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The Precious Gemstone Amethyst

March 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Gemstone amethyst with yellow calcite Uruguay 300x200

Uncut amethyst with yellow calcite from Uruguay, photo by Géry Parent - wallpaper size: 1920 x 2880

This is a picture of the gemstone Amethyst and yellow Calcite (the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate: CaCO3) mined from Uruguay.

Amethyst, a gemstone used in jewelry, is one of the several varieties of quartz with its primary colors varying from light violet to deep purple, and sometimes showing any one or both of its secondary colors, red and blue. It is a type of quartz (Silica) with the chemical formula SiO2 (silicon dioxide), and its hardness is the same as quartz, making it a precious stone ideal for embedding into jewelry.

The gemstone got its name from a Greek derivative word which literally means ‘not intoxicated’ or ‘non-intoxicating’ because of the belief among the ancient Greeks and Romans that wearing or owning Amethyst would prevent the owner from getting intoxicated.

This mineral stone gets its colors because of the presence of impurities of iron and other trace elements in it. The color variation is also because of the quantity and type of these impurities in individual stones or blocks of it.

The gemstone is also synthesized in the laboratory (Synthetic amethyst) as an imitation of the top quality natural amethyst for sale in the market. Mostly it is very difficult to distinguish the natural stone from the synthesized one, unless the stones are subjected to very expensive and technologically advanced gemological testing.

In the ancient world, as a gemstone, Amethyst was used by the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. In the medieval times, European soldiers wore amethyst as amulets for protection from dangers in the battlefield. Discovery of amethyst beads in Anglo-Saxon graves in England shows that the stones were popularly used in England too.

Amethyst, along with diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald, was one of the most expensive precious stones until 18th century when very large deposits of Amethyst were discovered in Brazil and other countries. Large scale commercial mining and marketing of the Brazilian amethyst brought down the value of the gemstone considerably in the international market. Currently, the major Amethyst producers are Brazil, Uruguay, South Korea, Austria, Russia, India, Zambia, United States and Canada.

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Elizabeth Taylor: one of the most glamorous stars of all times

April 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Elizabeth Taylor Cat on a Hot Tin Roof wallpaper 300x225

Elizabeth Taylor in the 1958 film ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’, wallpaper size 1600x1200

This wallpaper depicting the English-born American actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor is a derivative work made from an old studio publicity photo of her movie ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ (1958), which was originally published in the book ‘Hollywood Stars’ (Fog City Press, 2003).

‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’, directed by Richard Brooks and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl Ives, was one of the top ten hits of 1958.

On 23 March 2011, Taylor died of congestive heart failure at the age of 79, surrounded by her four children.

In February 2011, Taylor was admitted for treatment at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where she remained until her death. She was buried the day after death at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.

After beginning her film career as a child actress with MGM, Taylor became one of the greatest and most famous film actresses in the world. The two-time Academy award-winning actress was widely acclaimed not only for her acting talents, but also for her great beauty, her mesmerizing violet eyes, and her much envied lifestyle. Her bushy eyebrows, black hair and double eyelashes added extra punch to her beauty.

Taylor always had a great passion for high fashion jewelry and precious gemstones, especially diamonds and pearls. She is renowned to have owned the famous Krupp Diamond (33.19 carat), and the Taylor-Burton Diamond (69.42 carat) which she auctioned off in 1978 for $5 million to finance construction of a hospital in Botswana. She also owned the La Peregrina Pearl (50-carat), one of the most famous pearls in the world, which in its history of 500 years has been owned by kings and queens in Europe. These three most famous gems were presented to her as gifts by husband Richard Burton.

Though she was neither nominated for nor won an Academy Award, for many of her fans, Cleopatra (1963) which won four Academy Awards and in which she played the title role, is synonymous with her, despite the fact that and Rex Harrison (as Julius Caesar) and Richard Burton (as Marc Antony), dominated the first and second halves of the film. Also, though she was signed up for $1 million for her role as Cleopatra, due to production delays she was paid $7 million (equals $47 million today, inflation adjusted), which most of the top actresses cannot even dream of charging now.

