| Product: |
Jewellery in general |
| Date: |
31/12/01 (798 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: very attractive stones
Disadvantages: can be very, very expensive indeed
If you have read any of my other opinions, I may already have mentioned from time to time that I am a jewellery designer by profession; work I have been doing for the last fourteen years. Therefore, I have decided that I would write an article in this category concerning some of the birthstones that I use for jewellery making and some alternatives to the more costly stones.
Many years ago I was asked by a potential customer if I could make her a pair of ivory earrings; but could I please ensure that the elephant had died of natural causes (!!) Although, at that time it was still possible to obtain ivory, I declined. Nowadays, I am glad to say that ivory is not legally available from any recognised sources.
In my line of business I have been asked many unusual and interesting questions. The one that is asked more frequently than others is "what is the birthstone for November or March or August etc.?"
So you may now be asking - what is a Birthstone?
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A birthstone is a gemstone designated by custom, religious tradition and superstition as being related to the month of your birth. Pagan legends mingled with Christian and Jewish traditions, led to the association of certain stones with different months. This list of birthstones is recognised throughout the United Kingdom.
January - Garnet
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Garnet is really a family of minerals. Pyrope garnet is the most common and its blood red colour made it popular in Victorian jewellery. Almandine garnet is paler and the presence of iron gives it a brown or purple tinge. Rhodolite is a mixture of pyrope and almandine and has an attractive violet-pink colour. Garnets were used by the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Celts, often cut into thin slices and inlaid, as in cloisonne. When garnets were mounted in Anglo-Saxon and Victorian jewellery, they were usually backed with gold or silver foil. Nowadays,
garnets are imported from China, Brazil, Mozambique and India.
February - Amethyst
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Amethyst is a variety of quartz, which is transparent and crystalline, usually deep purple to pale bluish-violet. The hues are sometimes mingled in the same stone, owing to irregular colour zoning, and some show patches of yellow. Only the clearest stones are faceted; the poorer quality, sometimes containing white milky quartz, are used for cabochons and carvings. Siberian amethyst is reddish-mauve in colour; Uruguayan stones are reddish-violet and Mexican stones are grey-mauve in colour. Brazil produces high-class dark amethyst.
According to mythology the wearing of amethyst inspires fairness and a sense of duty.
March - Aquamarine
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Aquamarine is a variety of beryl that is transparent and of various shades of blue and blue green. In chemical composition aquamarine is identical to the emerald, but the stones are paler in colour and, being less rare, are much less valuable. Beware of low cost, large, clear stones - they are probably glass or synthetic imitations. Brazil has produced the finest and some very large specimens. Aquamarine is also found in Zimbabwe and Tanzania.
The name aquamarine is derived from seawater. Wear aquamarine to encourage a spirit of hope and a promise of better things to come.
The alternate birthstone for this month is bloodstone; a variety of chalcedony that is green speckled with red spots resembling blood. In the Middle Ages it was used as a stone for a seal and as an amulet to prevent loss of blood.
April - Diamond
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A precious stone that is pure native crystallized carbon, highly valued, especially free from flaws and cut into various forms with differently shaped facets of variable numbers and positions, and consequently showing brilliant colours. It is the hardest natural substance known to man and
can be cut or faceted with another diamond (or diamond powder). It is mostly colourless, but some diamonds have various colours in pastel shades. The principal source was originally India and then Brazil, but now it is South Africa and other African countries, as well as Siberia and Venezuela.
The word 'diamond' comes from the Greek and means indomitable. It is thought to protect the wearer from evil and ill health.
Diamond is also the traditional gift for a 60th wedding anniversary.
If you are looking for something much less expensive, the alternate birthstone is crystal quartz. The name 'crystal' comes from a Greek word for ice, owing to the clear, glass-like, appearance of this common quartz.
May - Emerald
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Emerald is a variety of beryl, and one of the rarest and most valuable of precious stones. It is green, ranging from pale to dark, the most valuable being very dark velvety green; the colour is derived from the presence of traces of chromium. Flawless stones are very rare and most specimens contain inclusions. Emeralds were polished and drilled as beads in antiquity and were found in Columbia and in Egypt. Other important sources have been India, Russia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Brazil.
The emerald is dedicated to Venus: the Goddess of Love and is said to protect seafarers from drowning.
Emerald is also the traditional gift for the 55th wedding anniversary.
The alternate stone is chrysoprase, which is a variety of chalcedony that is apple green in colour due to the presence of nickel.
June - Pearl
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The pearl is a dense, lustrous concretion, formed within the shell of certain molluscs; it is used as a gemstone and classified with precious stones. The finest pearls are produced by the pearl oyster. The pearl is deposited naturally as nacre in very many thin layers to surround a foreign particle (often a grain of sand)
making a true or wild pearl. If man carries out the insertion, it is called a cultured pearl. The sizes vary, as well as shape - from spherical, to oval or egg shaped, and those that are irregularly shaped. The colours also vary, usually depending on the water where produced, from pink to various pale tints and blackish. Some are also artificially coloured by staining.
Pearls were traditionally emblems of nobility and thought by some to ensure a faithful lover when worn next to the heart.
The traditional gift for a 30th wedding anniversary is pearl.
Moonstone is the alternate birthstone for the month of June; a silicate containing aluminium and potassium. The stone has a milky sheen, the best stones are bluish in colour.
