. Malachite is also a popular stone for jewelry design, especially Native American Southwestern jewelry. Malachite is also known by its trade name the peacock stone. In the Indian market the gem is popularly known as dana firang.
Malachite can be found in Zaire, USSR, Germany, France, Chile, Australia, Arizona and New Mexico/USA. It ranges between 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale of hardness.
Its powers include: protection, power, peace, love, and success in business. It is worn to detect impending danger, and is assumed to break into pieces when danger is near. It is the guardian stone of travelers. Promotes inner peace and hope, provides protection and security.
CARNELIAN
Carnelian (also sometimes referred to as cornelian) is found primarily in India, as well as various sites in South America. It is a variety of chalcedony. The most favorable pieces are a deep red to red-orange hue. Carnelian has a long and storied past, and was once considered strictly the property of the noble class. People holding a high social status were often buried with this gem stone.
Carnelian is a form of Quartz, the most common form of rock in the Earth’s crust. Specifically, geologists classify Carnelian as a Chalcedony; a member of the cryptycrystalline or microcrystalline group within the Quartz family. Cryptocrystalline crystals are too small to be seen, even with a microscope.
Having the same chemical make up as Agate, when Carnelian grades into brown it is known as Sard. When it contains bands of white, it is known as Sardonyx. In addition, some very dark brown Carnelian can be classified as Jasper. The distinction between these is very fine and relies more on visual appearance than scientific analysis. As a result, it is very possible that one man’s Carnelian may be another man’s Sard, Agate or Jasper. Chemically, Carnelian is composed of Silicon Dioxide, SiO2, and gets its red color from Hematite (Iron-Oxide, FeO2) impurities. Many Carnelians offered today are Agates which are dyed and then heat treated. Natural Carnelian will usually exhibit a cloudy distribution of color.
The name Carnelian heralds from the Latin word “carnis” and translates to “flesh,” probably noted as one of the many shades of the stone. Another name for Carnelian was Cornelian, most likely derived from the Latin word “cornum” meaning “cherry”. Carnelian’s translucent color ranges from yellow-orange to reddish-brown to a deep red, and is enhanced by exposure to the sun.
Occurring in the cavities of many forms of rock, Carnelian most often develops from the silica-rich soils which solidified at low temperatures. It typically forms in nodules, cone-shaped masses or groups of stalactites which radiate outward from a central axis. India has some of the oldest Carnelian deposits, especially around Bengal, Deccan and Ratnapur. Indian Carnelian is most often a very strong reddish-brown color.
Many sources report that Carnelian be a powerful activator to the second Chakra, called the Sacral Chakra, which relates to a sense of Self… along with the five senses, creativity, reproduction, sexuality and self-gratification.
Carnelians were used in Ancient Egyptian magick as protection for both the living and the dead. A Carnelian in the form of the “tjet,” symbol of Mother Isis, was placed on the neck of a mummy to ensure the protection, safe passage, and rebirth of the spirit in the afterlife. Another Carnelian amulet was the Eye of Horus, which is still believed to offer protection against the evil eye. In Roman times, Carnelian was engraved with the head of a lion or a great leader.
Magickal uses of Carnelian include using it as a focus for past life work and for finding a “twin soul” or family. It is good for all love and sex rites, especially to rekindle or increase passion that has begun to fade. Fire magick is also more effective if you circle a red candle with several Carnelians.
Mentally, Carnelian can improve analytical abilities and can clarify perception. It removes extraneous thoughts during meditation and sharpens concentration. Emotionally, this stone is a powerful protector against envy, rage and esentment…yours or other people’s. It calms anger and banishes negativity, replacing it with a love of life.
Want more pep in your life? Keep a carnelian with you and feel the energy flow to you. Carnelian is used for these benefits:
- gives energy
- protection from bad vibrations
- guards against poverty
- helps give a sense of humor
TOPAZ
The Topaz stone consists of the precious metals aluminum and fluorine. These metals give the topaz stone its shine. Pure topaz presents in various colors. The color of a typical stone ranges from yellow, green, blue, pink, brown and amber to light red
EMERALD ( ZAMRUD )
The name emerald comes from the Greek ‘smaragdos’ via the Old French ‘esmeralde’, and really just means ‘green gemstone’. Innumerable fantastic stories have grown up around this magnificent gem. The Incas and Aztecs of South America, where the best emeralds are still found today, regarded the emerald as a holy gemstone. However, probably the oldest known finds were once made near the Red Sea in Egypt. Having said that, these gemstone mines, already exploited by Egyptian pharaohs between 3000 and 1500 B.C. and later referred to as ‘Cleopatra’s Mines’, had already been exhausted by the time they were rediscovered in the early 19th century.
