AQUAMARINE
Pliny the Elder said “the best are those with the pure, crystal-clear color of the sea, that disappear when dipped into the water”. These are such light colors - light blue, greenish-light blue - created by atoms of iron. The loveliest are those from Brazil, the country where, in 1910, a single crystal weighing nearly 111 kg was found.
It is said that, when given as a gift, it brings relief to one who suffers.
ADULARIA
Adula was the ancient name for that region in the Alps where the Rhine and Adda rivers are born. More simply Adula it is called moonstone. It can be found in the Alto Adige region of Italy and in Tyrol.
Whitish, pearly, it is often greenish because of chlorite film and inclusions. This stone has a particular phenomenon that bears its name: adularescence. It has a whitish-light blue or light blue-mother-of-pearly reflection that appears to shimmer as one moves, looking at it from different points.
This stone is endowed with strange, delicate nuances. It has a striking milky translucency. Light passes through the stone and appears locked inside.
It is a true delight to hold it and move about, watching the reflections. It is not called moonstone for nothing.
AGATE
This variety of chalcedony has been known since ancient times.
“Achates” was the name of the Dirillo river in Sicily. It is colored in zones, often green, blue or black.
The substance that causes these nuances is iron. It is not just gray.
AMBER
For the ancient Romans it was “siccinum”, juice of the tree. Amber is a resin. At first it is soft and dense, then it is solid. But this transformation takes a million years.
Amber is truly patient: it embraces moments of history and brings them down to us.
When rubbed, not only is it electrified, it also releases the fragrance of the pine trees from whence it came.
The most celebrated sites are those along the Baltic Sea and Santo Domingo. This is because amber is also at home in the sea where, particularly during storms, the waves strip the drops of amber from, and dash them against, the rocks. And when the storm runs its course, the amber is cradled in the shallow waters and carried to shore.
Amber is a snapshot of the moment it was born. The inclusions, like little bubbles, hint of a gust of wind trapped inside.
It is a fragment of history that you become a part of.
AMETHYST
Legend has amethyst as a nymph that Bacchus was in love with. When the god tried to embrace her, she prayed to the goddess of chastity to turn her into a gem. Her wish was granted and the god, shocked and surprised, gave it the color of wine and the power to preserve one from drunkenness.
The color of the amethyst evokes a sense of mystery even from the scientific point of view: in fact, what gives it its color is still open to debate.
But we have no doubt of its charms.
AVENTURINE
It has an unusual story.
By accident or “per avventura” a Murano glassblower dropped some specks of copper into the molten glass. He called the new compound “avventurina” and people began to call a similar-looking natural stone by the same name.
It was used as eyes in Tibetan statues. The green version hails from India, Russia and Brazil.
So far away, and yet so near.
CHALCEDONY
Milky whitish-gray, light bluish, green, yellowish. These are the colors of chalcedony Never has a light blue been so delicate. But it isn't even light blue. White veining, gray spots, it borrows the nuances of a cloud.
It is abundant in Uruguay, blue in Brazil.
There is no other way to describe it. It speaks for itself.
CHRYSOPRASE
The green of new, nearly tender grass. It fades when carefully observed. It takes its name from Greek “prase” or leek indicating its color. It is one of the best known varieties of chalcedony.
When heated, it pales, and returns to its normal color when exposed to moisture.
Strangely, this stone is often related to water.
CORAL
As Perseus washed away Medusa's blood in the sea, red droplets fell onto underwater branches and turned into coral.
Its fame starts out long ago with the Sumerians, the Assyrians and the Phoenicians: they thought it was a mysterious plant because it was soft in the water and hard when it came into contact with the air.
Historically the Italian hub for working coral is Torre del Greco, a site so productive that Ferdinand IV of Naples issued the “codice corallino”, a code for fishermen. Along with the Red Sea and the waters of Japan, the Mediterranean is, in fact, the ideal habitat for coral. This precious material is simply the structure on which some species of polyps live in colonies, fixing the calcium carbonate of the sea water. Twenty-seven species produce coral but only four of them can be used in jewelry-making. Only the upper, living, part of the plant can be used and the uniformness of the color, thickness of the branches and yield all vary.
CORNELIAN
Hot and powerful.