July - Ruby
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The ruby is a precious stone that is a red variety of transparent corundum. The colour ranges from pink to deep red. Flawless specimens showing the most desirable colours are rare; the varieties of shades are due to the presence of a small quantity of oxide of chromium. The principal sources for deep-red rubies are Burma, Sri Lanka for light red and Thailand for dark brownish-red. Tanzania also produces a lovely deep red ruby. The best rubies are more costly than diamonds of the same size, and are exceeded in value only by the emerald.
In the 13th Century this was thought, by the King of Siam, to prolong youth. Apparently he died in his 90's with the unwrinkled complexion of a young man. (Perhaps I should be wearing a ruby!)
Ruby is the traditional gift for a 40th wedding anniversary.
An alternate birthstone is carnelian, which is beautiful translucent quartz of a red or orange colour.
August - Peridot
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A gem variety of olivine that is golden-green, but also shades ranging from dark leek-green to yellowish-green. The stones are usually faceted, but some are polished by tumbling or mounted in their
natural rough form. Peridot isn't new though, having been discovered in jewellery that was nearly 3,500 years old! It is produced mostly in Pakistan nowadays.
Peridot is thought to cure mental and physical timidity and strengthen the nerves.
Peridot is my birthstone and unfortunately not a stone I particularly like. The alternative stones for this month are sardonyx and jade and I am not too keen on these either. If I had just been born a couple of days later, my birthstone would have been sapphire! Oh well, such is life.
September - Sapphire
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A precious stone that is a variety of transparent corundum of any colour other than red. The usual and preferable colour ranges from pale cornflower blue to deep velvety blue; but less valuable varieties of corundum of other colours are included as sapphires, e.g. white, yellow, green, pink, purple, brown and black. A sapphire that is not blue is sometimes called a 'fancy sapphire'. Some sapphires when viewed in daylight will change to a different hue as opposed to artificial light. Zones of different colour are sometimes present in the stone and the quality of cut stones depends greatly on skilful cutting; faceting is done mainly in Sri Lanka. The finest stones come from India and have a rich blue colour. Burma and Sri Lanka also produce fine sapphires.
Sapphire is said to represent the purity of the soul and mirrors the blue of heaven. It is thought to protect its owner from captivity.
The traditional gift for a 45th wedding anniversary is sapphire.
Lapis Lazuli is the alternate birthstone for the month of September. It is a gemstone that is typically deep blue in colour, but sometimes with mottlings of white. It is a complex mineral sometimes spangled with inclusions of brassy-coloured pyrites. Lapis has been used in jewellery design since ancient times. It is mined in the remote mountains of Afghanistan and mo
nies from the sale of this stone are said to have helped to fund the former rebels in their fight against the Taliban government. (Seems as though I have been helping to finance the Northern Alliance for the past 14 years!). It was originally found in Afghanistan 6,000 years ago. It is also found in Chile and in lesser quantities elsewhere.
October - Opal
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A gemstone that is usually characterised by a flashing mixture of colours of delicate hues when light falls on the surface. There are actually two principal varieties of opals:
1. Precious opal that is iridescent
2. Common opal that has a milky white appearance.
There are also many sub-varieties. Opals are cut into cabochons, faceted, carved or engraved. Nowadays most opals are imported from Australia, the principal source.
There has long been a superstition that opals are unlucky. If you give an opal as a gift, this is not said to be unlucky. If you buy an opal and wear it yourself, this is said to be unlucky. So, if you are superstitious and you are thinking of purchasing an opal ring, perhaps you should consider persuading your husband/partner/etc. to buy it for you as a gift!
Opals are inclined to crack fairly easily. And don't I know it. I recently spent some time (and considerable expense) finding an opal of an exact hue to match two other opals. When I was setting the stone in the ring, even with careful handling, it cracked! So now I am back to square one (so you could say that it was unlucky for me!)
Opals are also thought to protect against poisoned food and to promote a good memory.
Tourmaline is the alternate birthstone for this month. This is a complex silicate containing aluminium and boron. Colours range from pink through yellow, greens and blue.
November - Topaz
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Topaz is a gemstone that is generally yellow, ranging from canary-yellow to orange-yello
w, but sometimes is colourless or of a wide range of other hues, including pale blue, pale green, pink, golden-brown and mid-brown. It is imported mostly from Brazil.
Derived from Sanskrit meaning fire, it is thought to ward off epilepsy and asthma and to cure insomnia.
Citrine is the alternate birthstone. Like amethyst, this is a form of crystalline quartz of an attractive yellow colour. 'Sherry' or 'brandy' citrine is a deep yellow-orange.
December - Turquoise
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A gemstone that is bluish, greenish-blue or greyish-green, but the best quality is uniformly sky-blue; some less value specimens have dark markings from the surrounding matrix. Turquoise is cut into cabochons and occasionally faceted. Turquoise was very popular with the American Indians and is often used to decorate silver jewellery in Mexico, Tibet and Iran. Turquoise is porous and can discolour. Some deeply coloured stones will become pale when exposed to sunlight and will therefore lose value. The main sources for turquoise are the Sinai Peninsula and Iran.
Prized in Mexico and Egypt as long ago as 3500 BC; it is said to guarantee the fidelity of those in love. (At this point I could make a comment about previous partners, but I will leave it to your imagination)
Hope you have enjoyed this,
Janna
30th December
Happy New Year
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