| More Semi Precious Gemstones | | | | very soft with a 2.5 on Moh's scale. |
| Tourmaline - Singhalese word "turmali," | | | | Holistic Properties- said to have powers to balance |
| meaning"mixed." | | | | energy and facilitate cleansing. It assists the |
| Description- a brittle black or grey mineral | | | | wearer in remaining calm and protects from |
| occurring in prismatic crystals within granite or | | | | accepting other people's suffering. |
| other rocks. This stone occurs in all colors and | | | | Folklore- In paleontology, amber has been used to |
| many times in combinations, bicolor and tricolor | | | | classify and identify insects that were trapped in |
| tourmaline stones are favored, sometimes | | | | the gemstone. Stone Age man instilled the stone |
| coloring occurs in bands, sometimes coloring takes | | | | with mystical powers and wore it to worship. The |
| on one shade with another in the center. | | | | Assyrians, Etruscans, Greeks, Phoenicians and |
| 'Watermelon tourmaline' is pink in the middle with | | | | Egyptians also ascribed significance and value to |
| green surrounding it. | | | | the stone. It is a stone that has been in public |
| Characteristics of the Gem- 7.5 hardness in Moh's | | | | popularity since the Stone Age. |
| scale. Also used in optical instruments and electrical | | | | Sourcing- from the southern shores of the Baltic |
| instruments due to its pyroelectric and polarizing | | | | Sea and the Dominican Republic. |
| properties because of the boron aluminosilicate | | | | History- Amber is recorded in the Odyssey by |
| making up its trigonal crystal structures. | | | | Homer mentioning the stone as a princely gift of |
| It becomes magnetic and attracts light objects. | | | | earrings and a necklace made of amber beads. |
| Holistic Properties- a very new age association | | | | During the time of Emperor Nero, who was a |
| with a protective impact. It is said to heal mental | | | | great admirer of amber, a piece of the stone |
| disorders and enables the wearer to face and | | | | was worth more than the price of a slave. The |
| tackle difficult challenges and changes. | | | | ancient Germans called it 'Bernstein' (burn stone) |
| Sourcing- pink and red tourmaline is found in | | | | and used it as incense. In the Middle Ages, amber |
| Russia and Madagascar, Us, Burma, East Africa | | | | was used for stones to make rosary beads. |
| and Brazil. | | | | Moonstone |
| History- The widowed last Empress of China, Tz'u | | | | Description- a pearly white stone which can range |
| Hsi was extremely fond of pink tourmaline and | | | | in color from colorless to brown, yellow, pink, |
| purchased a ton of the gemstone from a | | | | green or grey. The clarity also ranges from |
| Himalayan mine. Upon her death, she was laid to | | | | transparent to translucent. The highest grade |
| rest on a pillow of carved pink tourmaline. | | | | moonstone is of a blue sheen with perfect clarity |
| Amber | | | | and a colorless body. |
| Description- Amber is translucent fossilized tree | | | | Characteristics of the Gem- A variety of feldspar, |
| resin from extinct conifers of the Tertiary period. | | | | the different refractive indexes cause the |
| These typically yellow stones may also come in | | | | shimmer which is called alternatively schiller or |
| shades of golden orange, green, violet, red and | | | | adularescence, due to the intergrowth of two |
| black. Sometimes containing the bodies of trapped | | | | kinds of feldspar. It has a vitreous luster and |
| insects, found along the southern shores of the | | | | rates 6 on Moh's scale. |
| Baltic Sea. When this gemstone is rubbed, it gives | | | | Holistic Properties- attributied to "Mother Earth" |
| off static electricity. The word electric comes | | | | and powers of female fertility and related to |
| from the Greek word for amber. | | | | menstrual cycles. . |
| Characteristics of the Gem- this gemstone is | | | | |