The following gemstones have each been used or are currently a part of the beautiful mixture of stones found in
Romanza Jewelry designs. Here is a detailed description of each stone and where it comes from. I will add a picture of each. Enjoy :)
Apatite - While it sounds like it's hungry, it's actually trying to fool you! The name Apatite comes from a Greek word meaning "to deceive", as Apatite has oft been confused with more valuable gems such as
Paraiba Tourmaline,
Peridot & Beryl. Ironically Apatite is the mineral that makes up the teeth & bones of all vertebrate animals so the hunger connection is quite appropriate after all.
The mineral Apatite is quite common but gem quality specimens are rare. This combined with its softness (5 on the
Moh's Scale of Hardness) has prevented Apatite becoming particularly popular even though its existence has been known since ancient times.
Apatite is a clear to opaque stone that comes in many colors, including green, yellow, blue, violet, and yellow-green (called asparagus stone). Cat's Eye Apatite stones are also known. Apatite is found in: Brazil, Russia, Myanmar (Burma),
Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Canada, East Africa, Sweden, Spain and Mexico.
Amber - Formed from the fossilized resin of trees that lived millions of years ago, amber has been used for jewelry and religious objects since prehistoric times. Most commercial Amber comes from the Baltic coasts of Poland, and tends to be found in soft sediments, or in the sea.
Amethyst - Also from the Quartz family, amethyst has varying shades of violet hues. The Greeks and Romans believed that amethyst prevented drunkenness and hangovers. The word amethyst comes from the Greek word "
amethistos" which means "that which pushes away drunkenness". While gem amethyst is mined in most gem producing nations, today's market is principally supplied from the following sources: Brazil, Bolivia,
Uruguay, and Zambia.
Black Onyx - When mined, black onyx is actually a deep gray colored chalcedony (a type of quartz). The stone is then heat treated to achieve the desired jet color. Long ago, onyx was used as a worry stone because it was believed that the stone absorbed negative energy. Onyx was very popular with the ancient Greeks and Romans. Black onyx is found worldwide but is most commonly from Brazil, India, and Madagascar
Bloodstone - green jasper dotted with bright red spots of iron oxide, was treasured in ancient times and long served as the birthstone for March. This attractive chalcedony quartz is also known as Heliotrope because in ancient times polished stones were described as reflecting the sun: perhaps the appearance of the gem reminded the ancients of the red setting sun reflected in the ocean. Locations where bloodstone can be found include India, Brazil, China, Australia, and the United States.
Carnelian - The name of this dark reddish orange stone is said to be derived from the Latin word "
CarTnis", which means flesh, due to its color. Some believed in the old Roman times that the darker Carnelian represented males and the lighter, females. Many believe that it creates a bond with man and nature. Since natural coloring is caused by iron oxide, most naturally colored carnelian is found in India where it’s usually exposed to the sun, and thus, the sun enhances the colors. Carnelian is a reddish-orange to brown in color. Most often it is heat treated to produce the rich colors. Carnelian is a member of the
micro crystalline quartz family and is found in nearly all parts of the world, but primarily in India as well as various sites in South America.
Citrine - is a variety of Quartz which gets its yellow color from the presence of iron. The name appears to be taken from the French word "Citron" (lemon) referring to its color. Most stones sold as
Citrine today are, in fact, heat-treated amethysts. Gem quality
citrine is very rare. Most
citrine is mined in Brazil. Supply of
citrine is good from the Brazilian state of Rio
Grande do
Sul, particularly from the Serra mine, which is producing 300 kilos a month of hammered goods. The Ira’ mine produces an additional 100 kilos a month of hammered goods.
Garnet - The most common garnet is red in color, but it can actually vary from red to orange to green. Garnet has been known as the warrior's stone for centuries. It was carried by many soldiers to ward off death and injury. Garnet jewelry has been found that date back to the Bronze Age (~3000 BC). The majority of this ancient jewelry was a very primitive style of lapidary found among the graves of a village of lake dwellers. Other documentation of ancient jewelry containing garnet have been found among remains located in Sweden between 1100 and 2000 B.C., in Samaria around 2300 B.C. and in Egypt in 3100 B.C.
Almandite, sometimes called
almandine, is the modern gem known as carbuncle (though originally almost any red gemstone was known by this name). The name
Almandite is a corruption of
Alabanda, a region in Asia Minor where these stone were cut in ancient times.
Hematite - Iron rich dark steel gray with metallic sheen or silver gray. When cut very thin, it is red and transparent. With the common name bloodstone, Hematite gets its name from a Greek word meaning blood-like because of the color of its powder. When crushed, Hematite will turn water red. Hematite has long been a stone representing war and was thought to protect warriors and make them invincible in battle. Mineral and crystal healers associate Hematite with the treatment of blood-related illnesses.Hematite is found in Elba Island
Howlite - is a stone that naturally occurs as white with gray to black streaks, web-like markings and blotches. Sometimes
Howlite is dyed to imitate other stones, but in
Romanza Jewelry designs we use
Howlite in its natural form of white. The stone is named for its discoverer Henry How, a Nova
Scotia geologist.
