Amber Baby Teething Necklace

When I first heard about the amber baby teething necklace for children, I was honestly a little put off by the idea of something around the neck of a small child. However I did some investigation and found out a little about it, and the more I discovered the more I began to realise it really does sound like a miracle-cure for baby teething.



Amber stones have long been known for their healing properties and medicinal purposes and though there are some sceptics, it really does have a lot of positive effects when you look at the facts. It has a resin has been used for the last 13,000 years in some form or another and its scent has been extracted for several perfumes and other aromatic purposes.


So, with that in mind, I decided to research its role as a cure for baby-teething and boy was I impressed. Amber produces a natural chemical called “succine acid' which comes to the gems surface when heated. As amber teething necklace warms up from the child’s body heat, it releases this gentle and nature pain relieving chemical. So simple!

That's not even taking into account a handful of other, smaller facts such as its honey-like colour, which is meant to be soothing to the child's visual sense and its soft and smooth texture which is supposed to be great for the child’s sense of touch. Plus it probably looks extremely cute on toddlers as well!

The Amber baby teething necklace was used by the Germans to help with teething problems right up until World War II. Amber stones were harder to come by during this period and the popularity if amber baby teething necklaces dwindled to such low levels, it was never picked up again when the war ended.

Mums and parents from all over the world have been raving about it for quite a while now on all sorts of websites and forums (from Switzerland to Spain to Chile!). I've even seen some parent’s claim it was 'the greatest things they've ever bought for their child'!

I wish I had been advised about the Amber baby teething necklace when my children were growing up!!

Moonstones

The moonstone really is one for the ladies as it is considered the guardian of mother nature and all things female.

Closely linked with the moon, this precious stone symbolizes new beginnings.

It is believed to promote love, unselfishness nurturing and wisdom.

It is linked with gracefulness & sensitivity

Many recognise the moonstone as an aid to help ease anxiety and stress, and helps restore a calm balance & harmony in relationships.

The healing properties of moonstones help relieve labour pains and aid in the quick physical recovery after childbirth.

Aquamarine

Aquamarine stones are traditionally used in the treatment of phobia's fears and to generally calm and soothe anxieties.

Aquamarine symbolizes honesty, courage, as well as beauty, and loyalty. It is well associated with spiritual inspiration, self-knowledge, meditation & serenity

It can aid to lift depression and help one see clearly and enhance openness and confidence.

The healing properties of Aquamarine are said to help the immune system, and breathing allergies, along with throat related illnesses.

Amethyst

The healing properties of Amethyst stones include:

Can help with spirituality and stability calmness,
Inner strength,
Inspiration
A sense of true peace.
It is said to be able to help with additive behaviour

Other healing properties of Amethyst stones include blood purification, and to enhance the immune system, amethyst also eases arthritis and can help with insomnia.

Jewellery Boxes

Owning and treasuring costume jewellery is a passion for me, one that I have had for years and that has cost me a small fortune for all my indulgences.
Nothing is more irritating to me than to see people with amazing crystal, gemstone or beautiful beaded jewellery which they just leave lying around here there & everywhere!
Would you leave expensive designer clothes, just lying around on floors & cupboards?? Well for me the answer is no... So why would I leave my precious jewellery lying just anywhere
I have several jewellery boxes, some are made of wood, and others are glass with the mirrors. I actually have 5 boxes; each has specific treasures in them.
It seems a bit obsessive, but I don’t have to hunt through lots of chains, bracelets or necklaces to find the style or colour I am looking for, I know exactly where the item I am looking for is. The chains and necklaces do not get tangled up and the bracelets and bangles do not rub against each other, dulling the mounts and gemstones
I also have a separate ring box, and a box which holds all my precious crystals.
All of these boxes are kept out on display in my bedroom. I have them all around the room and they all match and complement each other.

Dolphin Bracelet

One of my top tips for all you people that want to go on travelling the world would be....do not take any precious or special items that you love or care about with you. Stuff gets ruined, damaged, broken or worse, stolen!! This is sad, but true, as I recently found out!

