The January Birthstone is Garnet

January 2, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Garnet - The Birthstone for January

January Birthstone - Pomegranate Red

One glance at the deep red seeds nestled inside of a pomegranate fruit explains why the January birthstone "garnet" comes from the Latin word "granatus," meaning "grain" or "seed." This name was given to the garnet because of its close resemblance to the succulent pomegranate seed. But don't bite into a garnet, because at Moh's hardness 6.5 to 7.5, it will definitely damage the teeth!

January birthstone - Myths and Legends

There are many myths and legends surrounding the January birthstone garnet. One Biblical legend is that Noah hung this gem on the ark to light his way through the dark and stormy nights of God's wrath. A Greek myth linked to the garnet is the story of the young goddess of sunshine, Persephone, who was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld. Hades eventually released Persephone, but not before he offered her some pomegranate seeds, which guaranteed her return to him.

Commonly Found January Birthstone

First mined in Sri Lanka over 2,500 years ago, the garnet is also found in Africa, Australia, India, Russia, South America; and in the United States, in Arizona and Idaho. Although most commonly known as a red gemstone, the garnet comes in a variety of other hues, including muted yellows, vibrant oranges, rosy pinks, lime greens, and violets—a virtual bouquet of colors. This diversity is due to unique combinations of elements within each particular gem, such as iron, calcium, and manganese.

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Archaeologist findings of primitive style garnet jewelry among the graves of lake dwellers dates the early use of this gemstone to the Bronze age. But not all garnet is of gem quality. It is also a very effective abrasive and is used commercially for grinding and polishing. Garnet coated sandpaper is one such industrial use.

The January birthstone garnet continues to be the protective gem of journeyers. A gift of garnet is thought to be symbolic of love and the desire for a loved one's safe travel and speedy homecoming. Being the January birthstone, but far from being only a winter gem, the garnet, with its brilliance and multitude of colors, is truly one for any season.

Cushion Cut Alexandrite Gemstones

November 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Cushion Cut Oval Alexandrite Gemstones

Looking for a fine green gem, with excellent clarity and rich? What are your options? Traditional choice is emerald, while emerald is famous for its color than its clarity. Tsavorite Garnet came to market in 1970 and became the second choice in fine green stones. High tsavorite as not only an excellent green was saturated, it had superior brightness, clarity and hardness. The only problem is that tsavorite has become so popular that prices went as high or higher than emerald.

The choice followed was a rare variety of tourmaline green tourmaline known as chromium. As tsavorite garnet, chrome tourmaline is found in East Africa and colored by traces of chromium and vanadium. And as tsavorite, chrome tourmaline is a fine point visually pure forest green with a slightly yellowish to bluish secondary hue. But, chrome tourmaline were found to be as rare and expensive as garnet tsavorite.

Green Left were only stones peridot and green tourmaline usual. Peridot tended to yellowish or olive green, and never had deeper tones of tsavorite and chrome tourmaline. Ordinary green tourmaline saturation rarely had wonderful rare chrome version.

This situation began to change in 1988, when a major new find href = "http://www.gemselect.com/other-info/about-chrome-diopside.php"> chrome-bearing diopside was found in Russia. Known as chrome diopside, the material did indeed begin to reach the market until after the Berlin Wall fell, the end of 1989. But here finally was a rich green gem at an affordable price - under $ 100 a carat in size smaller.

diopside found in Russia is important in Eastern Siberia near the famous diamond mines. This colorful chrome diopside is the same element that gives color ruby, emerald and alexandrite. The color was spectacular, literally lights up with green chrome diopside. However, there are some limitations in this jam. In First, chrome diopside may suffer in fact, too much green - in more sizes can be very dark tone. Careful cutting is required dimensions more easy to maintain shallow angles to improve brightness. But in smaller (under 2 carats), the color is exceptionally vivid and fresh.

Other limitations is that diopside is much softer than tsavorite garnet or tourmaline. To 5 to 6 on the Mohs scale, Chrome diopside is not suitable for rings. But it is well suited for earrings and pendants, and looks stunning when set in gold. Jewelry Diopside should be stored carefully to avoid scratches from rocks harder.

About the Author:

GemSelect is a leading online dealer in fine gemstones, specializing in sapphire, spinel, tourmaline and zircon. Fine Tsavorite Garnet

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Chrome Diopside Gems

Shawn O'Sullivan of JTV on alexandrite in Tucson

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Garnets

August 17, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

Trillion Cut Garnet

Named after the small red seeds of the pomegranate (from granatus, the Latin word for “seed”), Garnet is the birthstone for January, the 2nd wedding anniversary stone, and the zodiac gemstone for Aquarius. Historically, garnet beads and garnet inlaid jewelry were worn as early as 3100 BC in Egypt. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Garnets were very popular in Europe. The bourgeoisie would bought garnets while vacationing in the hot springs of Bohemia and take them home as souvenirs and good luck charms. Up until the late 1800’s, Bohemia was the world’s major source of Pyrope Garnet.