Emerald; lord of the Verdant Gemstones

Emerald is the Birthstone of May, a beautiful spring green, it is the perfect stone for May. Actually, Emerald is rarely perfect, that is, rarely without inclusions, (many inclusions are microscopic), but it makes up for that by being possibly the most valuable type of Gemstone!

Have you heard of the Patricia Emerald? The Emerald was mined in Columbia (I’m pretty sure the Patricia Emerald Mine), though the “blast” (dynamite) that uncovered it destroyed a larger Emerald of equal quality! Today, the Patricia Emerald is still uncut, because if it were cut, it would decrease in size, making it the second largest known Emerald in the world! 

The stone in photo #1 is not an Emerald, (I just posted it because that’s almost exactly what Emeralds look like!) though the hardness is the same as Emerald. Meaning it could be Tourmaline; though it could also be a man-made stone. Sorry, I was able to get the S.G. of the stone and (approximating the weight of the mount) it, along with the streak and Hardness show that it is indeed an Emerald. In the second photo is also an Emerald, in fact, I “cabbed” it myself! (it’s the Emerald I bought at the Gem Show) The reason I got it for only $2 is because, well, look at all the inclusions!

Hardness:7.5

 

 

 

The Pearl; Princess of the Sea

Pearl is the Birthstone of June, usually a silky golden-white; it is the most popular organic Gem. Organic Gems are not of stone origin: Amber is fossilized tree resin, Coral is… well, coral, a sea-creature that is sort of a plant, sort of an animal (ask a Diver, s/he’ll know), Jet is extremely compacted wood, and Pearl is from a clam. Well, here’s how it’s “created”; when an irritant enters a clam shell, (such as a grain of sand, dead insects, e.t.c.) to protect itself the clam spreads a special substance called Nacre over the irratant, forming a round ball of nacre, thus a pearl. Pearls that are not perfectly spherical are called baroque Pearls, and are not as valuable as the spherical ones. They are not as valuable because the spherical ones are “perfect” and much less common than baroque pearls. (that’s why I was able to buy a string of pearls for only $4)

Pearls can come in White, Gold, Pink, Black, and I’m pretty sure they come in Green, too.

A way to test if Pearls are real, rub them against the bottom of your tooth; if they feel rough, you have an authentic Pearl. If it feels smooth, then it is a fake.

Hardness: 2.5 

The Gem and Mineral Show*

*Not the Club, Show.

There is a Gem and Mineral Show going on in the Shasta Fairgrounds on the 16th and 17th, it’s sort of like a Farmer’s Market though it sells Rocks, Gems, Minerals, E.T.C., and it is way bigger, and best of all (well, almost best) some of my work will be displayed there (in one of the buildings, I’m not sure which one). beware of fake stones, though, I know that they sell “bottles of gold”, (don’t buy that!) for about $3 and fake Turquoise is sold a lot, too! Nicholas once bought a small bottle of Turquoise nuggets, and put water in with the Turquoise; the water turned blue, and the “Turquoise” white! Some tips when buying Turquoise: get only light-color Turquoise, dark-color is most likely fake! Also, if you have a powerful loupe or microscope, examine the stone, authentic Turquoise has tiny white fluffy inclusions.

Aquamarine, Stone of the Sea

Aquamarine is the Birthstone of March, a Sea-green to a transparent blue, it’s very name means Seawater (aqua=water marine=sea).

The stone in the photo is NOT an Aquamarine, it is a blue Topaz (I gave that ring to my Mother!) ; the only reason it is here is because that is exactly what Aquamarine looks like (I haven’t been able to “get my hands” on a real Aquamarine, but I know a girl in my Church that has an Aquamarine pendant).

Hardness:7.5