When I left England all those months ago I had with me a very special possession, a white gold Dolphin Bracelet bought for me by my Gran.

My gorgeous dolphin bracelet, as you might have guessed was a bangle that wrapped around my wrist, one end shaped like the head of a dolphin, with the other end shaped like it's tail and it had a clear sparkling diamond for an eye.

My dolphin bracelet was a gift from my grand-mother for my birthday many years ago. Back in the day when dolphins were my favourite animal and it had a great sentimental value, but alas the dolphin bracelet is no more, it was stolen from my bags whilst I was travelling.

The dolphin bracelet is not the only casualty on this trip, far from it, but as the thing I valued about most it is the only one that still upset me when I think about it.

I have since replaced the dolphin bracelet with a one that looks identical, my Gran would be upset if she knew, but it does not hold the same sentimental value.

In conclusion ladies and gentlemen, leave your dolphin bracelet, or your equivalent of it safely at home with people you can trust.

If you are looking for a dolphin bangle, this one from Amazon is pretty, and has already been added to my collection!

Moonstones

The moonstone is characterised by an enchanting play of light. Indeed it owes its name to that mysterious shimmer which always looks different when the stone is moved and is known in the trade as 'adularescence'. In earlier times, people believed they could recognise in it the crescent and waning phases of the moon.

Moonstones from Sri Lanka, the classical country of origin of the moonstone, shimmer in pale blue on an almost transparent background. Specimens from India feature a nebulous interplay of light and shadow on a background of beige-brown, green, orange or brown. These discreet colours, in connection with the fine shimmer, make the moonstone an ideal gemstone for jewellery with a sensual, feminine aura. This gemstone was very popular once before, about a hundred years ago at the time of Art Nouveau. It adorns a noticeably large number of the jewellery creations of the French master goldsmith René Lalique and his contemporaries, mainly to be found in museums and collections today.

The moonstone symbolises our being in its entirety. With its soft shimmer, it strengthens our emotional and subconscious aspects. The associations connected with that make it a "lovers' stone", evoking tender feelings and safeguarding the true joys of love. It is also said that wearing a moonstone strengthens our intuition and our capacity to understand.

Traditionally, the classical moonstones, almost transparent and with their bluish shimmer, come from Sri Lanka. However, they are also found in the USA, Brazil, Australia, Myanmar and Madagascar. Since bluish moonstones of good quality have been becoming more and more of a rarity in recent years, prices have risen sharply.

For a few years, there have also been some green, brown and orange specimens on the market, as well as some with a smoky colour and some the colour of champagne, and some black and some reddish ones, mainly originating from India. Some have a cat's eye effect or a four-spoked star as well as the typical undulating shimmer of light. These stones are not only cut as cabochons, but also as artistic cameos or engraved with the faces of children, the moon or grotesques. But they too have the shimmer of light typical of the moonstone, as do the beads which are cut from suitable raw material for gemstone necklaces.
When purchasing moonstone jewellery you will come across the most astonishing price differences. The more intense in colour, the larger and the more transparent, the more highly valued the moonstone. Really fine blue specimens display an incredible 'three-dimensional' depth of colour which the observer does not really come to recognise until the stone is moved about in a playful way. Specimens of that kind are highly esteemed on account of their rarity and their prices are correspondingly high. The colourful Indian moonstones, on the other hand, are not only very much in fashion. They are also, as a rule, somewhat more reasonably priced than classical blue moonstones. This means that today, anyone can select the moonstone to suit his or her taste and pocket.

Moonstones are treasures of Nature with a sensual and seductive aura. Not only do they like to be looked at and admired a lot; they also thrive on being worn and moved about a good deal, for only then can the soft shimmer of light which makes this gemstone so desirable really come into its own.
Source: www.gemstone.org

Rose Quartz Crystal

The pale pink colour of quartz, which can range from transparent to translucent, is known as rose quartz. The colour is a very pale and delicate powder pink. Transparent rose quartz is very rare, and usually so pale that it does not show very much colour at all except in large sizes. Translucent rose quartz is much more readily available, being used for beads, cabochons, carvings, and architectural purposes.

