Item descriptionThe name for hematite comes from the Greek for blood (haima) because of the reddish hue that is often found due to the high iron content of the stone. Hematite is typically shiny and metallic in lustre, called specular when smooth and micaceous when thin and scaly. Multiple sites of hematite deposits have also been located on Mars, indicating that there is or once was water on the planet.

A variety of feldspar where crystalline masses in many thin layers will give the effect of a sheen or glow over the stone either in its entirety or in patches. Inuit legend tells of a warrior who saw the Northern Lights stuck in labradorite stones. He struck the gems with his spear in order to release them.

Lapis lazuli is composed or lazurite (blue), pyrite (yellow/golden) and calcite (white). Lapis was often used as a pigment in cosmetics and paintings in ancient times. Ancient buddhists believed that the gem brought peace of mind and tranquility to the wearer.

Moonstone is a feldspar with a blue or white sheen called adularescence. This sheen occurs due to layers of tiny crystals of albite arranged within the host material.

Opal consists of spheres of silicon dioxide and contains a variable amount of water within its structure. This creates a play of color referred to as fire. Opal is a brittle gem and is commonly layered with harder materials below (doublet) or above and below (triplet) to make it suitable fo jewelry applications. It can also remain attached to a host material such as found in Australian boulder opals. Arabic legends tell of opals falling from the sky in flashes of lightening and the Ancient Greeks believed opals would bestow the gift of prophecy on the wearer.

Perdot is the gem quality vaietal of the mineral olivine, which is formed in the earth’s mantle and brought to the surface by volcanic activity. Intensiy f the green color is due to the concentration of iron found during the formation process. Some peridot crystals have been found in meteorites, but this is rare. Ancient Egyptians called peridot ‘the gem of the sun’ and in Hawaiian lore peridot symbolized the tears of Pele, goddess of volcano and fire.

Often known as fool’s gold, pyrite’s name comes from the Greek, pyr, or fire. This naming was due to the ability of pyrite to make a spark when struck with metal. Pyrite is often found within other stones such as graphite or schist. Pyrite is also utilized for marcasite jewelry - small faceted pyrite stones set in sterling silver

Pure spinel is colorless but the trace elements create a broad spectrum of intense and vibrant colors. In ancient times many of the important spinels were thought to be rubies or sapphires.

Tiger’s eye consists of tightly packed quartz fibers. The silky sheen is an effect of reflected light called chatoyancy. A phenomenon of chatoyancy is called a cat’s eye, referring to a variation of color density or a mineral inclusion which will appear as a very strong reflective band. Tiger’s eye occurs in shades of god to brown with the green and blue hues typically considered as hawk’s eye or falcon’s eye. Roman soldiers would wear tiger’s eye to protect them in battle and ward off the evil eye.

Topaz occurs as a silicate material with aluminum and fluorine and appears in wide variety of colors. Heat treatment is common and the hard and typically clean stones are well suited for jewelry applications. The rich pink hue has been termed Imperial Topaz as historically only members of Russian royalty were allowed to wear it. Blue and smoky gray colors are also widely used and the yellow variety can be utilized as a substitute for citrine. Ancient Romans believed that topaz provided protection while traveling.

Tourmalines encompass a wide variety of colors and consist of a group of minerals with very similar atomic structures and chemical compositions. Specific names may derive from color or mineral composition. To

realizes may exhibit phenomena of multi color banding, color change in differing light and cat’s eye.