Gemstones: Lapis Lazuli 

Lapis Lazuli is a gemstone compared to stars in the sky.

Stone's names: Lapis Lazuli, Lazurite.

Color: Lapis Lazuli occurs in various shades of blue with some qualities being speckled with white calcite and some with yellow pyrite. The finest Lapis Lazuli is even blue color with little or no veining from other elements.

Description: Lapis lazuli is a semiprecious stone valued for its deep blue color. The source of the pigment ultramarine, Lapis lazuli is not a mineral but a rock colored by lazurite. In addition to the sodalite minerals in lapis lazuli, small amounts of white calcite and of pyrite crystals are usually present.
Because lapis is a rock of varying composition, its physical properties are variable.

The name's origin: The name lapis comes from word pencil in Spanish.

Wedding anniversary: Lapis Lazuli is the anniversary gemstone for the 7th and 9th year of marriage.

Care and treatment: Lapis Lazuli can easily be scratched or chipped. Water can dissolve the stone's protective coatings, hence clean your lapis lazuli jewelry with a soft dry cloth.

From the stone history: Lapis Lazuli with deep azure blue color, often flecked with golden pyrite inclusions, was treasured by ancient Babylonian and Egyptian civilizations and often worn by royalty. Lapis lazuli was widely used by Egyptians for cosmetics and painting . Persian legend says that the heavens owed their blue color to a massive slab of Lapis upon which the earth rested. Lapis Lazuli was believed to be a sacred stone, buried with the dead to protect and guide them in the afterlife.
Lapis lazili is one of the gemstones, that used in commesso, also called florentine mosaic. Commesso is a technique of fashioning pictures with thin, cut-to-shape pieces of brightly colored, semiprecious stones, developed in Florence in the late 16th century. The stones most commonly used are agates, quartzes, chalcedonies, jaspers, granites, porphyries, petrified woods, and lapis lazuli. Commesso pictures, used mainly for tabletops and small wall panels, range from emblematic and floral subjects to landscapes.
Visit all-that-gifts.com - the online store that offer a large collection of pictures decorated with natural precious and semiprecious stones.
For centuries Lapis Lazuli has been prized for jewelry. But it has also been used to make the beautiful blue paint ultramarine and has been used as a source of writing instruments. Ultramarine is used in paints, lacquers, and decorating materials. It has a particularly brilliant blue color and is very lightfast.

Shopping guide: Lapis lazuli has been widely used as a semiprecious stone throughout history. It is most often seen as a necklace of beads or carved pendants.
Fine natural Lapis Lazuli can be rather pricey. Jewelry with the high quality stones with no calcite or pyrite veins can be quite expensive. Much of the jewelry that is sold as Lapis is an artificially colored jasper from Germany that shows colorless specks of clear, crystallized quartz and never the goldlike flecks of pyrite.

Healing ability: The stone is said to increase psychic abilities. Lapis is said to be a cure for melancholy and for certain types of fever. Lapis lazuli eliminates negative emotions. It relieves sore throat pain.

Mystical power: Traditionally believed to increase mental clarity, virility, and calm. Lapis Lazuli is energy focuser for teachers, lecturers and speakers. Enhances creative self-expression. It is believed to be useful in relieving depression and promoting spirituality. Lapis Lazuli is also powerful during meditation.

Deposits: The main supplies of Lapis Lazuli are found in the Afghanistan, Egypt, Canada, Chile, the US, and South America. The most important sources are the mines in Badakhshan, northeastern Afghanistan, and near Ovalle, Chile, where gemstone is usually pale rather than deep blue.

 

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Gemstones: Jasper

 Jasper brings joy into life.

Color: Jasper exhibits various colors, but chiefly brick red to brownish red. It owes its color to admixed hematite, but when it occurs with clay admixed, the color is a yellowish white or gray, or with goethite, a brown or yellow. Often jasper is multi-colored.

Description: SiO₂ Jasper is opaque, fine-grained or dense variety of the silica mineral chert. Jasper, long used for jewelry and ornamentation, has a dull lustre but takes a fine polish. Its hardness and other physical properties are those of quartz.

The name's origin: The name jasper is from the Greek iaspis.

Care and treatment: The polish on jasper will often be washed away in water. Clean your jasper jewelry with a soft dry cloth.