Carnelian Gemstone

Carnelian Gemstone is said to have healing Properties & Qualities

Carnelian is the name given to a specific colour of agate. The word carnelian comes from the latin word for flesh (carnis). It applies to any agate that is red to dark orange to brownish in colour. Sometimes referred to as cornelion, it is found primary in India, and various sites around South America. Also found in Brazil, Australia, Russia and the US. Carnelian is a variety of chalcedony.
The most favourable pieces are deep-red to red-orange in colour. A moderately hard stone that is capable of taking a hard polish. Used for thousands of years - from the Egyptians, who filled tombs with carnelian, as they thought it had great power, and would help the souls journey to the afterlife.
Once classed as just the property of the noble classes, carnelian was often associated with social status.
Carnelian and Libra
Librans are renowned for have trouble making decisions. Carnelian is a great stone for Librans because it aids with making decisions.
Carnelian Gemstone Meanings - Emotional, Spiritual, etc.
• Carnelian protects from bad vibrations.
• Carnelian can help calm the temper.
• Carnelian helps an insecure person find strength from within.
• Carnelian can help with poverty.
• Carnelian can help in focusing and in realising goals.
• Carnelian is great for Librans - aid decision making.
• Carnelian helps to banish sorrow.
• Carnelian helps give a sense of humour.
• Carnelian can give career success.
• Carnelian can help in drama and theatrical productions etc.
Carnelian Gemstone Meanings - Healing, Medical, Physical, etc.
• Carnelian helps stop the flow of blood - helps to heal wounds and cures blood diseases.
• Carnelian helps to increase physical energy.
• Carnelian is an energy booster.
• Carnelian can be recommended for infertility and impotency.
• Carnelian helps to increase sexual energy.
• Carnelian increases appetite.

Source: www.jewellery-art.co.uk

Blue Sapphire Gemstone Brooch

Blue Sapphires are probably one of my favourite gemstones, I have various pieces, rings, bangles & necklaces that complement each other. By far my favourite is one of my many blue sapphire brooches that I picked up at a boot sale several years ago. It was possibly one of the most exciting finds I have had at a boot sale. It is in the shape of a pretty flower which has blue sapphires gemstone petals set in an old silver setting.

One of the most famous, and the second largest sapphire gemstone has to the Logan Sapphire, named after Sir John Logan, who donated the gemstone to the Smithsonian Institute in 1960. The cushion cut gemstone is set in a brooch surround. It is one of the most beautiful Blue Sapphire Brooches I have ever seen, although weighing in at 423 carats (84.6g) I doubt my coat lapel could carry it!.
My blue sapphire brooch is not nearly as big as the Logan gemstone, and not nearly as perfectly set, but it is one of the brightest I have, and shimmers& shines in the sun, reflecting an amazing array of beautiful colours when hit by natural light.

I am always looking to add to my sapphire gemstone collection and have earmarked this lovely blue sapphire brooch as a xmas pressie to myself!

I have found this perfect little blue sapphire brooch on Swarovski. This adorable rhodium-plated brooch sparkles in various different shades of white, blue and green crystals. The blue epoxy perfectly complements the Indian Sapphire crystal pavé. This cute accessory adds a touch of colour to any outfit.

Genuine Pandora Beaded Bracelet

When I went to NZ to see my daughter last year she showed me a beautiful genuine Pandora Beaded Bracelet that her boyfriend had bought her as a gift.

She had some trouble with it as the beads kept losing their colour, and as there are a lot of imitations of the Pandora beaded bracelet on the market she decided we should visit a Genuine Pandora Beaded Bracelet stockist. The assitants there kindly cleaned it up for her free of charge.We also looked at some of the glass & silver beads for the genuine Pandora beaded bracelet.

Some months later I spent a lovely day shopping with my sister at Lakeside shopping centre. It was our last day together before I moved to Qatar. We did not want any sad goodbyes at the airport, so a day shopping was the ideal solution!