Written many centuries ago, the Vedas, the holy scriptures of the Indians, say of the precious green gems and their healing properties: ‘Emeralds promise good luck …’; and ‘The emerald enhances the well-being …’. So it was no wonder that the treasure chests of Indian maharajas and maharanis contained wonderful emeralds. One of the world’s largest is the so-called ‘Mogul Emerald’. It dates from 1695, weighs 217.80 carats, and is some 10cm tall. One side of it is inscribed with prayer texts, and engraved on the other there are magnificent floral ornaments. This legendary emerald was auctioned by Christie’s of London to an unidentified buyer for 2.2m US Dollars on September 28th 2001.
Emeralds have been held in high esteem since ancient times. For that reason, some of the most famous emeralds are to be seen in museums and collections. The New York Museum of Natural History, for example, has an exhibit in which a cup made of pure emerald which belonged to the Emperor Jehangir is shown next to the ‘Patricia’, one of the largest Colombian emerald crystals, which weighs 632 carats. The collection of the Bank of Bogota includes five valuable emerald crystals with weights of between 220 and 1796 carats, and splendid emeralds also form part of the Iranian National Treasury, adorning, for example, the diadem of the former Empress Farah. The Turkish sultans also loved emeralds. In Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace there are exhibits with items of jewellery, writing-implements and daggers, each lavishly adorned with emeralds and other gems.
CORAL
Corals are the product of tiny living beings which settled in enormous colonies in the depths of warm seas long before our time. The polyps, surrounded by a fleshy skin, excrete a carbonic substance from which the corals grow like trees and branches. These can attain a height of sixteen inches (40 cm), though the actual branches seldom exceed one and a half inches (4 cm). At the forks, they are somewhat thicker. It is from these parts that the precious raw material for jewellery items, large coral beads or carvings is obtained.
Traditionally, the fragile little coral trees were brought up from the depths with trawl nets. However, since first-class corals have now become rather rare, divers are now deployed, in a less destructive process which involves their going down and harvesting the sensitive coral branches. After that, the branches are cleaned, sorted and processed by means of saws, knives, files or drills. Coral is not usually ground or cut on a wheel.
Unprocessed, coral is matt. It is not until it has been polished that it takes on that beautiful shine. It is often porous, full of holes or cracked, and in these cases it is of lesser quality. Coral of that kind is sometimes filled with coloured wax to improve its appearance. High-quality coral is of an even colour and free of cracks, blotches, striations and holes. Since genuine untreated coral is rare, it does fetch good prices. For that reason, anyone being offered what appears to be high-quality coral cheaply would do well to view the matter with a certain degree of scepsis. The best thing to do is to purchase one’s high-quality coral jewellery from a reputable merchant.
Corals do not necessarily have to be red, even if red is thought of as their typical colour. Corals grow in Nature in a wide range of colours from red to white and from blue and brown to black. The most popular are the red hues such as pale pink or salmon, all the way out to a deep dark red. Black corals and gold corals are very much in fashion, whilst the blue ones are extremely rare. The white of the angel skin coral, suffused with pink, is regarded as particularly precious. Other well known colours are the rich red Japanese Moro coral, the pale pink ‘Boke’ and the red ‘Sardegna’.
On the one hand corals are not particularly sensitive, but with a hardness of only 3.5 they are much softer than any other gemstone material. Their beauty can easily be impaired by the wrong treatment, for example cosmetics, hot water or bright light. Coral jewellery should be kept in a safe place and from time to time cleaned with a soft, damp towel. If the surface of the coral does get scratched, the jeweller can have it repolished.
JADE STONE (GIOK)
Jade’, or yu, as it is called in China, is strictly speaking a generic term for two different gems, nephrite and jadeite. The name is derived from the Spanish ‘piedra de ijada’, loin-stone, jade having been recognised by the Amerindians as a remedy for kidney ailments. Because of its beneficial effect on the kidneys, the stone was also known as ‘lapis nephriticus’. That, indeed, is where the term ‘nephrite’ came from.
Jadeite and nephrite are both regarded in China as ‘zhen yu’, ‘genuine jade’. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that mineralogists and gemmologists started to differentiate between them, since they bear a considerable resemblance to each other in terms of their appearance, their hardness and the properties they exhibit when being processed. Both are tough, since they consist of dense, close-grained, matted aggregates, but they differ from one another in their chemical composition and colours. Nephrite ranges mainly from mid to dark green or grey-green, but it can also be white, yellowish or reddish. Rarer, and somewhat tougher, jadeite displays hues which include green, but also white or pink, and reds, blacks, browns and violets. In both minerals, the way the colour is distributed varies a great deal. Only in the very finest jade is the colour evenly distributed. Both nephrite and jadeite often have veins, blemishes and streaks running through them, though these may not always be regarded as flaws. On the contrary, some of these patterns are considered particularly valuable.
OPAL
Opal, from the Greek, “Opallos” meaning to see a change of color, is a formation of non-crystalline silica gel. Opal is made up of amorphous silica spheres with a little water in the structure. Precious Opal consists of millions of silica spheres of similar size arranged in regular layers. This structure results in the diffraction of light, the wavelengths of white light being separated into the spectral colors. The color produced depends on the size of the spheres. Red, the rarest color, can only be produced when large sphere sizes are present.