Its typical color is blood-red, but it is quite variable, both in shade and in intensity. The iron oxide gives it its red color, the iron hydroxide makes it yellow or brown.
It is a luck charm used in all the ages.
The most famous cornelian is the one at the centre of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s funerary pectoral. In fact, since the Egyptian times, the cornelian, the chalcedony variety, was considered a stone with great protective powers, in the East and throughout the whole world, among which that of avoiding dangers (even in the netherworld).
Semi-transparent or translucent, it has an excellent brightness after cleaning.
DIAMOND
Originating from the Greek word Adams, meaning unconquerable, stone that burns without leaving a trace, diamonds were already known in the 4th century BC.
They reached Europe with J.B. Tavernier, traveler who brought diamonds to the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV.
Agnès Sorel and Marie de Bourgogne were the first women to receive one as a pledge of eternal love. Spouses and lovers believe it has the power to enhance feelings, making bonds grow stronger.
Only a diamond can scratch another diamond.
It is born as carbon, deep in the bowels of the earth where the incredible underground temperatures cause it to crystallize until, a million years later, volcanic eruptions carry them up to the surface.
When we say diamond we immediately think of a colorless gem; in reality, however, there are also yellow, brown, gray, blue diamonds and so on. The color classified as D, indicates “exceptional white +”, and the gamut runs to H white, and continues all the way to Z. It is always found together its mother rock, kimberlite or lamproite.
The most precious of all gems — the Hope diamond — was cut from one of the stones purchased by Louis XIV. They say it is a good luck charm. After all, how can the envy of others, of everyone, be unlucky?
We believe that owning a diamond is fortunate. So why not more than one?
EBONY
Compact, enduring, precious.
Heavy, dark red reflections, black. Shiny. Like metal. Like gold. And when set in gold it is even more enticing.
EMERALD
In Greek, smaragdos, means green stone. The emerald par excellence.
It was Cleopatra's stone. It was known as early as 4000 BC and Egypt was the largest supplier. Stone of sovereigns, Nero looked through one while watching the circensian games; he believed they made him see better, at greater distances and resting his eyes.
Passing through time and over the continents, we reach Peru where the goddess of chastity was the emerald goddess and, returning to the old world, the stone was, once again, the guardian of purity.
The sites change but the meaning does not, and yet the color does change. The loveliest emeralds are mined in Colombia. Apparent perfection notwithstanding, inclusions are the distinctive mark of a natural emerald; indeed, a perfect stone immediately calls to mind a synthetic gem. Defect-free emeralds are extremely rare and of inestimable value.
EOSITE
Pink reflections. Pale: it is the stone of Tibet. And also a bit Italian.
GARNET
Why garnet? For its aspect made of red grains, similar to those of the pomegranate (malum granatum in Latin): gems with an intense color, from light red to dark red or yellow-crowned.
The most appreciated ones are clear, with an deep and homogeneous color and with particular brightness.
The legend used to attribute to it the power of shining in obscurity. A holy gem, ideal for heroes, for those who proved their courage, it was put on shields, on the pommet of swords as protection and on luck charms so as to bring happiness and richness.
The rough stone has an insignificant aspect, but after the cutter’s work, it takes on color, charm and beauty. For this reason folk legends came about related to metaphors about man that, through trials and difficulties, described a growth process for its spiritual development towards perfection.
GOLD
Around 5000 BC the Egyptians started to use gold. Its success was carried on throughout history with the Etruscans and ancient Romans. In Greek mythology, gold was the symbol of power; in Eastern myth the symbol of greed.
In Africa the spirit of gold is thought to cause abusers to go mad or be killed.
Legend or truth aside, it is the most ductile, most malleable of materials as well as the most resistant; it is used in pharmaceuticals, in photography, in dentistry and in electronics. When reduced to thin sheet, it reflects light appearing yellow while green reflections show in transparency. It can be worked pure (24kt), or various hues and different consistencies can be obtained when alloyed with copper (red gold), silver (green gold), palladium or nickel (white gold) and, on rare occasion, even with iron (gray or blue gold).
It has always been the metal of the gods, the powerful; it is a prized metal that warms the heart and binds to you.
JADE
“De hijada”, the stone of the flank. This was the name given by Precolumbian Indios who wore it on belts as an amulet against kidney disease.
