HARDNESS: A MECHANICAL PROPERTY OF USE IN IDENTIFYING MINERALS
Along with the colors and crystal forms of minerals, their mechanical properties such as the hardness. tenacity, and habits of structural failure can be very useful tools in identifying an […]
Sapphire – Art Deco
Art Deco is my favorite style of jewelry with its flair of design and the use of unusual combinations of gemstones. Art Deco is a style of architecture and design […]
Ancient Sapphires
In this blog I’m displaying examples of jewelry and art objects from ancient Asia and the Mughal Empire. I also include examples of jewelry from the Roman Empire and the […]
Corundum – From Sapphires to Rubies
Gemstones of the mineral corundum [Ref 1] offer a rainbow of colors for the lapidarist and jewelry maker as displayed in Figure 1. Traditionally, of these, the ruby and blue […]
Beryl Art Objects
In this blog beautiful art objects, carved and sculpted in crystals of the beryl gemstones, are presented. In some, the shape of the gemstone inspired the shape of the object. […]
THE MINERAL BERYL, A MULTIPLEX OF GEMS
The beautiful blue hues of aquamarine, the rich yellows of heliodor, the deep green of emerald, the subtle pinks of morganite, the deep blue of the maxixe beryl, and the […]
A Short History of Emeralds
The emerald is the chromium-containing variety of the mineral beryl [Ref 1]. Its’ beautiful, vibrant, deep green color has made it a great favorite among those that create beautiful jewelry […]
Star Sapphires & Rubies
The star gemstones of the corundum family are either star sapphires or rubies. Under light these gemstones exhibit asterism [Ref 1] in showing either a six rayed or twelve rayed star. The starred […]
Diamonds IV
Lattice Defects, Impurities and Color As stated in references 17, 18 of my DIAMONDS II blog, impurity atoms and lattice vacancy defects are responsible for the coloration of diamonds [Ref […]
Diamonds III
A Gallery of Natural Diamond Crystals The gallery includes clear crystals and those exhibiting a range of colors (Figures 2-13), a range of shapes (Figures 2-15), examples of inclusions found […]