Tourmaline is the birthstone for October, the gem for the 8th anniversary and pink tourmaline is also an alternative gem for the 5th anniversary. It has a superior hardness (7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale). Tourmaline has the widest range of colours apart from sapphire and spinel.
Tourmaline was first discovered in Brazil in the 1500s by a Spanish conquistador. Until scientists discovered otherwise, it was often mistaken for Emerald. Chinese Dowager Empress Tz’u Hsi (1835 – 1908) loved tourmaline and much of the tourmaline mined in San Diego, California was supplied to her and her court. In the 1980s, a new find of copper bearing elbaite tourmaline from Paraíba, Brazil came on to the market. The rare Paraiba tourmaline is prized for its neon blue/ green colours. More deposits have since been found in Nigeria and Mozambique. Paraiba Tourmalines prices have soared up exponentially in recent years.
The gem was first discovered in Madagascar in 1910 by George Kunz, the chief gemologist for Tiffany & Co. He named this gem Morganite in honour of his friend, (and Tiffany & Co’s best customer), the American financier and avid gem collector J.P. Morgan.
Morganite is the pink variety of beryl. Other colours in the Beryl family are – blue (Aquamarine), green (Emerald & Green Beryl), yellow (Heliodor), colorless (White Beryl/Goshenite) and red (Bixbite from Utah).
Morganites are found in Afghanistan, Brazil, China, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and the USA (California and Maine).
Emerald is the birthstone for May, the gem for the zodiac sign Taurus. It is also the 2oth, the 35th and 55th wedding anniversary gemstone.
Emerald is a green variety of beryl, a mineral species that includes aquamarine,morganite and yellow beryl. It’s Mohs Hardness is 7.5 to 8. It’s density is lower than that of diamond, a one-carat emerald will appear larger in size than a one-carat diamond.
From pharaohs to Inca kings, emeralds have enchanted royalty. Cleopatra for example reputedly had a passion for these gems. The legendary Crown of the Andes is one example of how the Spanish revered emeralds, while the story of the Spanish galleon, the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, shows to what the lengths generations of treasure hunters went to discover its sunken loot.
Ruby is the birthstone for July, the gem for the 15th and 40th wedding anniversaries.
Rubies can have the highest per-carat price of any coloured stone, even higher than diamonds in the larger sizes. Rubies of over one carat are very rare.
Sapphire is the birthstone for September, the gem for the zodiac sign Virgo and is linked with the 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 23rd, 45th and 65th wedding anniversaries.
A popular choice in jewellery due to its exceptional brilliance, range of colour and hardness (9 on Moh’s scale) While most commonly thought of as blue, sapphire actually occurs in a wide range of colours, including pink, purple, orange, yellow, green and brown. (Sapphire is every colour of the mineral corundum except for red, which is ruby.)