Between 85 & 120 Millions of years ago silica seeped into crevices and cracks in Australia’s sedimentary strata. Through eons of time and through nature’s heating and molding processes, the silica hardened and can today be found in the form of brilliant opals.
Opal is set apart from other gemstones, because of its characteristic appearance, displaying sparkling prismatic colors which change and flash as you turn the stone in your hand. No two opals are exactly alike!
Australia is the world’s most important source of opal. Opals are usually found in sandstone or claystone (called bulldog shale). Deposits are spread over a wide area, and there is little clue to their location
Mining is done on a small scale by individuals (not large companies) with hand-operated machinery and small tools, hand picks, electric jack-picks and of course explosives. The opal miner is a strange breed of individual. He chooses to lead a Spartan life in a particularly barren and dry corner of the world while he searches for his rainbows. To escape the extreme temperatures during the summer about half the miners and their families burrow a home underground in Dugout’s.
Because opal displays a whole rainbow of colors, it can be worn with any color outfit. It is usually cut in a dome shape [cabochon] and set in rings, earrings, pendants, bracelets and pins. It may be joined by accents of ruby, sapphire or emerald to enhance particular color flashes in the gemstone. A fine opal piece is often guarded in a web of small diamonds as are other exceptional colored gems. Some opals are fashioned into beads [but they are rare] for a major contribution to a woman’s total look.
RUBY
Surprising as it may seem, ruby and sapphire, so different in colour, actually belong to the same mineral family: corundum, the mineral form of alumina which crystallizes in the hexagonal system. The red colour of ruby results from a small admixture of chromic oxide. The most prized tint is blood red or crimson known in the trade as “pigeon’s blood” red. The colour of this corundum varies, however, according to the geographical locality of the mine. Siamese rubies, for instance, are of a deeper garnet red than those found at Mogok in Burma, while Ceylon ruby is of a pinkish dull red. Corundum is extremely hard, 9 on the Mohs scale. It is, therefore, not quite as hard as diamond but much harder than other minerals, including emerald. Transparent ruby, when cut en cabochon, may reflect light so as to produce star-like bands, a phenomenon rated highly by the experts. If viewed from a certain direction, bands of light are reflected onto the surface of the crystal forming a six-ray star shape. This optical effect is due to the presence of fine canaliculi or inclusions of rutile. The colour of these “starstones” varies from pale rose red, to deep crimson, to purple. Generally speaking, the darker the crystal, the less evident is the star, and vice versa. It is a rare gem indeed in which the colour and the star are of equal beauty.
BLUE SAPPHIRE
Blue sapphire is the one of the most commonly used gemstones in today’s world. The beauty of blue sapphire is such that it creates a mystery about itself. The word sapphire comes from the Latin word “saphirus”, meaning blue. Its history dates back to 800 B.C.
The rulers of Persia thought that earth was embedded in a big blue sapphire and the blue color of the sky was a result of that. Even in the churches blue sapphire is considered holy and is held responsible for the blue color of sky. In many civilizations blue sapphire is considered as the representation of heaven. Sapphire was a hot favorite among the royals too. It was kept as a stone for protection to keep the enemies away.
Prince Charles proposed to Lady Diana with a sapphire engagement ring , which was the same ring given by his father, Prince Philips to his mother Queen Elizabeth. The Buddhists used it as a stone to check female loyalty. It was believed that the color of the stone would change if the female was unfaithful. Sapphire is considered sacred and divine.
It keeps away illness and brings peace and prosperity to its owner. It’s the birthstone of the month of September. It’s considered to be a good gift to be given on 20th or 45th wedding anniversary.
Best sapphire stones are found in Kashmir (India), Burma and Sri Lanka. A Burmese or a Kashmiri stone will have more value than a sapphire from Sri Lanka. Kashmir sapphires are highly values but are rare due to the rough terrain that makes it difficult to mine these stones. However there are a lot of mines in Sri Lanka. Other good quality resources are in Burma and Tanzania. Another high quality resource is Yogo Gulch Deposit in Montana. This was regarding the high quality resources of sapphire however the major supply of sapphire comes from Australia. Large deposits have also been found in the island of Madagascar.
The properties of Sapphire make it a hot favorite amongst the traders and the customers. It is durable and hard. It rates 9 on the mohs scale, wherein 10 being the highest, thus making it one of the hardest stones. It belongs to the corundum family. Traces of iron in corundum are responsible for the blue color of the sapphire. Sapphire can also be treated in the gemological laboratories. However, the value of a natural sapphire is higher than the treated sapphire. Blue sapphire is a blessing for the jewelers as its always in vogue and is valuable.
Thus sapphire mesmerizes with its beauty and is loved by those who like to adhere to classy and avant garde style. It truly defines its position in the family of “the big three” in gemstones along with ruby and emerald.
