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Alexandrite - Mohs 8.5 - June Birth Stone
Alexandrite is a variety of Chrysoberyl. Alexandrite is a color changer, appearing green in daylight and a purplish red in incandescent light. It is a rare gem originally found in Russia and named for Czar Alexander II.
For pictures & more information, visit the International Colored Gemstone Assoc.
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Amethyst - Mohs 7.0 - February Birth Stone
Amethyst is crystalline quartz that ranges in color from light lilac to dark purple. Amethyst is supposed to guard one against drunkenness and imbues sobriety and seriousness. It is a symbol of piety, calmness, peace, & understanding. It is also said to expel poison, protect soldiers, and cure gout.
Amethyst may be heat treated to produce Citrine. If a gem includes both amethyst and citrine, it is called ametrine.
Some amethyst contains a certain type of iron compound that will turn green when heat treated instead of turning yellow. This heat treated material is normally referred to as green amethyst. When green quartz is found in nature in the green color, it is normally referred to as prasiolite.
For pictures & more information, visit the International Colored Gemstone Assoc.
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Ametrine - Mohs 7.0
Amethyst and citrine as a bicolor gemstone.
For pictures & more information, visit the International Colored Gemstone Assoc.
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Aquamarine - Mohs 7.5 - March Birth Stone
Aquamarine is beryl that ranges in color from sea green to sky blue to medium blue. The natural sea green color seems to have gone out of vogue and now almost all aquamarine is heat treated to get rid of the green and enhance the blue.
Aquamarine imbues harmony and trust. It is said to improve relationships and bring happiness. It is also supposed to protect seafarers.
Aquamarine is also cut into cabochons.
For pictures & more information, visit the International Colored Gemstone Assoc.
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Beryl - Mohs 7.5
Beryl comes in a wide range of colors. The more familiar ones are well known, including Emerald; Aquamarine (green blue); Morganite (pink); Goshenite (colorless); and Golden Beryl (yellow beryl). There are also colors more commonly just called by their color, including green beryl (greens that don’t qualify as emeralds), red beryl (red emerald, bixbite), lilac, salmon, and orange.
For pictures & more information, visit the International Colored Gemstone Assoc.
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Diamond - Mohs 10.0 - April Birth Stone
Diamonds are the hardest mineral on earth and range in quality from industrial grade to the most sought after of gems. They occur naturally both as "white" (colorless) stones and as "fancy" colors created by impurities in the stones. Diamonds are not rare – but the highest quality stones are. Good quality, natural, fancy diamonds are rare and becoming more popular, so man has been creating colored diamonds by radiation.
For pictures & more information, visit the International Colored Gemstone Assoc.
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Emerald - Mohs 7.5 - May Birth Stone
Emerald is green beryl. Its color comes from chromium and vanadium. Inclusions are common, are considered a sign of a natural stone, and are referred to as "jardin" (fr: garden) because under magnification they resemble foliage in a garden. Emeralds are routinely oiled to fill and disguise cracks and other flaws and may need to be re-oiled at some point to keep looking their best.
Good quality emeralds are hard to come by. Natural emeralds are often heavily included, making them look cloudy. Lab-created emeralds offer a great alternative for people wanting a clear, green emerald at an affordable price.
For pictures & more information, visit the International Colored Gemstone Assoc.
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Garnet - Mohs 7.0 to 7.5 - January Birth Stone
Garnets are my favorite colored gemstone. They come in such a range of colors. Garnet is said to cure melancholy and warm the heart. It imbues riches, good health, and happiness. I just love using garnets in combination with ammolite.
- Pyrope is the blood red garnet one typically thinks of in heirloom jewelry.
- Rhodolite is a purple red pyrope garnet.
- Almandine is also a red garnet, but a different shade than pyrope and often darker in color.
- Spessartine is an orange garnet ranging from bright orange to orange red and can be confused with hessonite garnet.
- Uvarovite is a green garnet.
- Mandarin is an intense, fiery red-orange garnet.
- Andradite garnet contains titanium and manganese and ranges in color from pale to dark yellow (topazolite), green (demantoid), to black (melanite).
- Grossular garnet ranges from colorless to black. The more popular colors have been given specific names.
- Hessonite is a grossular garnet that ranges from orange to orange red to orange brown. It is sometimes referred to as cinnamon stone.
- Tsavorite is a green grossular garnet colored by chromium and vanadium.
- Rosolite is a pink grossular garnet from Mexico.
- Grossularite is a nontransparent stone resembling jade.
Garnets are pretty much free from human treatments, other than faceting & polishing.
For pictures & more information, visit the International Colored Gemstone Assoc.
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Green Amethyst - Mohs 7
Green amethyst refers to amethyst that has been heat treated to create a green stone.
Green quartz that is found that way in nature is normally referred to as prasiolite.
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Iolite (Water Sapphire, Cordierite, Dichroite) - Mohs 7-7.5
Iolite is a blue to violet-blue transparent or translucent stone. It is a challenge for the gem cutter, as it displays strong pleochroism, which means it shows different colors when looked at from different angles. Looking at a cube of iolite from different angles, one person would say it is blue, another colorless, and a third yellow.
For pictures & more information, visit the International Colored Gemstone Assoc.
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