JewelryImpressions Jewelry & Gemstone Blog

Opal's multicolored flame makes it unique in the world of gemstones - giving it more variety of color and versatility of wear than perhaps any other gemstone.

Revered as a symbol of hope, fidelity, and purity, opal was dubbed the Queen of Gems by the ancient Romans because it encompassed the colors of all other gems. Opal is prized for its unique play of color, the ability to diffract light into flashes of spectral color.

One fascinating fact about opal is that it consists of tiny silica spheres that, when properly stacked in an orderly grid pattern, create the brilliant flashes of rainbow color we love so much about precious opal. When silica spheres are arranged randomly and vary in size, there is no play of color. We call this form of opal, common opal.

Opal occurs in different colors, ranging from semi-transparent to opaque. The most common is white opal. Crystal or water opal has a colorless body. The most valued variety, black opal, has a dark blue, gray, or black body color. Boulder opal combines precious opal with the ironstone in which it forms. Bright yellow, orange, or red fire opal are quite different from the other varieties of opal. Their day-glo tones, which are translucent to transparent, are beautiful with or without play of color.

Opal, along with tourmaline, is the birthstone for October and the suggested gift for the fourteenth anniversary.

Tourmaline comes in every color of the rainbow. Sometimes it is serene and pastel. Sometimes it displays bold, brilliant colors. The people of ancient Ceylon called this fascinating gemstone "turmali," the Sinhalese word for "more colors."

Vivid reds, hot pinks, verdant greens and blues abound in this marvelous gem variety. Earth tones as varied as a prairie sunset are readily available. Not only does tourmaline occur in a spectacular range of colors, but it also combines those colors in a single gemstone called "bi-color" or "parti-color" tourmaline. One color combination with a pink center and a green outer rim is called "watermelon" tourmaline, and is cut in thin slices similar to its namesake.

Although tourmaline is available in a myriad of brilliant colors, it is generally the pink tourmaline color that is honored as October's birthstone along with opal. For more information about these and other gemstones, visit our gemstone information section.

This information is provided by the American Gem Trade Association. For more information about the AGTA please visit agta.org
Copyright © 2003 AGTA

Here's a great romantic for the golf enthusiasts out there. Jean and Al played golf together every Sunday afternoon and today, their 14th wedding anniversary, was no different. They were very competitive, very evenly matched, but Al always managed to self destruct and bogie the last few holes. Jean always took advantage and won.

Playing in their favorite foursome, they had arrived at the 18th hole. Al said, "Once again you took advantage of me on the 17th hole", and dropping to his knees he continued, "And now I bow down and pay homage to you; here, I'll even tee up your ball for you."

After teeing up the ball he took his club, waved it over the ball saying a few magical words, drew a large three-foot circle around the ball on the tee, again saying some foolish incantation, then finally picked up some grass and dropped it on the ball. Bending over once again, he blew the grass from the ball and invited her to step to the tee.

Because Al was usually the more serious of the two, Jean didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed with him, but she certainly was confused. Taking her address, she swung, hit the ball, and watched in amazement as it exploded into a million pieces.

On the tee in front of where the ball had been was a little note which she picked up and read,: "Why would anyone ever carry two seven woods in their bag?".

Indignantly she looked at Al and said, "I don't have two seven woods!". She walked over to her bag to look and, sure enough, there were two seven woods.

She pulled her own seven wood out and then grabbed for the other one. Hearing a rattling noise, she slid her hand down the club shaft and stopped. Tied to the club with a red ribbon was a gorgeous opal and tanzanite cocktail ring, the one she had fallen in love with the last time she & Al had gone window shopping.

She turned to Al with a combined look of love and astonishment. He was beaming from ear to ear and said, "Happy anniversary, Jeanie. You've given me the best fourteen years of my life, and I'm looking forward to the next fourteen."

As they finished the hole, Al said, "I finally found what it takes to win the last hole in our golf game!"

Did you know both ruby and sapphire are from the same mineral species, corundum? Pure corundum is actually colorless, but when conrundum contains the trace element chromium the color is red and is called ruby. When corundum contains the trace elements iron and titanium the color is blue and is called blue sapphire.

Blue sapphire is the traditional birthstone for September and has been beloved for centuries as the ultimate blue gemstone. The ancient Persian rulers believed that the reflection of blue sapphire gave blue color to the heavens, indeed, the Latin name for Sapphire, "Sapphiru," means blue.

