Rebecca Zemans Jewelry Blog — Gemstone

One of the birthstones for the month of August is jade, a stone often known for its intense green color. Jade has been known for more than 7000 years, and while one might assume it has mainly been used in ornaments, it started out as a very practical stone used for tools because of its extreme toughness. Jade consists of two separate minerals known as jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite is very tough and resistant because of its tight growth of tiny interlocking grains. Nephrite, a variety of the mineral actinolite, is even tougher, due to its composition of fibrous crystals...

Often known for it's red-brown color, the alternative birthstone of July is the beautiful carnelian. Carnelian is a zodiac birthstone for the signs of Leo and Virgo and has been said to promote inner vitality and joy. The carnelian is a commonly available microcrystalline quartz. It is considered a chalcedony, made up of silicon dioxide colored by different levels of iron impurities which makes them come in many warm colors ranging from a pale orange to a dark brown. Often, the stones have been heat treated to make their color more intense. This stone got its name from the Latin...

An alternative birthstone for March is Jasper, a gemstone known for its many colors and its beautiful and unique patterns. Jasper is often thought to be part of the chalcedony class of gemstones. However, it can contain up to 20% foreign material, which results in the beautiful patterns. This makes Jasper considered a group of its own. The Jasper is a 6.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness, which makes it a fairly hard gemstone.  The Jasper rarely comes in one uniform color. Most of the time these gemstones have streaks or spots of other colors, which results in many names for the...

The traditional birthstone for December is the beautiful turquoise. Turquoise has been considered a holy stone for thousands of years, and was worn in ancient times around the neck or hands in order to protect from sudden death--and to bring good luck. The turquoise has played a big role in jewelry and people's lives since as early as 3000 BC, when it was mined and worn by the Egyptians. People would wear turquoise in their turbans surrounded by pearls as a protection against the "evil eye." Turquoise was also often used as talismans or to adorn daggers and sabres. The...

Topaz, the birthstone of November has been known for being quite the miracle worker. The Greeks believed this gem gave them strength, cooled their tempers, cured asthma, relieved insomnia and even saved them from sudden death. People in India had similar beliefs in this precious gem, and were convinced that a topaz worn above the heart assures a long life, beauty and intelligence. In many of these beliefs the power of the topaz increased or decreased with phases of the moon. People often use this stone to celebrate their sixteenth wedding anniversary. The blue topaz specifically can be used to...