From the stone history: In ancient writings the term jasper was chiefly applied to translucent and brightly colored stones, particularly chalcedony, but also was applied to the opaque jasper.
Jasper was known as the great "rain-bringer" in the fourth century.
For thousands of years, black jasper was used to test gold-silver alloys for their gold content. Rubbing the alloys on the stone, called a touchstone, produces a streak the color of which determines the gold content within one part in one hundred.
Jasper is one of the gemstones, that used in commesso, also called florentine mosaic. Commesso is a technique of fashioning pictures with thin, cut-to-shape pieces of brightly colored, semiprecious stones, developed in Florence in the late 16th century. The stones most commonly used are agates, quartzes, chalcedonies, jaspers, granites, porphyries, petrified woods, and lapis lazuli. Commesso pictures, used mainly for tabletops and small wall panels, range from emblematic and floral subjects to landscapes.

Shopping guide: Jasper is a very pretty, inexpensive gemstone. It is usually worn as beads or cabochon jewelry.

Healing ability: Medicinal values were long attributed to jasper, including a belief that wearing it strengthened the stomach. Jasper was also believed to cure gynecological problems.

Mystical power: Leopard skin Jasper is said to bring one what they need. Poppy Jasper is said to help bring joy into life. Opalite Jasper is said to help one sleep.
Jasper was thought to drive away evil spirits and protect against snake and spider bites.

Deposits: Jasper is common and widely distributed, occurring chiefly as veinlets, concretions, and replacements in sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, as in the Urals, North Africa, Sicily, France, India, Venezula and Germany.
Some varieties are color-banded, and beautiful examples of jasperized fossil wood are found in Arizona, U.S. In USA Jasper is also found in California, Utah and Wyoming.

 

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Gemstones: Zircon

 

Zircon provides the wearer with wisdom, honor and riches.

Stone's names: The orange variety of zircon is called jacinth.

Color: Zircon is known as a colorless stone used to imitate diamonds, but also comes in: blue, yellow, orange, red, brown and green.

Description: ZrSiO₄ Zircon is a silicate mineral, zirconium silicate.
The high refractive index and dispersion of zircon cause it to approach diamond in fire and brilliancy. Zircon is widespread as an accessory mineral in acid igneous rocks, it also occurs in metamorphic rocks and, fairly often, in detrital deposits.

The name's origin: The name Zircon is originated from Persian Zargun which means "gold color".

Birthstone: Zircon along with turquoise are birthstones of Sagittarius (Archer): Nov. 22-Dec. 21.

Varieties: Zircon is quite widely used in its three varieties. The first variety is called jacinth (also spelled hyacinth) and was used to a great extent in classical antiquity. It occurs in the clear, transparent red, orange, and yellow colors.
The blue variety is called starlite or Siam Zircon, while the third colorless variety is called Ceylon or Matura diamond.

Care and treatment: Zircon will chip and crack rather easily though it has a hardness rating of 7. As with all gems, protect zircon from scratches and sharp blows. Avoid hot water, sudden temperature changes and household chemicals. Store a jewelry made of zircon in separate boxes.

From the stone history: Zircon has been around in jewelry for hundreds of years. It is known for its high dispersion and for many years was used to imitate diamonds.

Shopping guide: Be ware of colorless glass and synthetic spinel zircon imitations.

Healing ability: Zircon relieves pain. It is said to whet one's appetite. Zircon also prevents nightmares and ensures a deep tranquil sleep.

Mystical power: Zircon supposedly helps one be more at peace with oneself. Zircon is believed to provide the wearer with wisdom, honor and riches. The lost of luster on a Zircon stone is said to warn of danger.
Jacinth helps rising one's self-esteem.

Deposits: It occurs in beach sands in many parts of the world, particularly Australia, India, Brazil, and Florida. Gem varieties occur in stream gravels and detrital deposits, particularly in Indochina and Sri Lanka, but also in Burma, Australia, and New Zealand. Zircon forms an important part of the syenite of southern Norway and occurs in large crystals in Quebec. Zircon is also found in Cambodia, France, Myanmar, Thailand, Nigeria and Tanzania.

 

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Gemstones: Iolite

Iolite - the Vikings' compass.

Stone's names: Iolite, Dichroite or Cordierite.

