Stories of Gems

I love all shades of of purple and violet! Supposedly, purple symbolizes experimentation and non-conformity, and pushes us to be creative. It speaks to our calmer, spiritual side. I'm not sure about all that, but I do have an amethyst crystal sitting on the top of my jewelry box. So let's talk about some great purple GEMS! Because there are so many that just don’t get enough attention. Amethyst One of my favorite gemstones is amethyst. Underrated in my opinion, this is a be

Today, I want to tackle one of those terms the retail industry uses – “precious gemstones.” When I was studying to be a gemologist, I learned that diamond is the ultimate precious gemstone. In the land of colored stones, ruby, sapphire, and emerald are the only three considered precious. We call the them “the big three.” That means all other gemstones are merely semi-precious. So of course I wondered why that was, and who gets to decide. Precious versus semiprecious gemstone

Explore the beautiful sapphires found in the great state of Montana!

Learn about America's first gemologist, George Kunz, and how he changed the colored stone market in America through his work at Tiffany's.

On America's birthday month, I thought we should talk about America's national gemstone. Except we don’t have one… I heard it might be tourmaline, turquoise, or opal. All are found in these great United States, but I couldn’t find any that were officially declared as the Gemstone for America. Weird, because lots of states have official gemstones. In New Mexico, it’s turquoise. Alabama has a diamond. But I’m going to follow our wise Southern states Kentucky and Tennessee, and

Turquoise is one of my favorite stones. I think it’s always pretty, and you see it in variety of colors and styles. It’s always been used in jewelry, going back to ancient Egypt. It was all over the place in King Tut’s tomb. And 7,000 years ago, it was considered a sacred stone with mystical powers. Today, it still has people who consider it a stone of protection with healing properties. Regardless, I’m a fan. Let me share six of the reasons why it’s a big part of my jewelry

Brazil hit the jackpot when it comes to the amazing array of gemstones there. Find out why no other country even comes close.

Friends, I am not in the market for an engagement ring, but SO MANY other people are! I know plenty of millennials excited for an...

Angelina Jolie donates citrine jewelry to the Smithsonian.

Some great green gemstones for St. Patrick's Day

Earlier this week, I got news that spinel is now officially one of two birthstones for the month of August. Woo hoo! Right? After all, there must have been all those people with August birthdays who felt so limited by peridot…. I mean, what if green just isn’t your color? > beautiful peridot Who gets to change birthstones? As usual, it just got me thinking about who gets to just do that. Who is this all-important entity that decides what the official birthstones are? You