Howlite is found in Canada (Nova
Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick), and the United States (California).
JADE - today it is jadeite jade that is considered the real jade, commanding prices much higher than nephrite because it comes in much more vivid green colors and finer translucency than nephrite jade. Jadeite jade is produced in Burma, which is now known as Myanmar. Every year, the state-owned
Myanma Gems Enterprise holds the
Myanma Gems, Jade, and Pearl Emporium where boulders are sold by tender to the top jade dealers from around the world. Jadeite jade is most treasured for its vivid greens, but it also comes in lavender, pink, yellow, and white.
Lapis Lazuli - is one of the oldest of all gems, with a history stretching back some 7000 years or more. This mineral is important not just as a gem, but also as a pigment, for ultramarine is produced from crushed
lapis lazuli (this is why old paintings using ultramarine for their blue pigments never fade).
Lapis Lazuli, Arabic & Latin for "blue stone", is composed of several minerals. The most common are
Lazurite (blue color), Pyrite (gold/silver metallic color) and calcite (white color). For centuries
lapis has been linked to divinity. The Greeks and the Romans used
lapis as an award for personal bravery.
Lapis Lazuli is found in Afghanistan.
Malachite - is a secondary ore that occurs in the upper levels of copper deposits. The hydrothermal action of atmospheric agents on copper mineral outcrops has combined copper with solutions of carbonated water to produce malachite. It is the copper content of malachite that gives it a green (like tarnish) color. More water in the copper makes it lighter and less water makes it darker. The absence of water makes it black.
Today
Shaba (
Katanga) in Zaire is the most important malachite producer. Other deposits are in Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Australia (Queensland, New South Wales), Chile, France and Arizona and New Mexico in the USA. It is found almost everywhere in the form of small encrustations, together with
azurite.
Mother-of-Pearl (Abalone) – This offering from the sea has been used as items of adornment for thousands of years. Mother of Pearl is the common name for iridescent nacre, a blend of minerals that are secreted by oysters and other mollusks and deposited inside their shells, coating and protecting their bodies from parasites and foreign objects. In China, mother-of Pearl has been prescribed for over 1,000 years for heart palpitations and high blood pressure. Pearls come in lots of shapes and colors. Pearls formed randomly in nature are rare, so most pearls for sale are cultured pearls, which means their growth was initiated by humans
Obsidian Snowflake - Obsidian is a very shiny natural volcanic glass. When obsidian breaks it fractures with a distinct
conchoidal fracture. Obsidian is produced when lava cook very quickly and no crystals can form. When people make glass they melt silica rocks like sand and quartz then cool it rapidly by placing it in water. Obsidian is produced in nature in a similar way. Obsidian is usually black or a very dark green, but it can also be found in an almost clear form.
Pietersite - The surface of a
Pietersite looks rather chaotic, with streaks and colors going every direction. During the formation of the crystal, the materials that make it up were broken apart, swirled every which way, then were reformed and cemented together by Quartz. Stones and crystals that go through that process are
referred to as brecciated. Colors include blues, rusty reds, golds and browns.
Pietersite belongs to a branch of the Tiger's Eye family called
Riebeckite. It is considered "Africa's Opal" as it is primarily found in Namibia, Africa. There is a mine in China but it has been rumored it is now shut down - which will greatly increase the price of this wonderful stone.
Red Poppy Jasper - Poppy Jasper exhibits stones of brick red mingling with shades of brown or black. These beautiful gemstones also often show shades of golden yellows, cream, or white in a single bead. Poppy Jasper is found in two places - Spain and the Morgan Hill area of California.
Sodalite - is a scarce mineral that can be rock forming.
Sodalite is named in reference to its sodium content. It is used for carvings and some jewelry pieces. Its light to dark pure blue color is well known in the semi-precious stone trade. The
Mohs hardness is 5.5–6.0, and the density 2.3. The luster is vitreous, and the color is usually blue but may also be white, gray, or green. Notable occurrences are at Mount Vesuvius; Bancroft, Ontario; and on the Kola Peninsula of Russia.
Turquoise - First mined over 6,000 years ago, turquoise has been used throughout the ages for worship and as a powerful talisman; capable of safeguarding and bringing happiness to its wearer. Today most commercial turquoise is mined from China and the southwestern United States. Heat and oils can affect the color of turquoise. It is best to remove turquoise rings before washing hands or applying lotions.
Unakite - A relatively new gemstone,
Unakite naturally combines two minerals pink feldspar and pistachio green
epidote.
Unakite is a stone believed to facilitate a healthy reproductive system and pregnancy. It is principally mined in the United States.