Color: Iolite is a transparent, violet-blue, light blue, blue, rich blue-violet stone.

Description: Mg₂Al₃O Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Iolite is a blue silicate mineral that occurs as crystals or grains in igneous rocks, only as a result of contamination of the magma by aluminous sediment.
Iolite has a pleasing color of blue, but a rather extraordinary optical property. The gemstone changes colors depending upon which angle it is viewed from.

The name's origin: The name Iolite is derived from the Greek "los", meaning violet.

Varieties: The stones from the gem gravels of Sri Lanka have been called water sapphires due to the blue-violet color.
Iolite is sometimes called dichroite because of its marked pleochroism: different colored light is transmitted in different directions.

From the stone history: Iolite, known as the Vikings' compass, due to it's ability to determine the direction of the sun on overcast days. When the legendary Viking mariners sailed the wide ocean, they used thin pieces of iolite as the world's first polarizing filter. Looking through an iolite lens, they could determine the exact position of the sun, and navigate safely.
The natural mineral has little commercial use. When clear, iolite is cut as a gem.
Synthetic magnesium iolite has a low thermal expansion and is used as a semirefractory material because of its resistance to thermal shock.

Shopping guide: Iolite necklaces and pendants wear better than iolite rings.
Iolite is commonly cut into traditional shapes, and its most desirable color is a rich violet-blue. Iolite shows many colors in a single stone. It is very important to look at an iolite from several directions before you purchase, because the stone presents very different colors from different angles. If cut properly the stone shows its best blue color through the top of the stone. But viewed from another angle the stone may appear colorless.
The price of iolites about the same as of nice amethysts in a good color. This pleasing violet gemstone is gaining widespread popularity for its beauty and its attractive affordability.

Deposits: Most of the Iolite available today comes from Sri Lanka, Burma, India, Madagascar and Brazil. Precambrian deposits of the Laramie Range,(Wyoming, USA), contain more than 500,000 tons of Iolite.

The information for mineralogist: Hardness: 7.5.

 

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Gemstones: Hematite

Hematite helps to keep inward peace.

Stone's names: Hematite, Haematite.

Color: Hematites occur in opaque red or red-brown.

Description: Fe₂O₃ Iron oxide. Hematite is a silvery, shiny opaque stone that almost looks like metal. Hematite is heavy and relatively hard oxide mineral, that constitutes the most important iron ore because of its high iron content (70 percent) and its abundance.

The name's origin: Hematite derives its name from the Greek word haem (blood ) in allusion to its red color.

Varieties: Many of the various forms of hematite have separate names.
The steel-gray crystals and coarse-grained varieties have a brilliant metallic lustre and are known as specular iron ore or looking glass ore. They are used as intaglios in men's signet rings.
Thin scaly types are called micaceous hematite.
Much hematite occurs in a soft, fine-grained, earthy form called red ochre or ruddle.
Intermediate between these types are compact varieties, often with a reniform surface (kidney ore) or a fibrous structure (pencil ore). Red ochre is used as a pigment in paints and crayons, a purified form, rouge, is used to polish plate glass.

From the stone history: Ancient Egyptians used hematites as ornamental objects placed inside their tombs. Red ochre was used by preistoric artists in their cave paintings. Nowdays hematite may also be used as a polishing powder and as a paint pigment.

Shopping guide: As hematite hardness is 5.5 - 6.5 it will scratch glass, but is in turn scratched by quartz. It can be identified by this property and by its streak, which is the color of the dried blood.

Healing ability: Garnet helps fighting against venereal diseases, it has a positive influence on a bladder. This stone also helps to treat hysteria.

Mystical power: Said to be a good healing and grounding stone, it strengthens the body and improve resistantance to life's stresses. Hematite inspire inner life and helps to keep inward peace.

Deposits: The most important deposits of hematite come from a sedimentary deposit: the Lake Superior district in North America. Other important deposits include Minas Gerais (Brazil), Cerro Bolivar (Venezuela), Labrador, and Quebec.

The information for mineralogist:
Hardness: 5.5-6.5.

 

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Gemstones: Garnet

 

The Garnet is a stone of vitality and passion.

