Ruby

Which color would you spontaneously associate with love and vivacity, passion and power? It's obvious, isn't it? Red. Red is the color of love. It radiates warmth and a strong sense of vitality. And red is also the color of the ruby, the king of the gemstones. In the fascinating world of gemstones, the ruby is the undisputed ruler.

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 color, excellent hardness and outstanding brilliance. In addition to that, it is an extremely rare gemstone, especially in its finer qualities.

Pearls

Pearls fit into two categories: freshwater and saltwater. As their name implies, freshwater pearls are formed in freshwater mussels that live in lakes, rivers, ponds and other bodies of fresh water. Most freshwater cultured pearls sold today come from China. By contrast, saltwater pearls grow in oysters that live in the ocean, usually in protected lagoons. Akoya, South Sea and Tahitian are the three main types of saltwater pearls.

The difference between natural and cultured pearls focuses on whether the pearl was created by nature, without human intervention, or with human aid. Pearls are formed inside the shell of certain bivalve mollusks. As a response to an irritant inside its shell the mollusk creates a pearl as a defense mechanism. The mollusk will deposit layers of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of the minerals aragonite or calcite (both crystalline forms of calcium carbonate) held together by an organic horn-like compound called conchiolin. This combination of calcium carbonate and conchiolin is called nacre, or as most know it, mother-of-pearl. The commonly held belief that a grain of sand acts as the irritant is in fact rarely the case.

The largest pearl ever found came from the Philippines in 1934. Although referred to as a pearl, it is actually a non-nacreous calcareous concretion - gemologically speaking, it is not actually a pearl. It weighs 14 lb (6.4 kg) and was discovered by an anonymous Filipino Muslim diver off the island of Palawan in 1934. Later, a Palawan chieftain gave the pearl to Wilbur Dowell Cobb in 1936 as a gift for having saved the life of his son. The pearl had been named the Pearl of Allah by the Muslim tribal chief because it resembled a turbaned head. In 1980, Cobb's heirs sold it to a jeweler in Beverly Hills, California, for $200,000. It is now estimated to be worth upwards of $40,000,000! Currently, the Philippines produces both white and black pearls 8 to 20mm. However, they are most known for colors ranging from silvery white to champagne gold. The south sea pearl is the national gem of the Philippines.

Emeralds

Emeralds are fascinating gemstones. They have the most beautiful, most intense and most radiant green that can possibly be imagined: emerald green. Inclusions are tolerated. In top quality, fine emeralds are even more valuable than diamonds.

The name emerald comes from the Greek 'smaragdos' via the Old French 'emerald', 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.

The Centenary Diamond

Before the Centenary Diamond was faceted, it weighed almost 600 carats. It took 3 years for the master cutter, Tolkowsky, to fashion it into the largest, modern-cut flawless diamond. This stone is also part of the British Crown Jewels. The Centenary is cut with 247 facets, 83 of which are on the girdle. It weighs 273.85 carats and is only smaller in size to the Great Star of Africa (530.20 carats) and the Lesser Star of Africa (317.40 carats)

Aquamarine

Its light blue arouses feelings of sympathy, trust, harmony and friendship. Good feelings. Feelings which are based on mutuality and which prove their worth in lasting relationships. The blue of aquamarine is a divine, eternal color, because it is the color of the sky. However, aquamarine blue is also the color of water with its life-giving force. And aquamarine really does seem to have captured the lucid blue of the oceans. No wonder, when you consider that according to the saga it originated in the treasure chest of fabulous mermaids, and has, since ancient times, been regarded as the sailors' lucky stone. Its name is derived from the Latin 'aqua' (water) and 'mare' (sea). It is said that its strengths are developed to their best advantage when it is placed in water which is bathed in sunlight. However, it is surely better still to wear aquamarine, since according to the old traditions this promises a happy marriage and is said to bring the woman who wears it joy and wealth into the bargain. An ideal gem, not only for loving and married couples.

Green Amethyst

"Green amethyst" is a misnomer since the term "amethyst" applies only to the purple variety of quartz. However, that doesn't stop the marketing of these less valuable pale amethyst stones after irradiation and/or heat treatments turn the color green. This fact is not meant to imply that "green amethyst" is not a beautiful stone, because it it very attractive.

Properly, after treatment, this green variety should be marketed as Prasiolite or Green Quartz, not green amethyst, and it should not be marketed as "rare" since there is an abundance of pale lavender quartz which can be treated to produce a light spring green stone.

For more information: http://www.stoneagejewels.com/amethyst.htm