With its bright sunny yellow, Citrine is one of the most cheerful gemstones in the birthstone calendar. But you can also find them in pale yellow and cognac as well as the rich orange-yellow Madeira Citrine. Throughout history it has often been confused with November’s other birthstone, Topaz. This was mainly because before gemology became…
Category: Birthstones
Gemstone Focus: Tourmaline
Tourmalines are a beautiful group of gemstones found in a wonderful assortment of colours. The word means “stone with many colours” in the Sinhalese language. They are associated with creativity and artistic expression and they have often, historically, been mistaken for other gemstones. In fact, one of the Russian Crown jewels once thought to be…
Gemstone Focus: Opal
‘Mysterious opals contain the wonders of the skies – sparkling rainbows, fireworks, and lightning, shifting and moving in their depths.’ – Author Unknown Birthstone of October and gemstone of the 14th wedding anniversary, Opals have been treasured for their amazing play of colour for centuries. They are in fact so unique that a completely unique vocabulary…
Gemstone Focus: Pearls
If you were born in the month of June, you are lucky indeed because you have four birthstones to choose from, pearl, moonstone, bloodstone and alexandrite. But by far the most popular is the pearl. The pearl is special in that it is produced by a living organism in response to an iritant, usually a small…
Gemstone Focus: Amethyst
I have always loved gemstones. As a child I had a huge collection of gemstone rocks and basically, if it sparkled, glowed or was just pretty, I wanted it. That love has followed me into adulthood and has now made its way in my jewellery designs. I love working with rare, or unusual gemstones. And…