She wanted to buy me something special as a parting gift, and had heard me rave on about my daughters genuine Pandora Beaded Bracelet. There is a Pandora shop in the shopping mall so we went along for a look. They had some fantastic jewellery items. There was a variety of genuine Pandora Beaded Bracelet charms there as well as silver beads.

After much consideration I settled for a Pandora silver bracelet, with 2 separators with red gemstones in and a silver bead in the shape of a wrapped gift... it seemed a perfect choice.

I wear my genuine Pandora Beaded Bracelet almost every day as a reminder of a fantastic day spent shopping with my amazing sister.

Topaz Gemstone

It is a fluorine aluminium silicate and comes in yellow, yellow-brown, honey-yellow, flax, brown, green, blue, light blue, red and pink ... and sometimes it has no colour at all. The topaz.

The Topaz has been known for at least 2000 years and is one of the gemstones which form the foundations of the twelve gates to the Holy City of the New Jerusalem. These so-called apocalyptic stones are intended to serve in protection against enemies and as a symbol of beauty and splendour. It cannot be proved conclusively whether the name of the topaz comes from the Sanskrit or the Greek, though the Greek name 'topazos' means 'green gemstone'. The Romans dedicated the topaz to Jupiter.

The colour in which the topaz is most commonly found is yellow, and that is the colour in which it occurs in one of the major German gemstone rocks, the Schneckenstein (a topaz-bearing rock said to resemble a snail) in Saxony. In the 18th century, it was mined there during a period of over 60 years. However, most of the crystals were hardly a centimetre in diameter. You had to go to Siberia or Brazil to find crystals as large as your fist. Having said that, anyone who is interested can convince himself of the beauty of cut specimens in the topaz set in Dresden's Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault). The enormous and magnificent topaz from the Portuguese crown, the Braganza, was for a long time thought to be a diamond. It weighs 1680 ct..

In mysticism, the topaz is attributed with a cooling, styptic and appetising effect. It is said to dispel sadness, anger and nocturnal fears, to warn its wearer of poisons and protect him or her from sudden death. It is reputed to make men handsome and intelligent and sterile women fertile and happy. However, it is probably better not to rely too much on its magical powers, since it was also claimed that you could immerse your hand in boiling water after a topaz had been thrown into it and retract it again unharmed! It is the stone of the month November.

In the Empire style, the topaz was still widespread, but then the more reasonably priced citrine took over from it and even usurped its name - gold topaz. Since then, the topaz has been a rather exotic figure in the jewellery trade, and has been given the additional predicate 'pure' to make it clear that the topaz, not the quartz topaz, is meant. And it is still waiting for its well deserved comeback to this day.

Source: www.gemstone.org

Men's Accessories and Jewellery

I have to say I love a man in jewellery, especially my own when he wears his wedding ring!.  Seriously, there is no reason a man should not want to wear good quality mens accessories and jewellery, as long as its tasteful and they do not overdo it.
Some do's:  one ear-ring only...unless you are David Beckham, who seems to be able to get away with almost anything.
Never more than one ring on each hand.
Definately no big chunky fake gold chain neckaces!  even a real gold chain can "cheapen"  the look if the chain is to thick and chunky.
ID bracelets also look quite cool, but only with your own name on it,.. the name of your wife and / or kids engraved on it is just a bit cheesey.
Glasses need to be classy too...even prescription ones, and there is no end of good quality named frames available from most opticians. There is no need to be let down by the essentials.

Definate dont's;  never ever wear multi chains....its a girl thing and men should avoid this particular look!
Dont do beads....unless the outfit suits ........you know the "I should have been a teenager in the sixties" look, or the Aussie beach bum look, with bear sun-tanned chest and open waist-coat!
Apparently you can tell a lot about a man by the watch he wears!  so possibly the chunky strapped type is better for the impression you want to give

The market is full of products and accessories for men to make themselves smell, look and feel better, and it's about time men made an effort!

