Gemstone Jewelry – The Precious Glowing Colors

Gemstones are a love of mankind since ages. And though diamond has always been a precious entity, gemstones of various colors have always attracted women and men because of their colorful glow. The beauty of these stones lies also in their versatility. I recently came across a wonderful website of gemstone jewelry named Angara.com when I was looking for peridot rings, and got stunned looking at the extensive range of jewelry these tiny glowing goodies called ruby, peridot, emerald, sapphire, solitaire and tanzanite can create! I am giving here the images too for you to enjoy. But that evoked some curiosity in me to know more about gemstones and here’s what I found.

Glossary

First let’s take a look at the various terms used regarding gemstones, which might be daunting for you. I think so because they were daunting for me. I just didn’t understand that whether these terms describe their value and quality as high or low. But the research threw much of light on the topic, which, I hope, will be useful to you too.

Birthstone – The first term which confused me always was birthstone. Then I came to know that birthstone is not a particular stone, but various stones symbolizing a month of birth. E.g. ruby is the birthstone for the month of July, which means that ruby is lucky for those who are born in July. Sapphire is the birthstone for September, diamond for April, emerald for May, peridot for August, tanzanite for December, and so on. These notions vary to some extent with different cultures like English-speaking societies, Polish tradition, Georgian calendar and Hindu tradition.

Anniversary Stones – Just like birthstones, there are anniversary stones too designated for wedding anniversaries, like sapphire for 5th, diamond for 10th, ruby for 15th and emerald for 20th. These are considered lucky for the married couple who can hope for a happy married life by the virtue of the anniversary stone.

Cat’s Eye – For many days, I didn’t know that cat’s eye is a precious gemstone and when I came to know about it, it attracted me quite a lot, because it actually looks like a cat’s eye. This fabulous gemstone is studded in jewelry pieces like rings, bracelets, etc and offers peace and balance of mind to the wearer.

Tiger’s Eye – And there is a tiger’s eye too, equally fabulous as cat’s eye, but is actually a metamorphic rock. This is a chatoyant gemstone with vivid shades ranging from golden to red to reddish-brown and has a silky luster.

Briolette – This is another superb gemstone which is also called teardrops. It is pear-cut and has triangular facets.

Trilliant Cut – This is the name of a cut which gives a triangular shape to the gem. It is also called trillion or trillian. It is a popular cut for colored gemstones rather than for diamonds and often used in earrings.

Cocktail Ring – This is the name of a fascinating pattern of gemstone rings which is quite large in size. The name itself denotes that it is made of various colored stones and is bound to look lovely.

Colors of Gemstones

Scientists consider gemstones as minerals or compounds, but gemstones are appreciated worldwide for their mind-blowing colors. If you plan to add colored gemstone jewelry to your jewelry collection, choose various color groups and see the variety of gemstones emitting those colors.

Green – Some lovely green colored gemstones are peridot, emerald, jadeite, green amethyst, bloodstone, malachite, serpentine, and so on.

Blue/Purple – The superb blue is emitted by tanzanite, sapphire, lapis lazuli, blue topaz, aquamarine, zircon and amethyst.

Red/Pink – Stones emitting the beautiful shades of red or pink are rubies, coral, pink sapphire, pink topaz, rubellite, rose quartz, jasper, garnet, morganite and so on.

Orange/Yellow/Brown – The beautiful stones under this color group are amber, fire opal, tiger’s eye, topaz, heliodor, citrine, carnelian, and many more.

Black – You will be surprised to know that gemstones are black too and they look amazing! These are jet, tourmaline, onyx, hematite and obsidian.

Natural, Laboratory-created and Imitation Gemstones

I could understand the difference between real and fake gemstones, but the fact that there are synthetic gemstones too was beyond my understanding. Well, synthetic or laboratory-created gemstones are created with the same properties – physical, chemical as well as optical – as those of a naturally occurring stone, which means that they too are precious stones. But still they don’t have the value of a natural gemstone, neither the rarity. Imitation gemstones on the other hand are just made from tinted glass, or other cheap material, that is treated to appear like a real gemstone.

Enhanced or Treated Gemstone

Sometimes gemstones are treated to enhance their looks or durability, or even to change their color. The enhancement fades or changes over time, and some treated stones may also require extra care. Enhancements may affect the value of the gemstone treated, when compared against an untreated stone of the same type. So, treatments to a stone should be disclosed while the sale of the stone, and also the buyer should be informed about special care to be taken of such a stone.

Weight of Gemstone

You may know that weight of gemstones is measured in carats. Carat is equal to 1/5th of a gram. But you may not know that a carat is further divided into 100 units, named points. Thus, a half carat stone weighs 50 points.

So, these many facts were unknown to me, which I shared with you. If this helps you in some way during your gemstone shopping, I will be glad. Having said that I wish you a happy shopping of the precious glowing colors!