Jade has gained its greatest popularity in Asia. In the language of the sages, jade was “yu” or “yu-chi”, meaning “the most precious thing in the world”. The Orientals thought it should be kept close to the body at all times, able to absorb vital energy and countenance. Smooth, soft and alive. The Chinese wanted it unctuous: the most prized process was the one that gave jade a nearly soft consistency.
This material was, and still is, held in such high esteem that, as early as 1740 BC, it was used as a base for etching poetry.
Today the name jade is used to indicate three varieties: jadeite, chloromelanite and nephrite.
Rather distant from jewelry-making, jade was also used to make musical instruments, particularly those used in sacred rites.
JET
The name comes from the Greek Gagates, an ancient city in Asia minor (today’s Turkey), then translated in archaic French in jaiet, from which the word jet.
Historical tests confirm that it used to be extracted since 1400 b.C. and report that Plinio used to narrate how wonderful a substance it was with countless virtues.
Already during the Roman occupation, in the Whitby region, mines were opened and objects and jewels sent to ancient Rome.
In the Middle Ages, the jet was used as a mirror, due to its brightness and color, and healing powers were attributed to its powder, put in water or in wine.
Would you ever say that it is material having an organic source? It is wood coal that derives from vegetable products, immersed in stagnant water for millions of years, therefore compact and fossilized by the action of heat and of pressure over time.
KOGOLONG
Bright and whitish like ceramic, but hard and indestructible like marble.
It is precious and rare if uniform.
It is warm because the white shades off into creamy grey that only this volcanic stone can express after millenniums of silence.
KUNZITE
Clear, feminine, romantic, young and promising.
George Frederick Kunz, a world expert in mineralogy, discovered it in 1902, giving it its name.
The color is variable from pink, pink-lilac to purplish-amethyst with very delicate shades. The pleochroism is considerable to the naked eye and stronger with the intensity of the color.
Soapy to touch.
LAPIS LAZULI
The star-studded stone. Blue with pyrite. The more uniform its stars, the more precious it is.
This blue stone stands out in a crowd.
In powder form it is used by painters to produce ultramarine blue and midnight skies. Indeed, it nearly possesses their depth so the surprising similarity is not difficult to grasp.
It was known in ancient Egypt, India, Persia and Mesopotamia and fortunately it has come down to our day.
It has the magical charm of the night. Born to be admired. Or simply Blue.
MOKAITE AND SUGILITE
Mokaite: red with yellow spots, is found in China and Australia.
Sugilite, a new stone, was only discovered in 1944 by Ken-Ichi Sugi and hence its name. Its nuances run from purple, to brown to yellow. It is found in Japan and Canada.
Why group these two stones together? Because they have only recently been discovered and are not well known.
MOTHER OF PEARL
It is curious how some precious materials are linked to music. Mother-of-pearl is one of them.
Some luthiers used it for the finishing touches on such instruments as guitars and mandolins. It seems to actually improve the sound.
Besides the ear, mother-of-pearl also is a delight for the eye: grown in overlapping layers, it has a lamellar structure that creates marvelous iridescent reflections.
It is produced by bivalves and gastropods and is nothing other than the internal part of their shells. It is obtained by grinding or treating these shells with acids to eliminate the outermost opaque parts.
Indeed, it is mother-of-pearl that makes some of our creations so special.
NATURAL RUBBER
It was discovered by South American Indios at play as the ball they were using bounced so well.
They called it “cahuchu”, the “wood that cries”. But not just any resin. Rubber. When cut, the tree emits a milky liquid which is then colored with pigments such as zinc oxide and waxes.
After the Second World War, man started producing synthetic rubber. It is soft. And just think: everything from a ball.
So is it surprising that a gem can be a play thing.
ONYX
Tout simplement noir. Simply black, and black alone. What can we say about a blind stone? That it can emit more light than could possibly be imagined.
OPAL
The most precious opals are iridescent, or rather, opalescent: the interplay play caused as light hits the fine internal fissures.
Known and beloved by 3rd century BC Romans, in Sanskrit it was Upala, the precious stone.
Opal deteriorates when exposed to excessive heat or liquids. Indeed, a part of its structure is water, sometimes as much as a quarter.