According to various reports, Taylor left an estate that is estimated at $600 million to $1 billion, which may include $150 million in jewelry and $130 million in real estate. Though she was a highly successful well-paid actress, most of her wealth accrued from her business associations, and because she was a pioneer in marketing merchandise brands.

Throughout her life Taylor was a also fashion icon, and well-known for The Elizabeth Collection, a line of fine jewelry designed by her, and her line of perfumes such as ‘White Diamonds’, ‘Passion’, and ‘Passion for Men’, which generated sales of an estimated $69 million in 2010.

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Vancouver beach sand: free background image

March 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Vancouver beach sand free background image 300x296

Free background image for websites and blogs made of multi-colored gemstone-quality sand from a beach in Vancouver

Have you seen a collection of unpolished or uncut gemstones of all varieties?

Perhaps, the above question, or a look at the photograph here gives you the impression that the photo shows a collection of gemstones such as agate, amethysts, cat’s eye, diamonds, hematite, jasper, lapis lazuli, obsidian, pyrite, quartz, ruby, tourmaline and turquoise. Also, compare the photo (click on it and enlarge) with the photo of gems and jewels here.

You are right in a sense, and wrong in another sense. I will explain why you are wrong first. And then tell you why you are right. Funny? Yes, read on!

What you see on the picture is SAND! Yes, a close-up photo of sand found on a beach in Vancouver (the area covered by the photo is approximately between one to two square centimeters only). Hence, you are wrong.

Do the sand particles look like rare precious gems or semi precious stones as named above? Or, is there anything common between sand and precious stones? Yes, there is.

Chemically they can be the same if individual particles of sand are compared to the relevant gemstones such as tanzanite, rubies, aquamarine, amethyst, cat’s eye, diamonds, quartz, etc., and even pearls, though pearls are not gemstones, but they are organically developed within certain types of mollusks, typically around a particle of sand. You are right for this reason.

Additionally, some of the gemstones are found in sand and collected from sand, especially from river sand. For instance, cat’s eye and some other precious stones are found in the sands of some African rivers, Indian rivers, and some others. While larger pieces of gemstones are identified and collected from river sand by trained people, several very tiny gemstones are left behind in the sand.

Sand is nothing but finely fragmented rocks and minerals. Initially large rocks break up due to weathering and a variety of other reasons like extremes of temperature, growth of vegetation, freezing of water in crevices, etc. or violent natural activities like volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, etc.

Broken large rock pieces roll down and they are fragmented further. Then they are carried by flow of water to rivers. While they are transported like this, large boulders get divided again and again till they are reduced to sand particles.

Sand is generally carried from one place to another by wind and water and deposited in the form of sand on beaches, sand dunes in deserts, etc.

The major component of the earth’s crust is silica (Silicon Dioxide, SiO2), which is the basic component of sand. You will be surprised to know that the continental crust of the earth has 60.2% of silica and the oceanic crust accounts for 48.6% of silica.

Typically sand, the finely divided rock and mineral particles, has a highly variable composition. The most common constituent of sand in inland regions and non-tropical coastal regions is silica, usually in the form of quartz. From the point of view of geologists, sand particles can have diameters varying from 0.0625 millimeters (or 62.5 micrometers) to 2 millimeters.

As the color of their richer cousins, the gemstones, is caused by the component chemical compounds or elements, the color of sand is also impacted by the chemicals or minerals present in them. The bright white sands are finely fragmented limestone and they may also have coral and shell particles. Similarly arkose sand or sandstone has considerable presence of feldspar.

Dark or black sands are rich in magnetite, as in the case of sands formed from volcanic basalts and obsidian. Sands in which chlorite-glauconite contents are present are green. Most of the sands found in southern Europe can be in deep yellow color because of iron impurities within the quartz crystals. Some sand deposits can also contain garnets, and some small gemstones, showing colors of those gemstones.