Color: The versatile garnet comes in a virtual rainbow of colors, including pink, red, purple, orange, yellow, violet, green, colorless, occasionally black, brown and many shades of red and green. The most common color of garnets is reddish brown. Bohemian Garnet is deep red gemstone, Russian Demantoid and African Tsavorite are vibrant green.

Description: Pyrope: Mg₃Al₂[SiO₄]₃. Garnets are a group of common silicate minerals that have similar crystal structures and chemical compositions.

It can be translucent to transparent, sometimes opaque with a vitreous or resinous lustre. The best known type of garnet is red semi-precious stone pyrope, one of several red gems, which the ancients used to call Carbuncles.

Garnets are actually one of the largest families of gemstones. Most natural garnets are mixtures of two or more of the following pure species: pyrope, almandine, spessartine, uvarovite, grossular, andradite. Garnets occur in a very wide variety of formations, colors, and clarities.

The name's origin: Garnets were so called by the ancient Greeks since color reminded them of the pomegranate seed or granatum.

Birthstone: The garnet is considered to be the birthstone for Capricornus (Goat): Dec. 22 - Jan. 19.

Varieties: There are following major types of garnets: Almandine, Pyrope (also called Bohemian garnet, or Cape ruby), Spessartine, Grossular (also called grossularite, or Gooseberry garnet), Andradite, Rhodolite, Carbuncle, Hessonite (also called essonite, or Cinnamon stone), Topazolite, Uvarovite and Uralian emerald (or demantoid).

Care and treatment: Clean garnet with a dry soft cloth. As with all gemstones, care should be taken to protect it from scratches, sharp blows, harsh chemicals and extreme temperatures.

From the stone history: One of the world's most ancient gems, garnet has been treasured for thousands of years.

Use of garnets as gems is traced to the Nile Delta in 3100 B.C. Egytian artisans created beautifull garnet beads, bracelets and other jewelry. Garnets since ancient times used widely as an abrasive. Garnets are said to have been used by Asiatic tribes in place of bullets.

During the latter part of the 19th century, garnet bracelets and brooches were particularly popular. Most familiar during the peak of popularity were varieties of pyrope.

The hardness of garnets and their sharp fracture make them suitable as abrasives for wood, leather, glass, metals, and plastics.

Garnet varieties have become known by misleading names, frequently consisting of a locality with the name of another mineral variety, such as Uralian emerald or Cape ruby.

Shopping guide: Garnet is a reasonably priced stone. It is beautiful in rings, pendants, necklaces and bracelets. There are some beautiful orange garnets. A green tsavorite garnet is a very rare and high-priced stone.

The dazzling beauty of garnets is responsible for their widespread use as gemstones.

Healing ability: Garnet is an excellent assistance for blood deficiency diseases. It stimulates bloodstream and pituitary gland, relieves rheumatism and arthritis pain.

Garnet combats depression and lethargy. Garnet also stimulates the spleen properly. Garnet protects against depression and impure thoughts. Cures fever and promotes good health.

Mystical power: Garnet should be carried close to the body. Its energy is balancing and peaceful. This stone of passion stimulates the sexual drive. Garnet gives energy and courage. It is said to encourage robust good health and sexual desire, enhance the wearer's imagination. Garnet symbolizes fire, faith, courage, truth, grace, compassion, constancy and fidelity. It also offers protection to the traveler.

Deposits: Garnets are found in a wide variety of locations including Kenya, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Brazil, India, Madagascar, Canada and USA. In USA garnet has been obtained in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, Florida, California and Virginia. The majority of today's Garnet supplies come from Africa. Notable quantities of garnets have been also found in Czech Republic and Spain.

The oranges and browns of Spessartite and Hessonite hail from Namibia and Sri Lanka.

 

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Gemstones: Emerald

 

Emerald is the perfect emblem of an everlasting love.

Color: Emeralds occur in a variety of green colors. The magnificent green color that gives extraordinary value to this gem is due to small amounts of chromium and vanadium. Some emeralds have yellowish to bluish overtones.
The stone loses color when strongly heated.