There are many types: noble opals with nuances that run from milky white to yellow, red and even veering to the darker blues and greens; black opals with its dark background and a “Harlequin” effect. And we must not forget the fire-opals with all their nuances of orange.
PERIDOT
Also called olivine, it is widespread in magnetic rocks, dragged by the eruptive magma, often reaches the surface where in can be found in grains inside the hosting volcanic rock.
Already extracted in the second millennium b.C., the peridot was used in Egypt as a decorative and therapeutic gem.
Introduced in Europe during the Middle Ages, thanks to the Crusaders, it was used to chase away evil spirits, instil wisdom and encourage the spirit of friendship.
It is green due to the presence of iron, with shades of color from olive-green (hence the origin of the name olivine) to deep almost bottle green, to a bright yellow-green.
Its typical brightness is not cold and crystalline, but creates a fascinating unmistakable “dense and mellow” effect.
PRASIOLITE
It is a variety of green colored or greenish quartz.
Discovered by chance around 1953 in the state of Minas Gerais, it owes its particular color to the effect of a thermal treatment, sometimes generated by the sunlight in nature.
A curious story tells of a researcher that with masses of old, forgotten, rejected amethysts, built a sort of chimney for himself to warm breakfast up with. Once breakfast was finished and the fire had died out, he threw the rock to the side and with surprise found that the amethyst rocks had turned green. The Brazilians named it prasiolite, that is a prase-coloured stone (that is green).
ROCK CRYSTAL
According to Pliny, it was the ice formed as celestial dew cooled. We find it in Madagascar, Japan and in the Alps. The ancients did have their reasons for thinking it was ice. We think so, too, unless science tells us otherwise.
It goes by another name: hyaline quartz, from the word yalos, transparent.
It is said that Nero had some slabs with a part of the Iliad engraved on them. The Egyptians used it for the eyes in their statues.
Glossy or opaque, it is heavy but, at the same time, gives the idea of something that cannot cut, cannot cause harm. A bubble.
QUARTZ
Quartz is a rather widespread mineral on the earth’s crust. It has transparent, semi-transparent or opaque varieties covering a wide range of colors.
It is Citrine-colored due to the iron oxide. Not yellow. Not the yellow we are used to. Imagine the shades that caramel can have.
It is pink due to the manganese oxide. A pale, very delicate, more or less milky pink, almost transparent.
We can find the same structure in the milky-white that due to its color makes you think of a mother’s milk secretion initiation.
The smoke grey one is considered a stone for difficult times, a strong antidepressant and a powerful antistress. Fascinating theories claim that its characteristic color is the result of a very long exposure to a natural source of radiation from the earth, that has conferred it colorings from dark-smoke to chestnut, even very intense, almost black.
The sunflower variety has a milky white-bluish coloring and a considerable, beautiful opalescence.
Observing it in the sunlight and moving the stone, one can observe blue, pinky, red reflections and it owes its name to such property.
Quartzes. Color and transparency.
RUBELLITE
Its colors shine from pink to a deep red, purplish. The coloring is due to an excess of manganese and to lithium.
Rubellite crystals can have exceptional sizes.
Together with indicolite, it is one of the most beautiful varieties of tourmaline. It is often erroneously indicated as “Siberian Ruby”.
A seductive red with appreciable inner life.
RUBY
All red stones were once called rubies. The Latin name, rubere, means to turn red. Even the “Black Prince’s ruby” and the “Timur ruby”, part of the British Crown Jewels, are in reality red spinels of significant size. In fact, until 1800 the stone was called carbuncle.
Less poetic, isn't it? Much nicer is its Sanskrit root where the ruby is “ratnaraj”, the king of precious stones. They said an eternal flame burned inside. Today this phenomenon is called fluorescence, an internal brilliance.
From dark red to lighter tones. One of its prime characteristics is pleochroism: displaying different nuances of color when viewed from different angles.
When they exceed 10kt they are more precious than diamonds. The loveliest are found in Burma. They are always found in the same place as sapphires.
SAPPHIRE
The presentation could revolve solely around its name: in ancient Hebrew “sappi” is “the most beautiful thing”. It's not just blue. It can be transparent, orange, yellow, green, purple, gray, and all the nuances in between.
Traditionally was the stone that elevates the spirit and powers of observation. Inspired by its color? Perhaps. Its colors are produced by iron and titanium atoms.
