Tag Archives: gemstones

Birthstone Spotlight: June Pearl

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PearlMost people are very familiar with the pearl as one the birthstones for June (Alexandrite and Moonstone are the other two June gemstones). Pearl, with its variety of colors and shapes, is an organic gem loved and treasured for centuries. It is said that the Romans built armies from the sale of a single pearl, while poems abound about its transcendent beauty.

The pearl was selected as a birthstone for June by the American National Association of Jewelers in 1912. Not only can you select your favorite pearl as a birthstone, you can also receive a pearl for your 3rd, 12th and 30th wedding anniversaries. The allure of pearls is far reaching…

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John And Laura Ramsey Are Highly Recognized For Offering World Class Jewelry

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John And Laura Ramsey are some of the most respected names in the industry of gems and jewelry. Their passion for jewelry making can be evaluated from the very fact that they spent almost twenty years of their life in the wholesale gem and jewelry trade, traveling to various gem mining districts of the world, including East Africa, Thailand, Brazil, and Sri Lanka. They later appeared on TV and in no time became familiar faces to the television home shopping audiences in countries like the US, Canada, and Great Britain. Their unique style of offering information about gems and telling about their products immediately caught the attention of viewers. Their program grew quickly and led to an overwhelming response from customers in all three countries.

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Birthstone Spotlight: April Diamond

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loose-diamonds

The word “Diamond” is probably the most emotionally charged word in the entire lexicon of gems. Diamond is the most sought after gem in the world. Whether or not the diamond deserves this pinnacle is up for debate, but the fact that the diamond sits on the pinnacle is not.

This is due to many factors:

1. Diamonds are beautiful to the eye.
2. Diamonds tend to last.
3. There are enough to go around. Well sort of…..
4. They are well promoted.

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Birthstone Spotlight: March Aquamarine

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AquamarineAquamarine is one of my favorite gems. Of course with me, talking about my favorite gemstones is like asking a parent about their favorite child—whichever one I’m thinking about or talking about at the moment is the favorite. Still, aquamarine is right up there in my true favorites.

Aquamarine—one of the many faces of beryl

One of the interesting things about aquamarine is its true rarity—due to the unique trace minerals that have combined with its underlying base mineral, Beryl, to produce its beautiful blue tone…

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Birthstone Spotlight: February Amethyst

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AmethystIn past blogs about birthstones we have been talking about gems that have their gemstone “label” in common with their mineral names. Gems like Garnet, Topaz, and Tourmaline are also the mineral name. In contrast, Amethyst is a color name for quartz, which is a mineral. Amethyst is the quartz in its purple color.

Quartz itself comes in at least several colors: citrine (yellow, orange and red), amethyst (varying shades of purple), ouro Verde (a chartreuse color), whisky quartz (brownish), smoky quartz (brownish gray), prasiolite (light bluish green), and Ametrine (naturally occurring mix of purple and yellowish gold. Some of the colors occur in nature and some are induced by man. Amethyst occurs naturally in nature.

If quartz itself were a birthstone we would be talking about all of the foregoing colors. But amethyst is plenty wonderful all by itself…

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John And Laura Ramsey – Best In The Field Of Gemstone Jewelry

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Gems cut by John Ramsey are shown in the prime museums such as The American Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian Institution, The Royal Ontario Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, The Canadian National Museum, and many others. The top class gemstone jewelry by John and Laura Ramsey has always been a product of their combined efforts. Mrs. Laura Ramsey has an amazing ability for designing, and Mr. John Ramsey is highly renowned for his exceptional gem cutting skills and great techniques.

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History of the Sancy Diamond

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While many of us have heard of famous diamonds such as the Hope Diamond (45.52 carats), residing as a premiere attraction in the Smithsonian, and the Koh-I-Noor Diamond (105.60 carats), displayed in the Tower of London, few people are familiar with the Sancy Diamond.

Sancy Diamond 2The Sancy diamond has a long, mysterious and passionate history. The larger of the two diamonds that carry the Sancy name, it weighs 55.23 carats and is of a pale yellow color. The shield shape (pear) was said to be discovered before the year 1570. It is named after the French Ambassador to Switzerland Seigneur de Sancy. He was the owner during the last years of the 16th century. But the stone’s history runs deeper. The legend has it that Charles the Bold, also the Duke of Burgundy, owned the diamond. As fate would have it the gem was lost in battle about 1477.

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Tourmaline the Rainbow Gem

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tourmaline colorfulIt is interesting that both opal and tourmaline are associated with many colors. In the instance of opal there are many colors within one stone. In the instance of tourmaline there are many stones—each with its own color. Of course, to complicate matters, there are tourmaline gems with multiple colors—lots and lots of colors—all within one stone, just presented differently to the eye than opal.

No wonder the most often-used nickname for tourmaline is The Rainbow Gem. Tourmaline comes in so many colors and so many shades of each color that it is a favorite of collectors. Many serious gem collectors have separate tourmaline collections within their overall collection.

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Birthstone Spotlight: August Peridot

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peridot-august-birthstonePeridot is one of my favorite gems, not only for its beauty, but because there are so many interesting stories regarding peridot through the ages…

One of the earliest peridot mines to be exploited is the Egyptian Island of Zeberget in the Red Sea. My friend and mineralogical guru from years gone by, Dr. Peter Bancroft, did some “rock-hounding” for peridot on the island many years ago. At the time, he was allowed there as a co-traveler of Dr. Edward Gubelin the famous Swiss gemologist…

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