Traditionally, a gift of a sapphire symbolizes a pledge of trust and loyalty. It is from this tradition that sapphire has long been a popular choice for engagement rings. Fortunately, Sapphire is one of natures most durable gemstones, rating 9 on the Moh's scale of hardness, making it ideal for every day wear.

Sapphire is found in many parts of the world, but the most prized sapphires are from Myanmar (Burma), Kashmir and Sri Lanka. The purer the blue of the sapphire, the greater the price the gemstone can command, however, many people find that the darker hues of sapphire can be just as appealing.

For more information about sapphire and other gemstones, visit our gemstone information section.

Bob and Karen spent most Saturday evenings watching old movies together at her apartment, but tonight Bob made sure things would be a bit different. With the help of a friend, Bob copied Karen's favorite classic love story, filmed himself proposing to her, and then inserted it into the video at the appropriate spot.

As they sat curled up on the couch with popcorn and tissues, the classic tale of love and romance had Karen in tears by mid-story. Love found, then love lost, and then finally the wonderful moment when the woman's true love gets down on one knee to swear his everlasting love and ask her to marry him . . . and suddenly there on the screen was Bob on bended knee, holding out a beautiful diamond ring, and asking Karen to be his wife.

Karen turned to Bob as if wondering how he could be in two places at one time, and there he was beside her on bended knee, beautiful diamond ring in hand, poised to put it on her finger as he asked her to be his wife.

With tears streaming down her face, she replied with an emphatic "yes"!

Peridot is treasured in Hawaii as the goddess Pele's tears. The island of Oahu even has beaches made out of tiny grains of peridot. Although Hawaii’s volcanoes have produced some peridot large enough to be cut into gemstones, virtually all peridot sold in Hawaii today is from Arizona, another state with extreme geology.

The fresh lime green of peridot is its distinctive signature. Its spring green color also is ideal with sky blue.

Today most peridot is mined, often by hand, by Native Americans on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona. Peridot found here is beautiful in color but relatively small in size. Faceted peridot from Arizona is rare in sizes above five carats. Fine large peridot are found in Burma and large quantities of peridot are also mined in China. In 1994, an exciting new deposit of fine peridot was discovered in Pakistan, 15,000 feet above sea level in the far west of the Himalaya Mountains in the Pakistanian part of Kashmir.

This information is provided by the American Gem Trade Association. For more information about gemstones or the AGTA please visit http://www.agta.org
Copyright © 2003 AGTA

Celebrating fifteen years of marriage, Frank and Dede were finally on the dream vacation of a lifetime in Belize. It had been ten years since they'd been able to take a trip devoted to their passion for scuba diving, and they intended to spend as much time under water as possible for the next seven days.

As a dive master loaded equipment onto a boat for their much-anticipated first diving day, the sun was just coming up over the horizon. Frank and Dede sat on the top deck of the boat and sipped freshly-squeezed, icy cold orange juice as they watched the loading project. A charge of excitement shot through them as the boat slowly pulled away from the pier.

Today's dive would be at the old "pirate ship", at least that's what everyone called it. There were rumored to be great treasures of gold aboard this sailing vessel at one time. Only a few coins and some small trinkets had ever been salvaged.

After a thorough check of their equipment, Frank kicked his feet backwards, splashing into the water, followed by Dede. He took her hand as they slowly descended the short distance to the ship.

They swam around the old ship, peeked into some of the doors and windows, and examined some of the intricate woodwork which was in remarkable condition for such an old ship.

After lunch they were back in the water, this time exploring just at the bow of the old ship. Seeing Frank turning over rocks and scouring the bottom of the ocean floor, Dede began to do the same. After poking around under a variety of rocks and shipwreck debris, she picked up what looked like a small rock and then dropped it in surprise. She moved her hands frantically to get Frank's attention and motioned him over to see what she had found.

When Frank reached her she pointed to the oyster at her feet. What excited Dede was the fact that not only was the oyster partially open, but coming from inside the oyster was not just one pearl -- there appeared to be a whole string of pearls! Frank gestured for her to pick it back up which she did, very carefully.

As she slowly pulled the string of pearls from their hiding place she turned to look at Frank and saw him mouthing the words, "I love you honey. Happy anniversary!" They drifted slowly to the surface where she thanked him with a big kiss and a hug.

My previous post on the eBay discussion prompts me to visit another common problem with Internet jewelry websites in general. It's the mis-labeling of jewelry and gemstones. One of the most common problems is a misunderstanding of the words "synthetic" and "simulant." Many gemstone simulants are sold as synthetics, when really they are cheap imitations, giving the term "synthetic" a negative connotation.