The benefits of Vintage Amber Jewellery

Amber is fossilised tree resin and can be dated back as long ago as 35 or 40 million years ago. It has been used for making trinkets, collectable ornaments, brooches as well as excellent quality & classic looking pieces of vintage amber jewellery. Its colour, being yellow/burn orange, comes in a wide variety of shades, clarity and softness. It has been used for making jewellery that has been used to trade all over the world, with pieces dating back as far as 2500 BC being discovered.
Baltic amber is probably the most well known & generally used to produce most of the items available on the market at the moment.
Cherry Amber - which is not natural amber, is freely available on the market, usually in the form of beads and beaded items. This Amber is an imitation man-made product fashioned from cheaper materials, normally plastic. These items are widely available on the market, but should not be confused with the real thing. It is important to recognise true amber when purchasing vintage amber jewelry items. The simplest test is salt water solution; real amber will float, plastic, glass or other imitation amber will sink.
There are several reasons to wear vintage amber jewellery and I have explored and explained a few of my reasons below:

1. Vintage Amber Jewellery has usually been passed down the generations, so your piece is likely to be antique. Having a family heirloom that you will be able to pass down to your children is a precious gift and you should be proud to wear it.
2. It is eco-friendly – the more vintage amber jewellery we wear means there is less demand for cheaper imitations to be produced, hence helping the environment. Natural amber is always being mined as the demand is still high. The lower the demand the less mining needed, Mother Nature will be happy!
3.  As with most aged things vintage amber jewellery is generally of a far superior quality to more modern designed jewellery. Most vintage pieces were hand made by craftsmen, especially for specific occasions and therefore it is sure to be of a very high quality and can withstand day to day wear better than more modern products.
4. Your amber piece will have uniqueness as it is unlikely to have been mass produced. Again, pieces being commissioned for specific people or special occasions are likely to be one off’s and it would be difficult to replicate with the same high quality for the mass market.
5.  Amber’s colour will match almost any outfit – wearing vintage amber jewellery can dress up almost any outfit. As a “neutral” colour, it tends to adapt its self to any colour and blends with some, ie; greens, browns, oranges & yellows whilst enhancing others, blacks, grey & blues.
6. Regardless to whether amber is set in gold, silver or bronze, and despite the mount’s size and shape, the amber will always be the most prominent feature, and the item that most people are likely to notice, admire and comment on.
7. Lastly, like the little black dress, it is a classic that never seems to date. No matter the age of your vintage amber jewellery, it will never look out of date or out of place.

Emerald Gemstones

Emeralds are fascinating gemstones. They have the most beautiful, most intense and most radiant green that can possibly be imagined: emerald green. Inclusions are tolerated. In top quality, fine emeralds are even more valuable than diamonds.

The name emerald comes from the Greek 'smaragdos' via the Old French 'esmeralde', and really just means 'green gemstone'. Innumerable fantastic stories have grown up around this magnificent gem. The Incas and Aztecs of South America, where the best emeralds are still found today, regarded the emerald as a holy gemstone. However, probably the oldest known finds were once made near the Red Sea in Egypt. Having said that, these gemstone mines, already exploited by Egyptian pharaohs between 3000 and 1500 B.C. and later referred to as 'Cleopatra's Mines', had already been exhausted by the time they were rediscovered in the early 19th century.

Written many centuries ago, the Vedas, the holy scriptures of the Indians, say of the precious green gems and their healing properties: 'Emeralds promise good luck and enhances well-being. So it was no wonder that the treasure chests of Indian maharajas and maharanis contained wonderful emeralds. One of the world's largest is the so-called 'Mogul Emerald'. It dates from 1695, weighs 217.80 carats, and is some 10cm tall. One side of it is inscribed with prayer texts, and engraved on the other there are magnificent floral ornaments.

