Category Archives: Stone Jewelry

Sparkling Strawberry Quartz

Strawberry Quartz

Strawberry Quartz

Quartz is one of the most plentiful minerals on earth, making up about 12% of the earth’s crust. Anyway, ‘Fruit Quartz’ is the general trade term for a group of colorful, translucent materials which are individually known by fruit-like names such as “cherry quartz”, “blueberry quartz”, “strawberry quartz”, “kiwi quartz”, “pineapple quartz”, and so on. They are commonly carved into jewelry components such as beads or pendants or into decorative objects.

Strawberry quartz is a very rare type of quartz. It was found in Kazakhstan, one of the former Soviet republics. The color of this stone varies from pale pink to pink, and it has shining and sparkling needles of GOETHITE inside, which make strawberry quartz so attractive.

Strawberry quartz gets its color from inclusions of various forms of iron oxide. There are four different but chemically related iron oxides that may be found in quartz. They include lepidocrocite (FeO(OH)), goethite (also FeO(OH) but with a different crystal structure), limonite (FeO(OH)*nH2O) and hematite (Fe2O3).

Strawberry Quartz carries all the vibrations of Clear Quartz, with the additional attributes of universal love, understanding of purpose, and seizing the day. Carrying Strawberry Quartz can be soothing and calming for someone who works in a fast-paced environment. Strawberry Quartz has the ability to amplify intentions of love, gratitude and generosity, and can radiate those vibrations outward.

Strawberry Quartz assists in bringing balance to the psyche, the emotions, and the subtle energy bodies. An important tool for new initiates on the spiritual path, Strawberry Quartz can help one to gain insights into one’s persona and inspiration regarding how to improve on it. Strawberry Quartz is a great facilitator of gaining hidden knowledge.


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Star Ruby

Star Ruby

Star Ruby

“Ruby” derives from the Latin “rubens”/”ruber” which means “red.” The universally acknowledged synonym for ruby is “red” gemstone, even though there are also rubies in shades of pink and purplish-red. Rubies were apparently first worn in the breastplates of high priests centuries ago. They have never lost their place as precious jewels that are considered to have historical significance, potent physical properties and monetary value beyond compare.

Star Ruby shows asterism, a six-rayed star that shimmers over the surface of the stone when it is moved. Ruby is red corundum, all other color varieties of corundum being referred to as sapphire. Corundum is the second hardest substance on the Mohs scale, with a rating of nine.

The six legs of the star should be sharp (not wide and blurry) and centered. The main ray should run lengthwise. The star should be silvery or milky white. From a clarity standpoint, the stone should be semi-transparent. A star cannot be completely transparent because it is the rutile that causes the star. A star must be properly cut to create a six rayed star. The stone should not be too flat on the top or too heavy on the bottom. Many bottoms of stars look almost unfinished. This is because the gems are so rare that the cutters do everything to save weight and assume they will be mounted anyway.

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Star Rose Quartz

Star Rose Quartz

Star Rose Quartz

Rose quartz is one of the most desirable and attractive varieties of quartz. Rose Quartz owes its unique soft pink hue to tiny traces of titanium and manganese. Sometimes, rutile needles are present in the rose quartz hence star-effect or asterism is seen.

Unlike Star Rubies and Star Sapphires, in Star Rose Quartz, asterism can be seen under any strong light. Usually star rose quartz can only be seen on cut and polished pieces of rose quartz. It is virtually impossible to recognize asterism in an unpolished specimen. Since the left and right eye see the star at different positions and the brain concludes from this stereo image that it must be situated above the rose quartz – looking at it for some time can make you feel dizzy as something is apparently “wrong”.

Star rose quartz is only found in a few locations in the world. Rose quartz is opaque to translucent microcrystalline quartz of pink to rose-red colour. Some rose quartz contains microscopic rutile crystals which are oriented at right angles to the c-axis of the rose quartz in three directions, each 120 degrees apart.

Rose quartz occurs at many pegmatite locations all over the world. It is commercially mined in Madagascar (Vorondolo Mountains, south-east of Antsirabé), South-Africa, Namibia, India, Germany, U.S.A. (South Dakota), and Brazil (Bahia and Minas Gerais). However, Star Rose quartz is found mainly in South Dakota, Vietnam and Madagascar.


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Star Moonstone

Star Moonstone

Star Moonstone

Moonstone is a member of the Orthoclase Feldspar family and is considered to be a semi-precious gemstone. While limited in nature, some good size stones are available. Moonstone owes its name to its almost magical shimmer that resembles moonshine, the bluish-white light seems to hover over the stone as it moves. This phenomena is called adularescence.

