Notable for its majestic blue velvet and intense royal purples, the first of December’s birthstones is named after the only country it can be found: Tanzania. Exceptional tanzanite can display three distinct colors in three crystal directions. (more…)
Holiday shoppers are giving diamonds an overwhelming YES. And it’s not just bejeweled engagement rings that are getting people to say ‘I do’. Recent studies indicate that women plan to buy more diamonds for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and “just because”.
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So many designs, so many options! Choosing just the right jewelry piece for a woman can seem daunting. As the authoritative source on diamond and gem knowledge, GIA put together this holiday shopping guide to help give you the confidence to purchase a quality gemstone or piece of jewelry any woman will love. (more…)
GIA’s 2014 Holiday Shopping Guides are here to help inspire your holiday shopping this season. Today, we discuss how to make the right choice when it comes to buying jewelry for men. (more…)
Fantasy cut gemstones exhibit so many unique optical characteristics that they often appear to live up to ancient lore – that gems are imbued with magical properties.
So called fantasy cut gemstones often owe their spectacular beauty to unique faceting artistry that is achieved through cutting non-traditional design elements. These techniques cause light to reflect and refract differently, surging into view as stunning displays of light and color along the gems’ surface and interior. (more…)
Perhaps the most popular and frequently purchased yellow gemstone, citrine is a variety of quartz, and a November birthstone. While it’s an attractive alternative for topaz as well as yellow sapphire, natural citrine is actually quite rare, and those without color zoning or visible inclusions are highly sought after. (more…)
Consider the changing beauty of the humble leaf: it is a tender shoot in spring…a lush green canopy in summer…a blaze of reds, yellows, and purples in autumn. Jewelry designers have been captivated by them for centuries, turning Mother Nature’s displays into bejeweled creations. (more…)
One of November’s birthstones, topaz has the unique ability to show different colors in different crystal directions. Ancient civilizations believed that topaz gave them strength, long life, beauty, and intelligence. (more…)
Everyone loves a good Halloween scare, so we scoured the gemological literature for stories about cursed gemstones. Here are a few tales we dug up about these bone-chilling beauties.
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With Halloween creeping up on us, black diamonds seem a fitting subject.
Black diamonds, much like brown diamonds, were once outcasts in the diamond world. In the 1928 book, Diamond: A Descriptive Treatise, author J.R. Sutton noted: “Ordinary black diamond is not greatly unlike black sealing wax. Opinions differ as to its virtues as a gemstone.” And until relatively recently, this negative impression still persisted.” (more…)
Featuring one of the widest color ranges of any gem, tourmaline is one of October’s two birthstones. A favorite of mineral collectors everywhere, tourmalines come in all shapes, sizes, color saturations and tones – from expensive electric blues to affordable olive greens.
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