Blog — emerald
The Emerald - Cleopatra's Favorite
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Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Most emeralds are highly included, so their toughness (resistance to breakage) is classified as generally poor. Emerald is a cyclosilicate. The word "emerald" is derived (via Old French: esmeraude and Middle English: emeraude), from Vulgar Latin: esmaralda/esmaraldus, a variant of Latin smaragdus, which originated in Ancient Greek: (smaragdos; "green gem") Hardness of 7.5–8 on the Mohs scale Emeralds, like all colored gemstones, are graded using four basic parameters–the four Cs of connoisseurship: color, clarity, cut and carat weight. Before...
A GoldSmith's workshop circa 1572
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The Studiolo was a room in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, where the paintings concealed the...
All February Babies are Amethyst Babies
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Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the ancient Greek ("not") and ("intoxicated"), a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. The ancient Greeks wore amethyst and made drinking vessels decorated with it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication. It is one of several forms of quartz. Amethyst is a semi-precious stone and is the traditional birthstone for February. Hardness is 7 in Mohs Scale Amethyst, the gemstone believed by ancient Greeks and Romans to ward off the intoxicating powers of Bacchus, (the...
The History of Jewelry
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The first signs of jewelry being made and worn dates to over 100,000 thousand years ago, basically the dawn of time. People of all cultures wore jewelry that signified their status, social or official rank, religious or political affiliation and of course for personal adornment. Even as far as Stone Age, our ancestors found a way to create many types of jewelry made from materials such as stones, feathers, leather, bones, wood, shells, minerals and later precious metals and gemstones. The ability to forge bronze and copper some 7 thousand years ago into many shapes finally enabled the creation of...
The 4 C's of Diamonds
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The 4 C’s Source: GIA Color, Clarity, Carat Weight and the misleading C, the Cut. Color: The diamond color evaluation of most gem-quality diamonds is based on the absence of color. A chemically pure and structurally perfect diamond has no hue, like a drop of pure water, and consequently, a higher value. The diamond color-grading system measures the degree of colorlessness by comparing a stone under controlled lighting and precise viewing conditions to master-stones of established color value. Many of these color distinctions are so subtle that they are invisible to the untrained eye; however, these distinctions make a very...