Moonstone typically exhibits the phenomena of adularescence in which a bluish-white light seems to hover over the stone as it moves. This phenomena originates from the interior structure of the gemstone. Incoming light is refracted inside the stone and scattered, creating a unique play of light. A combination of orthoclase and albite arranged in layers causes the lovely sheen.

There are different types of Moonstone. Moonstone from Sri Lanka, the classical country of origin shimmers blue on an almost transparent background. Specimens from India show play of light on beige, green, orange or brown background. Moonstone cat’s eye and multi-rayed star moonstone are known, but rare.

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Star Garnet

Star Garnet

Star Garnet

Star garnets, also known as Asteriated Almandine, are a special form of the gemstone garnet. While colored like other garnets they display a reflection-like image of a four or six pointed star caused by the inclusion of rutile needles (an effect known as Asterism).

Star garnet is an unusual form of garnet. Asterism, or the star effect,is associated mostly with star sapphire and star ruby. But in fact a small of group of other gemstones can also exhibit this effect, though specimens are fairly rare. The other star gems include moonstone, quartz, spinel, citrine, diopside, emerald, chrysoberyl and garnet.

The star garnet was designated the official state stone or gem of Idaho in 1967. More precious than either star rubies or star sapphires, the Idaho garnet is usually dark purple or plum in color, with four rays in the star (occasionally the star has six rays, as in a sapphire).

Idaho’s nickname is “The Gem State.” The mountains of Idaho contain veins of gold, silver, lead, zinc, cobalt, copper, and many other rare minerals. Among these rare minerals are gems like the star garnet, jasper, opal, jade, topaz, zircon, and tourmaline.

Star garnets are usually opaque and colored a deep brownish red or a reddish black. Like all star gems, the star effect is caused by inclusions of rutile. But in order to display the star effect the rutile needles must have the right alignment to reflect light in a pattern forming a mult-ray star.

The star effect in most star garnets is subtle and requires the correct lighting to see the star clearly. The best lighting is bright sunlight in the middle of the day where the sun is directly overhead. Using a focussed light like a narrow beam halogen spotlight or a small flashlight that can be focussed to a narrow beam will also work. Then stand directly above the stone and look straight down to see the star.

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Spodumene Rock Mineral

Spodumene

Spodumene

Spodumene is a rock forming mineral in granites and pegmatites that bear other lithium minerals. Spodumene is a relatively new mineral to science, being discovered in the last three centuries and gem varieties have only been discovered in the last 120 years. The name refers to the mineral spodumene, Greek for ash-colored, because the non-gem crystals are mostly opaque, white to yellowish.

Spodumene colors are white, colorless, gray, pink, lilac, violet, yellow and green. Spodumene is a relatively new mineral to science, being discovered in the last three centuries and gem varieties have only been discovered in the last 120 years. Transparent deeply colored spodumene has two varieties called Kunzite and Hiddenite. Kunzite is the more common of the two and is known by most gemstone collectors and fanciers. It is a lovely pink to lilac color that is unique in the gem kingdom.

Spodumene is strongly pleochroic, meaning there is a color intensity variation when a crystal of it is viewed from different directions.
Spodumene deposits are found in Afghanistan, Brazil, Madagascar, Pakistan and the United States (California, North Carolina and South Dakota).


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Spinel Gemstone

Spinel Gemstones

Spinel

Spinel is the magnesium aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. Some of the rarest gems in the world are spinels, even if many of them were once believed to be rubies or sapphires. For example, the enormous Black Prince’s Ruby that adorns the Imperial State Crown of the United Kingdom is actually a spinel, after a long history: Henry V even wore it on his battle helmet! The Timur ruby, a 361-carat red spinel now owned by Queen Elizabeth, has the names of some of the Mughal emperors who previously owned it engraved on its face: an undeniable pedigree!. But in fact all natural spinel are fairly rare, and that’s why they can be difficult to find in jewelry stores. It is also, paradoxically, why the prices for spinel are still reasonable.

In Burma (now known as Myanmar), where some of the most beautiful colours are mined, spinel was recognised as a separate gem species as early as 1587. In other countries the masquerade went on for hundreds of years. Spinels were most often referred to as ‘balas rubies’, which may have referred to their colour or their country of origin.

Natural spinel is a very fine gemstone indeed, with many characteristics that make it the near-equal of ruby and sapphire. Spinel is a magnesium aluminate, typically colored by chromium and iron and, occasionally, cobalt. It is very hard (8 on the Mohs scale, compared to 9 for ruby and sapphire), and it forms as a cubic crystal like a diamond. Spinel is a durable gemstone that is perfect for all jewellery uses. It is most often faceted in oval, round, or cushion shapes and is not currently found in calibrated sizes due to its rarity.

