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Garnet is the birthstone for January. Boy are you the lucky ones! Most of you probably think of garnet as a brownish red color and not very exciting. Not even close!! Garnet is a gem with nearly infinite variety. Known as the light bearing gem, garnet is available in every color except blue. With intense reds, oranges, and amazing greens, garnet is a great gem for nearly everyone.
Rather than an exact gem, garnet is a family of minerals that have close ties to each other. Slight differences in chemical composition create the different colors. Some are the brownish red, but others will rival ruby. Some are more of a burgundy color called rhodolite and still others are pyrope garnets with the same root word as the Greek for fire; well named. Another can mimick green jade.
One of the most intense green gems on the planet is the tsavorite garnet. It's been named after Tsavo National Park in Kenya where it was first discoverd.
One of the fun bits of folklore about garnet is that Noah used a large garnet in the ark because it was thought to actually be a light bearing gem.
January
Birthstones
Amethyst is the birthstone for February. This purple variety of quartz has a fun story behind it in its folklore.
It is said that the Greek god Bacchus (the god of wine) had been jilted by a human female. In his anger, he decided that the next human that showed up would be devoured by a tiger. Well the first person to show up was the beautiful Amethyst. In terror, she cried out to the goddess Diana, who was also miffed at Bacchus for jilting her. Diana instantly turned Amethyst into a clear crystal statue. When Bacchus came along and saw her "transparent" beauty, he was sorry for what he had done and poured libations of wine over her in penance, thus turning her purple. It became the legend, then, that if one drinks from an amethyst chalice, one will not get drunk.
Fun story, but the real story is the beauty of the gem. The finest amethysts are a deep, rich purple and very affordable. They can be a little brittle so don't beat on them much.
February
You March birthday folks have a variety. Aquamarine is usually labeled as the birthstone for March. The problem is that it is a pretty feminine color and not too many men want the color. The alternate is bloodstone. Actually bloodstone was first in billing until the 20th century. Each has unique characteristics and beauty.
Aquamarine is a gem related to emerald (they are the same mineral). Aqua is a light to medium blue, blue-green gem with magnificent brilliance. The finest ones have a distinct blue very close to the color of the sky. They are available in tones as dark as nice blue topaz, but hard to find in that tone.
The word comes from 2 Latin words meaning seawater. It is known as a symbol of happiness and everlasting youth. It was also thought to protect wearers when traveling (are you ready for this?) over water!
Be careful wearing aquamarine. It is a little brittle.
Bloodstone is a medium to dark green gem with red flecks. It is in the chalcedony family just like onyx. The old folklore of bloodstone is that the gem was at the foot of the cross and the red is the dried blood of Christ. The red also had other blood related "helps." It could sooth discord, calm the wrath of kings and remove tumors, but only when mixed with honey! It was thought to fortell the future and dye water red.
March
April
Emerald is the stuff life is made of...at least according to the ancient Egyptians! To them, emerald's green stood for fertility and rebirth. In some cultures, emeralds were used for treating eye diseases, antidotes for poison (the life idea again) and prevented epilepsy in children.
You can also see the future, but only if you hold it under your tongue, strengthen your memory (I think that's what I read), make you more elequent, avoid evil spells, and test your lover's statements as to their truth.
Whew! Lots of promises from a gemstone!
Now to the real stuff. Emerald is the medium to dark green variety of the mineral beryl. The finest ones are more dark than light and relatively clean internally. When I say relatively clean, keep in mind that the finest emerald will have internal inclusions (they often look like grass) that can be seen with the naked eye. That's normal.
They come from all over the world, but the finest are from South America, primarily Columbia, Bolivia and Brazil.
MAY
Pearl is one of the few "organic" gems. Pearls are made by salt water and freshwater mollusks, commonly called oysters. Salt water pearls can be any size from pinheads to larger than nickels. The largest come from south sea or Tahitian oysters and are rare enough to command premium prices.
Freshwater pearls come from mollusks that grow in lakes and rivers. Unlike their saltwater cousins, these can produce up to 100 pearls in their life. That kind of production makes freshwater pearls very affordable.
Both are formed by some piece of matter that the oyster recognizes as an irritant, planted inside the shell. To protect itself, the oyster begins to coat the irritant with what becomes the pearl. Man usually helps this process along by surgically implanting the irritant, usually a mother-of-pearl bead in the creature, thus creating "cultured" pearls. If this process happens naturally, the resulting pearl is called natural and is extremely rare and costly, depending on the quality and size.
The best pearls are nearly perfectly round, relatively free of surface bumps (called blemishes) and have very good, deep luster.
Alexandrite is one of those gems many people have never heard of. Named after the Russian Czar, Alexander the Great, it is a color change gem that is very rare. Good alexandrite will change from a good red to a good green depending on the light. (the pictures at the left are the same ring with different light!) You will very seldom see a natural alexandrite with good color change or that is even very pretty. (It does happen, but rarely) Because of that, nearly all alexandrite is synthesized in a laboratory (often called "created" rather than synthetic). The created is usually more on the purple/red/green/blue end of things...all at the same time. It will change wonderfully with different types of light. The most dramatic change is from indoor light to sunlight!
JUNE
You June babies also have choices. There are technically 3 gems: pearl, moonstone and alexandrite. We will only talk about the first and last here as those are typical.
Each of the photos below is a thumbnail. You can click on it for a larger image.