Emeralds have been held in high esteem since ancient times. For that reason, some of the most famous emeralds are to be seen in museums and collections. The New York Museum of Natural History, for example, has an exhibit in which a cup made of pure emerald which belonged to the Emperor Jehangir is shown next to the 'Patricia', one of the largest Colombian emerald crystals, which weighs 632 carats. The collection of the Bank of Bogota includes five valuable emerald crystals with weights of between 220 and 1796 carats, and splendid emeralds also form part of the Iranian National Treasury, adorning, for example, the diadem of the former Empress Farah. The Turkish sultans also loved emeralds. In Istanbul's Topkapi Palace there are exhibits with items of jewellery, writing-implements and daggers, each lavishly adorned with emeralds and other gems.

The green of life and of love

The green of the emerald is the colour of life and of the springtime, which comes round again and again. But it has also, for centuries, been the colour of beauty and of constant love. In ancient Rome, green was the colour of Venus, the goddess of beauty and love. And today, this colour still occupies a special position in many cultures and religions. Green, for example, is the holy colour of Islam. Many of the states of the Arab League have green in their flags as a symbol of the unity of their faith. Yet this colour has a high status in the Catholic Church too, where green is regarded as the most natural and the most elemental of the liturgical colours.

The magnificent green of the emerald is a colour which conveys harmony, love of Nature and elemental joie de vivre. The human eye can never see enough of this unique colour. Pliny commented that green gladdened the eye without tiring it. Green is perceived as fresh and vivid, never as monotonous. And in view of the fact that this colour always changes somewhat between the bright light of day and the artificial light of a lamp, emerald green retains its lively vigour in all its nuances.

A matter of trust

Unfortunately, because the emerald is not only one of the most beautiful gemstones, but also one of the most valuable, there are innumerable synthetics and imitations. So how can you protect yourself from these 'fakes'? Well, the best way is to buy from a specialist in whom you have confidence. Large emeralds in particular should only be purchased with a report from a reputable gemmological institute. Such an institute will be able, thanks to the most modern examination techniques, to differentiate reliably between natural and synthetic emeralds, and will inform you as to whether the stone has undergone any treatment of the kind a purchaser has the right to know about.

And one more piece of advice on the purchase of an emerald: whilst diamonds generously scintillate their fire in sizes below 1 carat, you should go for larger dimensions when acquiring a coloured gemstone. True, there are some lovely pieces of jewellery with small coloured gems to set decorative accents, but emeralds, like other coloured gemstones, do not really begin to show that beautiful glow below a certain size. How large 'your' emerald ends up will depend on your personal taste, and on your budget. Really large specimens of top quality are rare. This means that the price of a top-quality emerald may be higher than that of a diamond of the same weight. The fascination exuded by a fine emerald is simply unique.

Source: www.gemstone.org

Amethyst

Its colour is as unique as it is seductive, though in fact this gemstone of all gemstones is said to protect its wearer against seduction. The amethyst is extravagance in violet. For many thousands of years, the most striking representative of the quartz family has been a jewel coveted by princes both ecclesiastical and secular. Moses described it as a symbol of the Spirit of God in the official robes of the High Priest of the Jews, and the Russian Empress Catherine the Great sent thousands of miners into the Urals to look for it. In popular belief, the amethyst offers protection against drunkenness - for the Greek words 'amethystos' mean 'not intoxicated' in translation. A more apt stone for the month of February, particularly if there is to be plenty going on in the way of carnival celebrations, could thus hardly be wished for.

A large number of further miraculous powers are attributed to the amethyst in all sorts of cultures. It was said to protect crops against tempests and locusts, bring good fortune in war and in the hunt, drive out evil spirits and inspire the intellect. A little study of the works of Pliny will reveal that this gemstone, if worn round the neck on a cord made from dog's hair, affords protection against snakebite. Later, Hieronymus even reported that eagles placed an amethyst in their nest in order to protect their young from the selfsame danger. Apart from these powers, gemstone therapists say that the amethyst has a sobering and cleansing effect. Amethyst has also been said to quell excessive stomach acid and, according to Hildegard von Bingen, served to combat insect bites and beautify the skin. But the amethyst not only had a firm niche in medicine; it was also esteemed as a stone of friendship. And since it was thought to put the wearer in a chaste frame of mind and symbolise trust and piety, the amethyst came to occupy a very prominent position in the ornaments of the Catholic clergy over the centuries. It was the stone of bishops and cardinals; we find it in prelates' crosses and in the so-called Papal Ring (Italian, 15th century) in the Jewellery Museum in Pforzheim.

