Emeralds

“Emerald is the birthstone for May and is known for being the 20th and 35th wedding anniversary stone. Many believe wearing emerald brings you wisdom and growth. This is commonly given as a gift for an anniversary or as a symbol of love and fidelity.

At one point in time emeralds were prescribed for eye diseases because the beautiful color of green was thought to be quite soothing to the eyes. In fact early stone cutters kept emeralds at their working tables to look at as a way of giving their eyes a break.

The ancient Egyptians mined emeralds in the eastern region. In more recent times North Carolina is where the new source of quality emeralds can be found. You can find more emeralds in other areas of America, Colombia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Russia.

Egyptians engraved emeralds with the symbols of spring foliage to represent eternal youth and buried the stones with the dead. The ancient Romans thought emeralds were associated with fertility and rebirth.

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Birthstone Jewelry

Birthstones have been linked to our dates of birth for centuries. Many cultures originally assigned a specific gemstone to signify birth during each sign of the zodiac, but over time the tradition shifted until it became common for a single gem to represent each month of the year.

Different cultures chose unique sets of twelve stones. The folklore attached to stones differed from one group of people to another, but they all shared the belief that wearing your birthstone brought good luck.

Birthstone jewelry is as popular today as it ever was, and it’s plentiful — we can choose from an endless selection of jewelry set with our own special gem.

January Birthstone – Garnet

Garnet Color
Garnets used in birthstone jewelry are usually deep red, but the gemstones are found in nearly every color except blue.

Garnet Folklore
Red garnets have long been associated with blood purification. They were believed to protect against food poisoning, snake bite, and hemorrhage.

February Birthstone – Amethyst

Amethyst Color
Amethyst is a form of quartz. Its color varies from pale lilac to dark purple.

Amethyst Folklore
Amethyst was believed to help protect the wearer from becoming intoxicated. The gemstone is widely known as a symbol of peace and tranquility.

March Birthstone – Aquamarine

Aquamarine Color
Aquamarine exists in all shades of blue. Clear blue aquamarine is more valuable than stones with traces of other colors.

Aquamarine Folklore
Aquamarine is said to protect sailors while they are at sea. The gems were also worn to prevent seasickness and other types of stomach ailments.

April Birthstone – Diamond

Diamond Color
Diamonds are the most durable substance on earth. Most are colorless, but colored variations are growing more popular every year.

Diamond Folklore
Some ancient cultures associated diamonds with lighting bolts, believing they were formed when lightning struck the earth. They are a symbol of courage and true love.

May Birthstone – Emerald

Emerald Color
Emeralds vary from light to dark green, and most are embedded with bits of other substances. Perfectly clear emeralds are rare and very expensive, so it is not uncommon for emeralds to be treated in some way to enhance their appearance.

Emerald Folklore
Some cultures believed that emeralds gave the wearer psychic powers. They were thought to improve both eyesight and fertility.

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What Is A Gem?

Some gems – like pearls, amber, coral, and ivory – are organic. This means they come from plants or animals. But most gems are minerals: natural, inorganic materials with specific chemical compositions. Most have a characteristic structure, too. You probably already know the names of some minerals commonly found in jewelry stores: topaz, sapphire, emerald, and ruby, for example. Synthetic gems have become increasingly popular like this titanium bracelet, which are exact replicas of the real gem with the strength of titanium.

Three traits of all gems

A substance isn’t automatically considered a gem just because it’s used in jewelry or just because it falls in the mineral category. Items like bones, seeds, and hair have all been used in jewelry, but that doesn’t place them in the same category as rubies, pearls, and amber. You will some time find gems in tungsten carbide rings as well.

To be a gem, a substance must share three important traits with all other gems: beauty, rarity, and durability. Each trait, however, represents a range, so all gems can possess different levels of all three traits.

Beauty

Throughout the centuries, humans have cherished the color of gleam of finished gems. Mineral crystals brought up from the dark depths of the earth, organic gems created by life processes – all gems worthy of the name share the virtue of beauty.

But because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it isn’t always easy to categorize what’s beautiful and what isn’t. One accepted definition of beauty holds that it’s a combination of qualities that delight the senses or appeal to the mind. In other words, a thing of beauty might not cause everybody to react the same way, but it will cause everybody to react – it will have visual appeal.

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