Laura's Insight

Spring Color

What will your bling be this spring?  Color is hot and tasty for spring 2007, mouthwatering hues that pop are in demand.  Shedding the dowdy colors of winter, designers have chosen a palette of candy box colors of strawberry ice, sky blue, golden apricot, tarragon, and grape mist…soft tones full of flavor!  Colorful gemstones of pastel colors are commanding the most attention this spring.  Popular hues to look for in fine jewelry are citrus tones of lemon and lime citrine, green and golden beryl, pale lavender and green amethyst, additionally soft tints of pink quartz, morganite, aquamarine, labradorite, chalcedony, moonstone, apatite, and prehnite.

In its recent catalog, Neiman Marcus previews this season’s colors in its selection of “Statement Rings”, this year’s version of the cocktail ring.

In addition to the classic faceted and cabochon cuts, when choosing a piece of jewelry this season look for gemstone jewelry with rough crystals, tumbled, or unfaceted shapes to add zest to your wardrobe.

Chrysoprase

Chrysoprase the most valued variety of chalcedony means “golden apple” in Greek.  A semitransparent to translucent apple green stone, its finest color is the light to medium yellowish green of the fruit.  In poor quality material the stone may be opaque.  The highest quality material is of even color, without flaws, fractures, inclusions, cavities or other imperfections.  Most green stones derive their color from chromium or vanadium, where natural chrysoprase owes its color to nickel silicate impurities.  It is rare but chrysoprase can be colored by chromium rather than nickel producing a green to bluish green color.  In some chrysoprase the color may fade when heated or exposed to sunlight.

As the most prized of all fine chalcedonies, this sensational stone has been used for centuries.  It is a gem that is easily worked with and takes a fine polish and is principally fashioned into cabochons, beads, bangles, carved into jewelry or other ornamental objects.  Both the Greeks and Romans used chrysoprase as a decorative stone.  “King Frederick the Great of Prussia, who reigned from 1740 to 1786, decorated his palace with furniture and art objects inlaid with chrysoprase.”

Although the color is alluring, chrysoprase is not commonly known today because of its limited availability.  Revived interest in chrysoprase came in 1965, with the discovery of the gem in Queensland, Australia, the area has since been producing superior quality chyrsoprase for commercial use.  The finest Queensland gem material ranging from apple green to a saturated medium to dark green can resemble fine jade.  Brazil produces a chrysoprase often found in an olive green color. Other localities include California, India, the Ural in Russia, and Austria.

Dealers created treated alternatives, to compensate for the rarity of the stone before the Queensland find made chrysoprase more available.  These treated alternatives are often sold as green agate or green onyx, that are grayish chalcedonies that have been soaked in a mixture of water, acid, and chromium, or nickel compounds, then heated and dried.  The hues that are created from treating green chalcedony are often a green to bluish green color, rather the intense green of the naturally colored gem material.

Bloodstone

Bloodstone (also called Heliotrope) is an opaque, dark-green, spotted variety of chalcedony with nodules of bright-red jasper that are scattered throughout stone.  The presences of iron oxides in the green stone cause the spots of red; in smaller pieces of mineral the red does not appear. The characteristic red spots are what give the stone its name as they seem to resemble blood.
During the Middle Ages, bloodstone was greatly prized, as the bright-red spots were thought to be the blood of Jesus Christ.  The stone was attributed with special powers and used in sculptures representing flagellation and martyrdom.  This mineral is considered an intense healing stone and a “stone of courage”, one that provides the revitalization of love, relationships, and friendships.

Fire Opals

The finest opals display a beauty that is challenging to describe in words, and writers have compared the opal to volcanoes, galaxies, and fireworks.  Fire opals are unique in the abundant world of opals.

Named for its color, the fire opal is a fiery treasure, defined by its background color: a transparent to translucent yellow, orange, or red. The top color is usually red-orange to bright red, and the color must be uniform throughout the stone.  Like other opals the fire opal is composed of silica and has a relatively high water content. The color is believed to be caused by iron impurities.  Many fire opals display the phenomena play-of-color; however, it is the warm and lush hues that make the fire opals blazing back ground colors valued apart from any phenomena.  Photos of Fire Opals

Fire opals hardness is 6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale, which places it among gemstones which require a protective setting, especially when set in a ring.  The fire opals color and clarity make its one of the few opal types which is sometimes faceted.  When a fire opal displays an attractive play-of-color, it’s usually cut as a cabochon to feature the phenomenon. The oval shape is regarded as the classic shape for valuable fire opals. 