One thing that has been known for a long time, on the other hand, is the fact that the amethyst changes its colour on being heated. Smoky stones are transformed at temperatures of as little as 250 degrees to a shining yellow to brownish-red, whilst clear ones, i.e. those with a high degree of transparency, become yellow or colourless at 400 degrees. Now and then Nature gives us a surprise by having created bicoloured stones, like the ones recently found in Bolivia in the form of causticised crystal nuggets. This variety is known as ametrine, for in its formation certain energy states of iron introduce violet areas to the yellow citrine. At best, flat jewellery with a three-spoked star can be cut from it. However, the highlight for esoterics is that the energy fields can in fact be made visible in polarised light. The Henn Brothers of Idar-Oberstein even supply the photos to go with it.

Some amethysts pale almost to colourlessness in daylight. The reason for this has not yet been discovered, but it is possible to re-colour them by means of radium radiation. The fact that these stones can lose their colour makes it obvious that amethyst jewellery should not be worn while sunbathing, in a solarium or in a discotheque with black light. Sudden changes of temperature can also be harmful to the stone.

In ancient times, amethyst was already being engraved and cut into sculptured forms, witness the bust of Trajan which Napoleon captured in Berlin. Amethyst quartz, banded with whitish layers, is particularly good to work with, though it is only ever either translucent or opaque or somewhere in between. In earlier times, people liked to drink wine from amethyst cups, which brings us back to the stone's protective function against alcoholism. According to the ancient Greek saga, Diana turned a nymph whom Bacchus loved into an amethyst; hence the term Bacchus stone. Anyone wishing to protect a drunkard from delirium mixed some pulverised amethyst into the person's drink.

Source: www.gemstone.org

Aquamarine

From the light blue of the sky to the deep blue of the sea, aquamarines shine over an extraordinarily beautiful range of mainly light blue colours. Aquamarine is a fascinatingly beautiful gemstone. Women the world over love it for its fine blue shades which can complement almost any skin or eye colour, and creative gemstone designers are inspired by it as they are by hardly any other gem, which enables them to create new artistic cuts again and again.

Its light blue arouses feelings of sympathy, trust, harmony and friendship. Good feelings. Feelings which are based on mutuality and which prove their worth in lasting relationships. The blue of aquamarine is a divine, eternal colour, because it is the colour of the sky. However, aquamarine blue is also the colour of water with its life-giving force. And aquamarine really does seem to have captured the lucid blue of the oceans. No wonder, when you consider that according to the saga it originated in the treasure chest of fabulous mermaids, and has, since ancient times, been regarded as the sailors' lucky stone. Its name is derived from the Latin 'aqua' (water) and 'mare' (sea). It is said that its strengths are developed to their best advantage when it is placed in water which is bathed in sunlight. However, it is surely better still to wear aquamarine, since according to the old traditions this promises a happy marriage and is said to bring the woman who wears it joy and wealth into the bargain. An ideal gem, not only for loving and married couples.

The bright blue of this noble beryl is making more and more friends. The various colour nuances of aquamarine have melodious names: the rare, intense blue aquamarines from the Santa Maria de Itabira mine in Brazil, which make every gemstone lover's heart beat faster, are called 'Santa Maria'. Similar nuances come from a few gemstone mines in Africa, particularly Mozambique. To help distinguish them from the Brazilian ones, these aquamarines have been given the name 'Santa Maria Africana'. The 'Espirito Santo' colour of aquamarines from the Brazilian state of that name is of a blue that is not quite so intense. Yet other qualities are embodied in the stones from Fortaleza and Marambaia. One beautiful aquamarine colour was named after the Brazilian beauty queen of 1954, and has the name 'Martha Rocha'

Source: www.gemstones.org