The site par excellence for sapphires is Myanmar, Burma which also produces rubies. In fact, these two gems live together. They are found together and could both be called sapphire.
SIDERITE
It is a mineral. It is also the old name used to indicate iron meteorites.
Siderite develops and is common in sedimentary and hydrothermal environments, it is anyhow possible to find some also in metamorphic rocks with an elevated iron content.
The name comes from the Greek “sideros” that means iron.
SILVER
Silver shines, the metal of the moon.
It came to the fore with the ancient Romans. Running the span of history we reach 1400 when, through the guilds, silver became a part of everyday life, particularly as large amounts began flowing into Europe with the discovery of the New World in 1492.
Techniques improved, the renown of the silversmiths grew.
When pure it is too soft, unable to withstand pressures well; thus it is alloyed with copper. Silver is atoxic, has antibacterial properties and comes in several forms: the most precious are Britannia silver (Ag 950) and Sterling silver (Ag 925). It is the best conductor of electricity although its Achilles heel is the oxidation that occurs with extended exposure to air.
Just imagine, it can be rolled so thin that it is transparent.
SPINEL
It has adorned the crowns of European kings, Mogul emperors in India, but Mr. Tamerlano, king of Persia also had a unique collection.
For centuries the red variety was mistaken for ruby, the most clamorous case is the “Black Prince’s Ruby” that adorns the British crown: a splendid 170 carat spinel.
It has been said that the most beautiful and highly-rated spinel in the world is a 400 carat stone, currently part of the Soviet Union treasure; it was bought in Beijing by the Zar Alexis Mikhailovitch and adorned the crown of Catherine II of Russia.
The chrome oxide gives it a red color, a deep red with splendid shades.
The spinel can most rarely be found in cobalt blue, pink, orange red and perfectly transparent.
It is the gem preferred by collectors.
TANGERINE GARNET
The first tangerine garnets appeared on the market as flamboyant comets in the night sky.
In Africa, in north-west Namibia, far from any form of civilization, the first tangerine garnet was found along the course of the Kunene river.
It has a bright orange color, sometimes with a brown gradation. A color that pronounces energy, joy of living, individualism and spirit of adventure.
Color, brightness, hardness and rarity make this fabulous gem something really excellent and special.
TANZANITE
It is a rare gem with a magic light.
The name was coined in 1967, immediately after the discovery, so as to unambiguously distinguish the new discovery and to define the only provenance area: Tanzania.
Try observing it. Due to its strong pleochroism, you will notice the overlapping and the interaction with blue, violet and in some cases red inside the gem.
Due to its relative hardness, it must be worked with particular care: it should be known that abrupt heating may damage it.
TOPAZ
An island in the Red Sea, Topazos, or “fire” in Sanskrit: tapas.
The most precious is the imperial topaz, an orange-red, and then there is the light blue, red, pink and colorless topaz.
Legend has it that the stones were found by starving stone-age pirates shipwrecked on the island of Cytis in Arabia while they were gathering grass and roots.
We, too, have found them.
TOURMALINE
What color are they? Turamali, Ceylonese, a mix of colors. Because a single vein can yield tourmalines of many different hues.
When rubbed they are electrified, and indeed, in Holland they are called “ashentrekken”, ash catchers, their static electricity pulling it in. Green tourmaline is found in Brazil.
It was the stone favored by René Lalique.
TSAVORITE
Vivid and bright.
It was discovered in Tzavo, a location in Southern Africa on the borderline with Kenya and Tanzania.
It has an emerald coloring, pale green to deep green, although it is a grossularite garnet. The green color increases as the percentages of vanadium oxide and chrome oxide increase.
Looking at it carefully, one has the impression that “breadcrumbs” have been captured inside the gem.
It owes its name to Henry B. Plat, president of Tiffany, who in a certain way was the “discoverer” of these stones, introduced on the markets in September 1974.
When it has an emerald-green color, the prices are high even for small stones and very high for considerable specimens.
TURQUOISE
Turquoise, or stone of the Turks, was known to the ancient Romans as callaite, or “beautiful stone” and they were right on the mark.
Its very name tells you its color; and yet, nature has also created turquoises in apple-green, green-blue and green-light azure.