Sand, especially river sand, is a great commercial product too. With concrete jungles replacing natural dwelling places of humans, and with lots of huge dams and other infrastructures like roads being built every day, sand-mining has acquired the status of a major money-spinning industry, though it destroys aquatic ecosystems and natural habitats.

And sand is the main component of glass, another big industrial product, and glass once used to be as precious as gemstones, as it was one of the first commercial product developed by human beings.

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An introduction to jewels and gems

March 15, 2011 by 1 Comment
Precious and semiprecious gemstones collection 292x300

Gemstones: (first row) turquoise, hematite, chrysocolla, and tiger's eye; (second row) quartz, tourmaline, carnelian, pyrite, and sugilite; (third row) malachite, rose quartz, snowflake obsidian, ruby, and moss agate; (fourth row) jasper, amethyst, blue lace agate, and lapis lazuli

We often hear and speak about jewels, gems or gemstones. Most of us also know that these are expensive, and, we associate them with jewelry.

What are gems? The simplest explanation is, most of them are minerals, and some are rocks or pebbles, and pearls (CaCO3 or calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form) naturally grow within living shelled mollusks.

One of the most precious and desired gems, diamonds are pure carbon (C) the same chemical substance in graphite, and the major component of coal. Similarly, rubies are made of aluminium oxide (Al2O3).

Grading and evaluation of gemstones, from the times of the Ancient Greeks, are done by judging them with the help of naked human eyes (with 20/20 vision), because there is no universally acceptable grading system. But since the 1950s, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) introduced a grading system for diamonds with 10x magnification as the standard for grading clarity.

Chemical composition is an important factor to determine the quality of gemstones, and gemologists apply chemical tests first to evaluate them. Also, chemical composition is responsible for the color of gemstones. For instance, ruby is the red variety of corundum (crystalline aluminium oxide (Al2O3) with traces of chromium, iron and titanium), which in any other color is sapphire. Even sapphires are available in various shades of blue, yellow, pink and orange-pink colors.

The mineral beryllium aluminium cyclosilicate, with the chemical formula Be3Al2(SiO3)6, commonly known as beryl, which is colorless, is the same chemically as the gemstone emerald which acquires green color because of the atoms of chromium (Cr) getting mixed with it and making it impure. The same beryl becomes the pink-colored morganite with manganese (Mn), blue-colored aquamarine with iron (Fe), and the gemstones red beryl, goshenite (colorless) and heliodor (yellow) are made up of beryl with other elements or compounds as impurities.

After the exact chemical composition of gemstones was made available by scientists, there have been efforts to create gems in laboratories. And the results have been highly encouraging to manufacture synthetic and artificial gemstones on a commercial scale. One such artificial gem is the cubic zirconia, a synthetic diamond composed of zirconium oxide, and another is moissanite, followed by sapphires, rubies and emeralds created in labs, costing only a fraction of the natural gemstones. Now bulk-manufactured small synthetic diamonds are used as industrial abrasives, and larger synthetic diamonds are available in high gem-quality and multiple carats.

Several minerals like salts and even gems like diamonds exist in nature as crystals. Crystals can have very complex to the simplest geometrical shapes and structures. So, it is natural that many gems exist as crystals. Hence gemologists classify gemstones based on their crystal systems such as monoclinic, trigonal, cubic, etc. Diamonds have a cubic crystal formation and are often found as octahedrons.

Based on crystal formation, crystalline gems are polished, shaped or cut. Transparent gemstones are normally faceted as diamonds. Opaque gems like variscite, turquoise, opal, and similar ones are usually cut as cabochons.

What makes gems so precious and attractive? One of the main factors is their color. And what is color?

