Colorful choices in colored Gemstones

Other popular colored gems

- Bloodstone (Heliotrope)
Bloodstone (Heliotrope) believed by the ancient Greeks to have fallen from heaven, this gemstone has held a prominent place throughout history, and even into modern times, as a great curative. It was (and still is in some parts of the world) believed capable of stopping every type of bleeding, clearing bloodshot eyes, acting as an antidote for snakebite, and relieving urinary troubles. Today there are people who wear blood stone amulets to prevent sunstroke and headache, and to provide protection against the evil eye.

The birthstone for March, bloodstone is a more or less opaque, dark green variety of quartz with specks of red jasper (a variety of quartz) spattering red throughout the dark green field. Particularly popular for mens rings (perhaps they need more protection from illness?) bloodstone is most desirable when the green isnt so dark as to approach black and the red flecks are roundish and pronounced. It is moderately durable and is fairly readily available and inexpensive.

- Chrysoberyl and Cats eye
The chrysoberl family is very interesting because all three of its varieties; alexandrite, cats eye, and chrysoberyl; while chemically alike, are quite distinct from one another in their optical characteristics and bear no visible resemblance to each other.

Chrysoberyl in its cats eye variety has long been used as a charm to guard against evil spirits, and one can understand why, given the pronounced eye effect; the eye, so legend has it, could see all and it watched out for its wearer. But it was also believed that to dream of cats eye signified treachery. On still another level, it symbolized long life for the wearer, perhaps as a result of being protected from the evil eye.

Cats eye is a hard, translucent gem ranging in color from a honey yellow or honey brown to yellowish green to an almost emerald green. It has a velvety or silk like texture, and when properly cut displays a brilliant whitish line of light right down the center, appearing almost to be lighted from inside. Genuine cats eye gemstone should not be confused with the common quartz variety, which is often brown, and called tiger eye; the latter has a much less striking eye and weaker color altogether. This phenomenon is produced only in cabochon (cabs).

To see the effect properly, the stone should be viewed under a single light source, coming if possible from directly overhead. If the line is not exactly in the center, the stones value is reduced. The lines does shift from side when the stone is moved about; probably another reason ancient people believed it capable of seeing all and guarding its wearer.

The stone called chrysoberyl, on the other hand, is a brilliant, transparent, very clear, and very durable stone found in yellow, yellow green, and green varieties. This is another stone that still offers excellent value. Its a real beauty, very moderately priced, and just beginning to be appreciated and used in contemporary jewelry.

- Chrysoprase and Carnelian
Chrysoprase has long been the subject of marvelous stories. In the 1800s, it was believed that a thief sentenced to be hanged or beheaded would immediately escape if he placed a chrysoprase in is mouth. Of course, it might be hard to obtain the stone unless he just happened to carry one around! And Alexander the great was believed to have worn a parse in his girdle during battle, to ensure victory.

Chrysoprase is an inexpensive, highly translucent, bright, light to dark green variety of quartz. While its color is often very uniform and can be very lovely in jewelry, for many years these gems have been dyed to enhance their color, where necessary. Chrysoprase is another gemstone that is usually cut in cabochon style. It has become very popular for jewelry as a fashion accessory. Do not confuse it with jade, however. It is sometimes called Australian Jade and is sometimes misrepresented as real jade. If you are the timid sort, carnelian is the stone for you. The wearing of carnelian is recommended to those who have a weak voice or are timid in speech, for the warm colored stone will give them the courage they lack so that they will speak both boldly and well, a turn of the century gemologist and historian.

This gemstone is especially revered by Moslems, because Muhammad himself wore a silver ring set with a carnelian engraved for use as a seal. Napoleon I, while on a campaign in Egypt, picked up with his own hands (apparently from the battlefield) an unusual octagonal carnelian, upon which engraved the legend, The slave Abraham relying Upon The Merciful[God}. He wore it with him always and bequeathed it to his nephew. Carnelian, one of the accepted birthstones for august, is a reddish orange variety of quartz. A moderately hard, translucent to opaque stone, its warm uniform color and fair durability have made it a favorite. It is often found in antique jewelry and lends itself to engraving or carving (especially in cameos). It is still a relatively inexpensive gemstone with great warmth and beauty and offers an excellent choice for jewelry to be worn as an accessory with todays fashion colors.