Fire! Passion!
RUBY!
The birthstone for July seems to follow those kinds of characteristics...and so do those who love it. At one time it was called the King of Gems and was thought to bring wealth, health, wisdom and success in love. Because of it's color, it was thought to cure all kinds of blood disorders and fevers. The ancient Burmese thought a ruby inserted into a warrior's flesh made him invincible. No wonder it was the king!
This red variety of the mineral corundum is one of the most durable of all gems and available in all sizes. It's the most coveted of all the red gems so the finer rubies are not inexpensive.
So what constitutes a good ruby? Look for a rich, dark. even color. Also watch that it's relatively free of inclusions (flaws) and that the shape is symmetrical.
Perhaps no other gem gets put down as much as the August birthstone, peridot. This light green member of the olivine mineral can be stunning. Until the 18th century, peridot was called topaz.
The ancient Egyptians considered peridot the "gem of the sun." In fact they prized it so highly that guards had orders to kill those approaching an island shore known for peridot.
It has been ascribed all kinds of mystical powers through the centuries. Some warded off evil spirits with it, but it had to be tied to donkey hair and worn on the left arm! It was prescribed for asthma and to lessen thirst in fever.
If you're one of those that thinks you don't like peridot, I will challenge you to come into Daniels and take a look at some of our samples. I think we will change your mind!
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
Our pictures will confuse some of you at first. Yes, each of them is all sapphire! Sapphire is the mineral corundum and in its red form is called ruby! In other words, sapphire comes in every color EXCEPT red. The rainbow ring at left is a great example of its wonderful variety. The finest ones are actually more like the bottom with a little bit lighter blue than most people realize.
It does have fun folk lore around it too. It was thought to symbolize heaven in the Middle Ages. Magicians valued it because it supposedly let them understand prophecies and command spirits. It was also used as medicine for eye diseases, plague and as an antidote for poisons.
Most of us wear it because of it's beauty, but it's also one of the most durable gems. In fact, you will chip or break a diamond before you will a sapphire! (There's a difference between hardness, which is just scratch resistance, and toughness.) Enjoy it for whatever reason YOU like.
When someone comes into our store and says she doesn't like her birthstone, I usually assume either November or August. UNFAIR!!! As you can see from the top picture on the left, citrine, one of the November birthstones, can be gorgeous.
This one is more rare than most with it's deep, nearly orange color, but even lighter versions, like the one below it are just as stunning when cut and set right.
Citrine is the birthstone most often seen for November. It is the yellow variety of quartz, somewhat durable and very affordable. Because of it's color, citrine doesn't have a lot of folklore since it was always mistaken for topaz.
The other birthstone is topaz and is usually quite light. It can actually be any color you can name and most of you are familiar with blue, although the blue is not a natural color except maybe in very light tones. Traditionally the golden color is what is recognized as the birthstone.
To the ancient Egyptians, topaz was thought to symbolize the god Ra, the god of the sun. It could ward off and break spells, get rid of sadness and strengthen the intellect. It could also cure asthma, insomnia, hemorrhage, and burns, but
it had to be powdered and put in wine to do all that!!
Enjoy!!
NOVEMBER
OCTOBER
December actually has 4 birthstones! Two of them, however, are not seen much in our part of the world. Turquoise and lapis lazuli are as much rock as they are gem, but are very popular in some parts of the world and in the Southwest US.
The other birthstones are shown at left. The top one is blue zircon and the bottom is tanzanite. Many folks get the name zircon confused with cubic zirconia, the imitation diamond. Zircon is a natural gem occuring in all colors and is known for its brilliance. It reflects light better than many gems. Usually it's a lighter bluish green than the one pictured. Because of its color, there is not a lot of folklore surrounding zircon. Just enjoy its beauty.
Tanzanite was discovered in Tanzania in 1968 and it took 2 years to even figure out what it was! The mineral name is zoisite and had never been seen in any transparent variety before. At first, it was thought to be sapphire, but had nowhere near the hardness. It comes out of the ground this beautiful violet color or brown. It was discovered that when the brown is heated in a controlled environment (much like the sand in the desert where it was found!) it turns the violet color.
A few years ago it was added to the December birthstone list. Be careful with it as it is a bit brittle.
DECEMBER
October is one of those months with more than one birth stone. I've not seen anything to verify this, but I think it's because the traditional gem, opal, is not a masculine color or gem, so an alternative was needed.
OPAL
Opal is unusual in that the play of color, which is highly desirable, is caused by flaws in the gem. Those flaws reflect the colors. It was once prized above all gems. The ancient Romans claimed that when the gods made the gems of the world, they took the leftovers and made opal! Thus, it has them all.
The down side of opal is its lack of durability. Be careful with it as even sudden temperature changes can destroy it.
TOURMALINE
Tourmaline is a puzzle. Most people name pink as its color, but it can be any color and is often more than one color in one gem. Because of how it "mocks" other gems there is not the folklore around. Having said that, there is one neat story about it. The Dutch called it "aschentrecker," which means "ash puller." It has a unique scientific characteristic called pyroelectricity. When tourmaline is heated, even slightly, it will attract dust from the air. It generates its own static electricity! The Dutch would use heated tourmaline to pull the ash from their pipes.
Its colors are what sets it apart. It's one of the few gems that naturally occurs in multiple colors in the same crystal.
