Classic Black & White Gems: A New Year’s Tradition

Classic Black & White Gems:

As the traditional colors for New Year’s celebrations, black symbolizes the end of the old year and white represents the birth of the new year. Opaque black and white gems have a crisp beauty and a formal elegance that looks smart with any outfit, whether set separately or together in white or yellow gold, platinum, palladium, or sterling silver. Here is a selection of the most popular black and white gems.

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BLACK GEMS

Black Onyx – A midnight black variety of opaque agate which is quite hard and doesn’t scratch easily. Often permanently dyed to intensify color. Popular for rings, cufflinks, pins and bracelets.

Black Pearl – Deeply hued Tahitian pearls have a high surface luster and come in fascinating
iridescent dark shades with overtones of purple, peacock blue, and bronze.

Black Diamond – A popular favorite with many fashion-forward jewelry designers. Black diamonds are especially striking when combined with sparkling white diamonds.

WHITE GEMS

White Pearl – The Queen of Gems, either the famous cultured Akoya pearls or the popular freshwater pearls. They’re available in many dramatic shapes including round, oval, petal, coin, and button.

Moonstone _ This translucent form of the mineral feldspar has a shimmering inner glow, called adularescence, that resembles moonlight when the gem is cut in a rounded cabochon shape.

White Jade – Precious jade has been revered for thousands of years and is one of the toughest gemstones known. It is smooth, translucent, and takes a very bright and lustrous polish.

Care Tips For Garnet

The garnet family is one of the most exciting in the entire world of gemstones. It is an ancient gem, known and admired for thousands of years and has even been found in Egyptian tombs.

Garnets are hard and durable with a dazzling sparkle and come in a rainbow of brilliant colors, everything except blue. The red, yellow, and green varieties are often mistaken for other more expensive gems such as ruby, topaz, or emerald. Garnets range from 6.5 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness, similar to gems such as peridot, tourmaline, and zircon. To avoid chips and scratches, protect garnets from sharp blows and store separately from other gems. Garnets are also heat sensitive, so avoid extremes of temperature. To clean garnets, use a warm water detergent bath and a soft brush.

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Birthstone Gifts - Personal, Precious, And Always Prized

No other birthday gift has so much personal meaning as the special gemstone dedicated to men and women born in one specific month of the year. According to ancient tradition, birthstone gems were believed to reflect personal traits and bestow legendary powers on those born under their sign. And these precious gems have lasting value in addition to their beauty and color. Birthstone jewelry is always a prized gift.

NOVEMBER – Topaz / Citrine
These bright yellow gems are traditional symbols of long and happy life for those born in November. Both topaz and citrine are hard and durable gems with a brilliant sparkle.
And they come in a wide range of sunny yellow colors.

DECEMBER – Turquoise / Blue Zircon / Tanzanite
These richly colored blue gems are very different but all offer prosperity to those of December birth. Smooth, opaque turquoise has a sky blue color. Transparent blue zircon glows with a vivid icy sparkle. And tanzanite displays a deep shadowy blue-purple color that is most appealing.

JANUARY – Garnet
Deep, wine-red garnet has long symbolized the virtue of fidelity for the January born. It has been treasured since antiquity for its rich color, brilliant sparkle, and great durability. In addition to red, it comes in dozens of bright colors – everything except blue.

Morganite - A Peach Of A Gem

This beautiful, transparent, pastel colored gem is relatively new to widespread jewelry use. A member of the beryl family of gemstones, Morganite has a dazzling brilliance and a soft color that ranges froma beautiful clear pink, to a lovely peach hue with salmon and apricot tints also available. Morganite was discovered at Pala, California near San Diego in the early 1900’s. In 1910, this exceptional gem was named morganite in honor of J.P.Morgan the millionaire bank tycoon and prominent gem collector. With a hardness of 7.5 on the Mohs scale, morganite is a very durable gem, perfect for or every daywear. It looks beautiful set in white or pink gold and makes a dazzling addition to your jewelry wardrobe in a ring, necklace, pendant, bracelet, or earrings.

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