News — Get to Know Your Jewelry

If peridot were to have a flavor, I’m sure it would taste like apple Jolly Ranchers!  Granted, I don’t eat candy, but it’s a distinct taste I remember from childhood.  They were my favorite. [caption id="attachment_454" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Peridot Hoops by Amy Holton Designs[/caption] Peridot is unique to the gem world because they are one of the very few gemstones that occur naturally in an olive green color.  Ranging in color from brownish-green to greenish-yellow, peridot is highly coveted for its range of colors.  The different shades of green are determined by the varying levels of iron present in the...

Ahhhh...all of those lucky ladies with July birthdays!  Oh, how I love working with rubies.  With their rich, red color, it almost seems like an injustice to combine them with any other gemstone (save diamonds, of course). Rubies are a corundum, same as sapphires.  However, rubies are designated as the red shades of corundum ranging from having tints of pink, purple, orange and brownish-red.  The chromium and iron content of the stone is what affects the varying shades of red a ruby may possess.  The trace mineral content tends to vary with the geologic formation which produced the ruby, so...