Spinel occurs in octahedral crystals but fortunately has very poor cleavage (unlike diamond, which has perfect cleavage). Due to spinel’s very good dispersion, gem spinels can possess vivid fire, and the intensity of spinel color is in part due to the fact that spinel is one of the few singly refractive gemstones (the others being garnet and diamond).

Recently some high quality African spinel has come on the market, with some pieces in good sizes. It has found some excellent spinel from Tanzania in red, pink, violet, and blue; and occasionally in unusual colors such as orange and purple. The supply of Burmese spinel is very limited but steady, and the material is generally of very high quality.

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Sphene Gemstone

Sphene

Sphene

Titanite, or sphene (from the Greek sphenos, meaning wedge, because of its typical wedge shaped crystal habit. The mineralogical name “Titanite” derives from its titanium contents. It is a brilliant yellowish-green, green or brown gemstone of high luster, unique color shades and, with brilliant cut, an intensive fire that can approximate diamond. While in demand for a long time, sphene has been a rare gem on the market. New deposits have now increased market quantities.

When Sphene is cut properly, it shows its fire and radiance to its full glory. The gemstone is found in combination with titanium and is therefore also named Titanite. As Sphene is a soft gemstone and prone to abrasions, adequate care should be taken while using it. In the gemstone marts, it is considered to be a rare specimen.

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Sparkling Sphalerite

Sphalerite

Sphelarite

Sphalerite (which is also known as Blende), is an important ore of zinc and can make a rather attractive cabinet specimen as well. It can have excellent luster and associates with many beautifully colored minerals making it one of the best enhancers of many fine mineral specimens.

Sphalerite is one of the very few minerals that has a total of six directions of cleavage. If all of them were to be perfectly cleaved on a single crystal it would form a rhombic dodecahedron. Identifying all six directions in a single cleaved crystal is quite difficult due to the multiple twinning and the many directions. Only the fact that there is abundant cleavage at different directions can easily be seen in most cleaved specimens.

Sphalerite is a zinc sulphide and is best known in the mineral world as the chief ore of zinc. Most sphalerite contains iron and when the iron content is high it is an opaque black. The rare gem-quality crystals have a very low iron content and considerable transparency. They are typically a yellowish to honey brown, red to orange, or green.

The two most important sources for gem-quality sphalerite are the Chivera mine in Sonora, Mexico; and the Picos de Europa, near Santander on Spain’s northern coast. Sphalerite is also found in Namibia and the Congo.

Sphalerite is considered to be a semi-precious gemstone and while limited in nature, gems of good color and size are available, however, faceted stones above 1 carat are rare. Despite being soft and somewhat fragile, Sphalerite’s brilliance, dispersion greater than diamond, deep earthy colors and vivid three dimensional inclusions, make it a unique and exquisite gemstone that is keenly sought after by gemstone collectors and connoisseurs alike

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SPESSARTITE GARNET

Sperssartite Garnet

SPESSARTITE GARNET

Spessartite Garnet has shades of colors in red-orange, yellow- orange, bright yellow, and pure orange. With mosted valued- colors spessartite garnet are red-orange and orange colors. The color is a fiery sunny-orange to red-brown. As with the other garnets, it tends to occur in a blend with other garnet species. Gems with the highest spessartite content are a light orange. Those with almandine content are reddish, to red brown in hue.

Spessartite garnet belongs to the large and varied mineral group of garnet. Garnet comes from the Latin word “granatus”, which means grain, because many garnet deposits are small grains of red crystals in their host rock. The fiery sunny-orange stone is popular for its very good hardness and its brilliance due to its high refractive index. Until the recent discovery mines in Namibia and Mozambique, spessartite garnet was rarely seen in jewelry. Its name is derived from former occurrence in the German “Spessart” forest. Garnet is a January birthstone.

In Antiquity, as well as in the Middle Ages people believed that the cosmos is reflected in gemstones. Garnet is assigned to the planets Mars, Mercury and Pluto. The esoteric movement revived the ancient belief and the gem industry made it another marketing tool to promote certain gems.

The healing powers of gems remain a controversial issue, but are mentioned for centuries by healers, shamans and medicine men. Whether it’s a fact or a placebo effect doesn’t matter, if it helps. The safest approach is to wear the gemstone in skin contact to the troubled part of the body. Garnet is said to be of help for arthritis, varicose veins and backache.

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