Description: Al₂Be₃[Si₆O₁₈] Emerald is grass-green variety of beryl that is highly valued as a gemstone. The physical properties of emerald are essentially the same as those of beryl.
Emeralds and are cut in a variety of different shapes, ranging from the traditional rectangular step-cut, known as the "emerald cut," to rounds, ovals, squares and cabochons.
Because of emerald's high value, attempts were long made to manufacture it synthetically. These efforts finally met with success in the mid of thirties in Germany. Nowdays synthetic emeralds are manufactured in the United States. Aquamarine crystals are placed in a water solution and used as a seed to produce emeralds. The crystals thus grown appear very similar to natural crystals and rival them in color and beauty.

The name's origin: The name emerald comes indirectly from the Greek smaragdos, a name that seems to have been given to a number of stones having little in common except a green color.

Birthstone: Emerald is the birthstone of Taurus (Bull): April 20 - May 20.

Wedding anniversary: Emerald is the anniversary gemstone for the 20th, 35th and 55th year of marriage.

Varieties: Uralian emerald is in fact yellowish green or emerald-green andradite (variety of garnet).

Care and treatment: Clean your emerald with a soft, dry cloth. Oil is used during the stone treatment, therfore you should never clean an emerald with an ultrasonic cleaner because this oil could be removed or damaged. In addition, do not clean emerald in hot soapy water since it too can remove this oil.
Avoid sudden temperature changes as emeralds lose their color when strongly heated.

From the stone history: The ancients appear to have obtained emeralds from Upper Egypt, where it is said to have been worked as early as 2000 BC, during the life of Pharaoh Sesostris III.
Greek miners were working the mines in the time of Alexander the Great, and later the mines yielded their gems to Cleopatra. Cleopatra was an avid emerald collector. Remains of "Cleopatra's Mines" were discovered about 1817, they are situated on the Red Sea coast.
South America's rich bounty of emeralds was discovered by 16th Century Spanish explorers, who found large emeralds in the possession of the Aztecs and Incas.
The Moguls of India, including Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, loved emeralds so much they inscribed them with sacred text and wore them as talismans. Some of these sacred stones, called Mogul emeralds, can still be seen in museums and collections today.
For example, one talismanic emerald is deep green and weighs 78 carats. Around the edge in Persian runs the inscription: "He who possesses this charm shall enjoy the special protection of G-d."

Shopping guide: Emeralds have long been cherished for their brilliant green beauty. Highly valued and desired, the brilliant green color of emerald has never ceased to dazzle. For centuries only those of great wealth could venture upon so priceless a gift, the symbol of faith, kindness and purity. A fine quality emerald of good color and clarity is more valuable than diamonds.
There are a lot of unknowns about emeralds that may confuse you, as a consumer. Consult a professional, independent retail jeweler to insure you are getting the real thing.

Healing ability: Though not meant to replace traditional medical treatment, emerald is extensively used for physical and emotional healing.
Emerald has refreshing soft green color, which has amazing healing powers for eyes, and it is a good talisman for any eye trouble.
If worn about the neck or finger, emerald prevents convulsions in children. Emeralds are also an antidote for poisons and poisonous wounds. It aids with ailments of the spine. Emeralds help fighting all mental illness and neurological disorders.

Mystical power: Many virtues are ascribed to emerald. It is said to drive away evil spirits, and to preserve the chastity of the wearer. Emerald is said to bring wisdom. Believed by the ancients to empower the owner with foresight into the future, an emerald is regarded as an amulet for good fortune.
The emerald gives faith, success in love, and discovery of false friends. It changes color in the presence of false friends or false witnesses. It promotes constancy of mind, true friendship, and felicity in domestic life. As a love token, it registers the degree of love. If pale, love is waning. An emerald symbolizes rebirth and youth.
According to legends, emeralds strengthen the owner's memory, quicken the intelligence and assist in predicting the future.
When worn, the stone is supposed to prevent epilepsy attack, and when held in the mouth it is believed to be a cure for dysentery. It is supposed to assist women at childbirth.

Deposits: Today, most of the world's emeralds are mined in Colombia, Brazil and Zambia,
About 1830 emeralds were discovered in the Urals (Russia). They have been worked on the River Takovaya, northeast of Sverdlovsk, where they occur in mica or chlorite schist. Emeralds have been found, also in mica schist, in the Habachtal, Austria, in granite in Eidsvold, Norway, and in a pegmatite vein piercing slaty rocks near Emmaville, N.S.W., Australia. Fine crystals have been obtained from Hiddenite, N.C., in the United States.

 

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