47
Di
Diamond
d
APR
APRI
APRIL
APRIL
Emerald
Emerald
Emerald
eral
MA
MAY
MAY
JUNE
As the April birthstone, diamonds are
the ideal gift for a loved one. And now
you have more choices than ever. Get
creative and give the ultimate gift of
beauty: a fancy-color diamond. Fancycolor diamonds are natural, rare and truly
exotic gem of the earth. Diamonds in
hues of yellow, red, pink, blue, and green
range in intensity from faint to vivid and
generally the more saturated the color,
the higher the value. In fact, diamonds
sparkling with intense color are rare and
may be priced higher than a colorless
diamond of equal size. Because fancycolor diamonds are very desirable, color
is sometimes introduced in a laboratory.
These are correctly called color-treated
diamonds. When purchasing a fancycolor diamond, the shopper should ask
y
w
if any enhancements or treatments were
d
used to improve its color and/or cla
clarity.
he
hstone
May
emer
As the birthstone for May, the emerald,
a symbol of rebirth, is believed to grant
the owner foresight, good fortune, and
youth. Emerald, derived from the word
smaragdus, meaning green in Greek,
was mined in Egypt as early as 330 B.C.
Today, most of the world’s emeralds are
mined in Colombia, Brazil, Afghanistan,
and Zambia. The availability of highquality emerald is limited; consequently,
treatments to improve clarity are
performed regularly.
Historically, pearls have been used as
an adornment for centuries. They were
one of the favorite gem materials of the
Roman Empire; later in Tudor England,
the 1500s were known as the pearl
age. Pearls are unique as they are the
only gems from living sea creatures and
require no faceting or polishing to reveal
their natural beauty. In the early 1900s,
the first successful commercial culturing
of round saltwater pearls began. Since
the 1920s, cultured pearls have almost
completely replaced natural pearls in the
market.
OCT BER
OCTOBER
OCTOBER
CTO E
TOBE
NOVEMBER
NOVEMBER
OVEMBER
MBE
DECEMBER
The name opal derives from the Greek
Opallos, meaning “to see a change (of
color).” Opals range in color from milky
white to black with flashes of yellow,
orange, green, red, and blue. An opal’s
beauty is the product of contrast between
its color play and its background. Opal
is a formation of non-crystalline silica
gel that seeped into crevices in the
sedimentary strata. Through time and
nature’s heating and molding processes,
the gel hardened into the form of opals.
The opal is composed of particles closely
packed in spherical arrangements. When
packed together in a regular pattern, a
three-dimensional array of spaces are
created that give opal its radiance.
Citrine, the birthstone for November
is known as the “healing quartz”. This
golden gemstone is said to support
vitality and health while encouraging
and guiding hope, energy and warmth
within the wearer. Citrine can be found
in a variety of shades ranging from pastel
yellow to dark brownish orange. It is one
of the most affordable of gemstones and
plentiful in nature. Citrine is found most
frequently in Brazil, Bolivia, and Spain.
Discovered in the late 1960s in Tanzania,
and found exclusively in this tiny area
of the world, tanzanite exhibits a rich
violet-blue color for which the gemstone
is treasured; often it is heat-treated to
achieve this color. Colors range from
blue to purple, and tanzanites that are
medium dark in tone, vivid in saturation,
and slightly violet blue command
premium prices. As tanzanite can be
less expensive than sapphire, it often was
purchased as an alternative. However,
it has increased in popularity and now
is valued more for its own beauty and
brilliance than as a sapphire substitute.
Opal
Citr e
Citriine
Citrine
Pearl
Tanzanite