Mexico is has the most significant fire opal deposits in the world.  The orange-red stones are found in other countries such as, Honduras, USA, Canada, Australia, Ethiopia, and Turkey, most of these sites are of little economic significance.  However, in recent years Brazil has discovered fire opals colored yellow to orange, they are distinguished by their beautiful colors, a slight clouding, and no play of color.  What is most remarkable about the Brazil deposits is the size of the raw stones, which are as large as a man’s fist.

Avoid purchasing fire opals with a cloudy look, which is a sign that the stone is drying out and in danger of cracking.  The water content in opals is unevenly distributed, therefore opals need to avoid great heat, which would cause the stone to artificially dry and crack. 

Padparadscha Sapphires

Padparadscha sapphires are the rarest of sapphires from the gem class termed corundum.   One of the world’s most expensive gems, padparadscha (pronounced Pad-para-dscha) sapphires are mostly unknown to consumers because there are so few in circulation.  Padparadscha sapphires are rivaled by no other gemstone species, since there is no other colored stone that compares to the striking beauty of this unique mix of pink and orange.  These fancy sapphires are very beautiful and typically command a high price per-carat.

Salmon, sunsets, lotus flowers, and tropical fruits are terms used to describe natural padparadscha sapphires; the color range is a delicate combination of  the two colors: pink and orange.  Despite the varying color descriptions the industry agrees that padparadscha sapphire colors are intensely saturated, and range from light to medium pinkish orange to orange-pink.  Padparadscha is derived from the Sanskrit word padmaraga meaning “lotus flower”.  The petals from the finest lotus blossoms are a harmonious blend of pink and orange. 

The unique hues or color centers of padparadscha’s are caused by trace elements of iron and chromium. Over time the accepted color range for padparadscha has changed; the term once described, ranges of color from yellowish orange to orangey red, with an assortment of tones and degrees of saturations.  Today, a gem must fall into a narrower color range.  Therefore a reddish-orange or a reddish-brown colored sapphire should not be classified as a Padparadscha since a true Padparadscha is classified as specific mix of pink and orange.

For thousands of years, padparadshca’s have been sifted from the river gravel of Sri Lanka, with the best natural specimens coming from Ceylon. Ceylon is the original locality for padparadschas; many purists today believe the term should be restricted only to stones from this area.  It has been only in the last few decades that other countries have produced similar color tones associated with Ceylon Padparadschas.   Madagascar is producing the majority of the stones available on the market, they are mostly more pink than orange (20-30% orange and 70-80% pink).  These stones are classified “Padparadscha” but are normally sold at cost 20% less than the “Ceylon Padparadscha”.  The Tanzania Tunduru district produces “Padparadscha-like” orange sapphires, of a reddish orange color with tones of brown and slight hints of pink.  These sapphires although beautiful are usually not classified as “Padparadschas” because of the significant tones of red and brown.

Be Born to Tanzanite

During the Tucson Gem Fair in February, the Tanzanite Foundation introduced its new marketing campaign as “Be Born to Tanzanite”.

The Tanzanite Foundation’s plan is to campaign tanzanite as the birthstone, the gift given upon the birth of a child, which would grant tanzanite ownership of the birth category.  The Tanzanite Foundation views the birth-gift category as a major ongoing commercial opportunity.  Through the birthstone positioning and the tag line “ Be Born to Tanzanite” the hope is to forge a strong emotional draw in the purchase of tanzanite. 

Tanzanite History…

In 1967, a Maasai tribesman stumbled upon a transparent cluster of intense blue crystals, in Merelani, an area of northern Tanzania in eastern Africa.  What was originally thought to be a new sapphire deposit turned out instead to be a deposit of one of the world’s newest gems.  In 1968, Tiffany & Co., stepped in to promote the new stone and promptly gave it a name as exotic as its African origin, “tanzanite”.

Tiffany & Co. named the gem to evoke a bit of Africa’s legendary mystery and make the gem easier to sell.  This still holds true today as the Tanzanite Foundation uses a Maasai custom to lend a helping hand in the sale of “Tanzanite the Birthstone”.

Tanzanite the Birthstone

We are born to be something special. The promise of a person begins with the earliest moments of life and every tradition cherishes and celebrates a child being born, the miracle of birth, the gift of life.

From the heart of Africa comes a powerful tradition – Maasai women who have had the honor of giving birth to a child wear blue beads to bestow upon the child a healthy and positive life, and to set themselves apart as creators of new life.

This custom, protected and preserved by the proud Maasai over generations, is now embodied in the unique color of tanzanite.

The gift of tanzanite at birth uniquely symbolizes new beginnings and pays tribute to those who have shown the greatest of loves, becoming a parent.

Be part of this tradition.
Celebrate new life.
Be Born to Tanzanite.