Contrary to what many people think, the term synthetic does not mean fake. In gemology terms, synthetic refers to gemstones created in a lab with essentially the same chemical, physical and optical properties as their natural counterparts. They are real gemstones that have been grown in a lab rather than in nature.

One great thing about lab-created gemstones is that they offer the consumer a top color and clarity gemstone for an affordable price. For example, one may pay tens of thousands of dollars for a top color, eye clean ruby, while the same weight lab-grown ruby with the same physical, chemical and optical properties may sell for $800. It is often this premium color and clarity that will make one question the origin of a gemstone however. Generally, natural gemstones of top color and clarity are very rare and out of the price range for most of us.

With the world becoming so "green" conscious, another argument in favor of lab-created gemstones is the fact that they are more environmentally friendly. Companies don't dig up mountains and streambeds in search of synthetic stones. They are made in a very controlled laboratory environment. So if the mining process bothers you, you might consider buying a lab-created gemstone. I'm a big fan of Chatham-created gems. I own several Chatham pieces and am proud to have JewelryImpressions.com represent them.

The term "simulant," on the other hand, does mean fake. It refers to material that resembles natural gem material and is used in its place. Cubic zirconia is commonly incorrectly referred to as "synthetic diamond," which is completely false. CZ is a diamond simulant, substitute or imitation. It does not have the same physical, chemical and optical properties of a diamond and therefore should not be misrepresented as synthetic diamond.

Simulants do have their place in the jewelry industry. Like synthetics, they are more readily available so they allow for consumers to have a similar look and feel for a more affordable price.

Hopefully I've helped clarify some issues for you. My advice is to look for companies that properly represent the stones they are selling. This is a clear indication those companies are reputable and are staffed by people who are knowledgeable about the products they sell.

A judge ruled Monday, July 14, 2008 that eBay cannot be held liable for trademark infringement "based solely on their generalized knowledge that trademark infringement might be occurring on their Web sites," The Associated Press reports. Apparently, the judge felt the burden should lie with Tiffany to police its own trademark infringement.

Last month, eBay lost a similar ruling against LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA. A French court ordered eBay to pay more than $61 million to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA. According to LVMH, their sales were hurt by the sale of counterfeit bags, perfume and clothing. EBay is appealing that ruling.

While other less prominent auction sites tend to be passive towards its users with regard to trademark infringement, eBay has been proactive over the years in trying to weed out the bad apples. In 2007 alone, a staggering 50,000 eBay sellers were thrown out for selling counterfeits and 40,000 previously-suspended sellers were blocked from ever returning.

It is believed that many of these eBay rejects are now setting up shop on some of the less-prominent auction sites and popular free posting sites. So what does this mean for you? Buyer beware!!!

One of my associates is a gemology instructor specializing in gemstone simulants, treatments and enhancements. He buys "gemstones" on auction sites just to see what he can find knowing that often stones being sold as genuine un-treated stones are far from it. Many of these stones end up in his curriculum as fake, treated or enhanced gemstones. I was amazed to learn what is actually out there being sold as genuine.

My advice to you is to carefully research the company you purchase from. Make sure it is a reputable company. Speak to someone at the company if you can. Don't be afraid to ask questions. JewelryImpressions.com has gemologists on staff to answer your questions. If we don't know the answer immediately, we'll research it and get back to you. And remember, if the bargain seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

A young man boarded a plane for Dallas with a huge armful of beautiful red roses. He was on his way to ask the love of his life to marry him.

As he walked down the airplane aisle, he handed each passenger a rose and showed them a picture of his fiancé-to-be who would be meeting him at the gate.

At his request, as each passenger left the plane upon landing they walked up to the surprised and curious young woman and handed her a rose with a word or two of good wishes. When her arms were full of roses the passengers began laying the rest of them around her feet.

With his fellow passengers gathered in a semi-circle around her, all beaming with pleasure, the young man walked up to his love, knelt on one knee, presented her with a beautiful diamond ring, and asked her to be his wife.

If you've got a favorite romantic story of how he proposed, email me at michelle@merchandisebrokers.com and I'll be happy to share it.

If you're in the market for a diamond ring, visit our fabulous selection of premium quality diamond engagement rings at http://www.jewelryimpressions.com/18k-gold-diamond-engagement-rings.html