The color given out by any object is because of the nature and composition of light, or daylight, which is transparent. Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eyes. The visible range of light is in the frequency range of 405 THz to790 THz. Infrared rays (lower than 405 THz) and ultraviolet or UV (above 790 THz) are not visible to the human eyes. When rays of light travel through a material (must be transparent or translucent), some frequencies of the light are absorbed by it. The unabsorbed part reaches the eyes. For this reason the gemstone ruby appears red, because it absorbs all frequencies of light other than red.

Radiation also plays an important part in making jewels colorful. For example, blue topaz, all the lighter and the darker blue shades, is irradiated to change the color from white to blue. Similarly, the green quartz (Oro Verde) is also irradiated to impart them the yellow-green color.

The effect of heat can make dramatic changes to many gemstones in terms of their color or clarity. Most of the citrine is made by heating amethyst. When heat is applied partially, it becomes ametrine, a combination of amethyst and citrine. Similarly, the gem aquamarine is heated to get rid of the yellow coloring, or to transform the green color to pure blue. The tanzanite gems are heated at low temperatures to change the brown tones and to give them blue or purple color.

Identifying gems, properly grading them and evaluation are quite often not a layman’s job. Gemologists look for properties such as the refractive index, specific gravity, luster, cleavage, light dispersion properties, hardness and fracture as some of the basic characteristics of precious and semiprecious stones. Also, there are some rare, unusual and infrequently available gemstones. Only, gemstones connoisseurs can understand and evaluate them, as in the case of axinite, cassiterite, andalusite, clinohumite and red beryl.

All the above facts may make it look somewhat difficult for gem and jewelry consumers to evaluate and buy their favorite gemstones or ornaments in which they are embedded on. Not quite so! There is a simple system called ‘Four Cs’, which stand for ‘color, cut, clarity and carats’ that has been introduced to guide diamond consumers.

Moreover, now most people do not depend on their neighborhood jeweler, or village jeweler for their purchase of gems and jewelry. Instead they go to the most reputed brands and high-end shopping arcades. So, you will be buying from a reputed brand or the jewelry merchants popular with your family or social circles. So, you simply select and buy jewelry based on the brand name of the jewelry designer or the current fashion trends so that you don’t even need the ‘Four Cs’.

Sometimes, there arises confusion as to what are precious stones, and what are semiprecious stones. Traditionally, diamonds, opals, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts and pearls (though pearl is not a gemstone in the true sense) have been classified precious stones. But the amethyst seems to have fallen out of grace since the 19th century, when it was discovered in Brazil from where it became available in bulk and cheap. Until the last century stones like aquamarine, peridot and cat’s eye (cymophane, some people call it tiger’s eye also) have been graded as precious stones.

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Gabrielle Diamond by Gabi Tolkowsky

March 7, 2011 by 1 Comment
Round Gabrielle Diamond 3.17ct 300x239

Triple brilliant cut Round Gabrielle Diamond, 3.17ct, by Gabriel S. ‘Gabi’ Tolkowsky

What you see in the photo here is the Gabrielle Diamond (Round, 3.17 carats) created by the world renowned master diamond cutter Gabriel S. ‘Gabi’ Tolkowsky.

Tolkowsky created Gabrielle Diamond, the world’s first triple brilliant cut diamond, combining his experience and techniques used in cutting and polishing of De Beers Centenary Diamond (273.85 carats/ 54.77 g with an estimated value of US$100 million) and the Golden Jubilee Diamond (the largest faceted diamond in the world, 545.67 carats/ 109.13 g). For this cut, he has also used his experience with the Flower Cuts.

The Round Shape diamond has 105 facets, 48 more than the Classic Round Brilliant cut diamond. It also displays 200% more scintillation and greater brilliance than the classic cut diamond. This effect could be achieved by substantially increasing the ‘journey of light’ within the diamond, mainly because of the increase in the number of facets, so that it sparkles from all angles.

Note: Only the original Gabrielle Round Diamond is costly, the photo is FREE! So, download it and use it as you like or keep it saved in your hard disk.

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