October Birthstone: If you're born in October, Happy birthday.

October is another month with two birthstone choices – Tourmaline and Opal.

TOURMALINE

Tourmaline has become a favorite gemstone among jewelry designer, and gem collectors the world over. Since it is available in a wide variety of colors, it is ideally suited to almost anyone's taste. Tourmaline also is known for displaying several colors in the same gemstone.  These bi-color or tri-colorgems are formed in many combinations; gemstones with clear color distinctions are highly prized.  One multi-color variety is known as watermelon tourmaline, and features green, pink, and white colors bands; to resemble its namesake, the gemstone is cut into thin slices having a pink center, white ring, and green edge.  Tourmaline is found in many localities including Brazil, Afghanistan, East Africa, and the USA.

OPAL

The name opal derives from the Greek Opallos, meaning "to see a change (of color)."  Opals range in color from milky white to black with flashes of yellow, orange, green, red, and blue. An opal's beauty is the product of contrast between its color play and its background.  Opal is a formation of non-crystalline silica gel that seeped into crevices in the sedimentary strata. Through time and nature's heating and molding processes, the gel hardened into the form of opals. The opal is composed of particles closely packed in spherical arrangements. When packed together in a regular pattern, a three-dimensional array of spaces are created that give opal its radiance.

http://www.americangemsociety.org/

DIAMOND AND JEWELRY BUYING GUIDE

People have been wearing jewelry for over 100,000 years, and even back then, chances are it wasn’t the easiest thing to shop for. There are just so many options when buying jewelry – so many materials, metals, styles and gems to choose from. You can shop better by taking the time to learn how to buy jewelry. It can seem like a lot, but with a little help from this jewelry buying guide, you’ll be shopping like a professional in no time. And if you are still stumped buying jewelry, feel free to ask an AGS-certified gemologist for help. They may know a lot about metals and gems, but they also know tons about styles and trends.

Here are a few basics to get your shopping jump-started, and be sure to click to the left to continue the guide:

WHAT ARE NATURAL GEMSTONES?

Natural gemstones come from the earth and are mined worldwide. Some natural gemstones can be enhanced, which means sometimes they are treated in some way (such as heat) to improve their color.

WHAT ARE LABORATORY-CREATED GEMSTONES?

These stones, which can also be referred to as laboratory-grown, manufacturer-created, or synthetic, have essentially the same chemical, physical, and optical properties as natural gemstones. Laboratory-created gemstones do not have the rarity or value of natural colored gemstones. Although they are similar in many ways to natural gemstones, a professional gemologist will be able to recognize their difference with proper testing.

WHAT ARE IMITATION GEMSTONES?

Imitation stones look like natural gemstones in appearance only. This includes tinted glass, cubic zirconia or other material that resembles natural stones when treated. Laboratory-created and imitation stones should be clearly identified as such.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A GEMSTONE?

Gemstones may be measured by weight, size, or both. The basic unit for weighing gemstones is the carat, which is equal to one-fifth (1/5th) of a gram. Carats are divided into 100 units, called points. For example, a half-carat gemstone would weigh .050 ct. or 50 points.

WHAT IS AN ENHANCED OR TREATED GEMSTONE?

Gemstone treatments or enhancements refer to the way some gemstones are treated to improve their appearance or durability, or even change their color. Many gemstones are treated in some way. The effects of some treatments may lessen or change over time and some treated gemstones may require special care. Some enhancements also affect the value of a gemstone, when measured against a comparable untreated gemstone. Treatments and/or enhancements should always be disclosed by the seller, along with any special care that might be required.

http://www.americangemsociety.org/jewelry-buying-101

Top 7 Places to Go Gem Hunting On Your Next Family Vacation

Got a rock hound in the family? Consider taking a vacation to one of these geologically rich destinations and you might just find enough gemstones or precious metals to pay for the trip, because you can keep everything you find. You're guaranteed to have a good time looking—even if you come up empty.

Crater of Diamonds State Park

What: Gem quality diamonds
Where: Murfreesboro, Arkansas
Web: www.craterofdiamondsstatepark

Bring your own tools or rent them at the only diamond-producing site in the world that is open to the public. Most visitors don't get rich digging in this ancient volcanic ground, but with 40 other rocks and minerals in the area you're sure to find something interesting. Admission is $7 for adults, $4 for children.

Gem Mountain

What: Sapphires
Where: Philipsburg, Montana
Web: www.gemmountainmt.com

Gem Mountain is in the middle of nowhere, but well worth the trouble it takes to get there. Staff dig up the dirt, screen out the big rocks, and provide all the tools and equipment you'll need to wash through the gravel for rough sapphires. They'll even help you determine which stones are worth heat treating (which improves the color and clarity) and faceting. Gravel is priced by the bucket, and prices vary. Be prepared to get wet and dirty.

Herkimer Diamond Mines

What: Double-terminated quartz crystals
Where: Herkimer, New York
Web: www.herkimerdiamond.com

Nicknamed "Herkimer Diamonds" because of their striking geometrical shape, these 500 million-year-old crystals can be broken out of rocks with a hammer and chisel or collected by casually looking around the prospect area. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for children.

Royal Peacock Mine

What: Black fire opals
Where: Virgin Valley, Nevada
Web: www.royalpeacock.com

The Virgin Valley in Northern Nevada is a stark corner of the world, but come once and you might find yourself planning a return trip. Digging isn't cheap, though. They charge $180 per person per day to dig in the fire-opal-rich bank area and $75 to dig in the mine dumps and tailings (piles of rock extracted from the mine).

Cherokee Ruby Mine

What: Rubies (plus sapphires, garnets, and moonstones)
Where: Franklin, North Carolina
Web: www.cherokeerubymine.com

At the Cherokee Ruby Mine, you're provided with a seat cushion and a screen box and shown samples of rough gemstones. Then you proceed to the flume line, where you fill your screen box and begin sluicing. This is a friendly, family-owned operation whose website lists "Mom" on a list of "Our Gems." Awww. Admission is $7 for adults, $4 for children, and shade umbrellas are available to rent for $1.

Emerald Hollow Mine

What: Emeralds
Where: Hiddenite, North Carolina
Web: www.hiddenitegems.com

Emerald Hollow Mine is the only emerald mine in the United States open to public prospecting. You'll sit at one of three sluiceways, where you can pick over buckets taken directly from the mine. It's a chance to find not only emeralds, but also aquamarines, sapphires, garnets, topaz, and amethysts. The $5 admission includes one free bucket. You can purchase additional buckets, and digging and creek prospecting are available at an added cost too.

Gold Prospecting Adventures

What: Gold
Where: Jamestown, California
Web: www.goldprospecting.com

The California Gold Rush may have been 150 years ago, but that's nothing in geological time. At Gold Prospecting Adventures families can belly up to a sluice box (which processes the buckets of gravel more efficiently than an old-fashioned gold pan) and search for flakes of gold. Guides are on hand to help, and while gold nuggets aren't guaranteed, historical nuggets are. The family price for the 3-hour Sluice Box and Pan Adventure is $155 for two adults and three children.

http://www.fodors.com/

BIRTHSTONE OF THE MONTH – PERIDOT

Sunny yellow green peridot pronounced (pear- a- doe) and red brown sardonyx are both ancient gems symbolizing courage for those born in August. The lime green color of transparent peridot has been a long time favorite of women. And the richly-hued opaque sardonyx was a talisman worn by Roman soldiers and is still prized for men’s rings today.

How green? It all depends on the iron

This gemstone has no fewer than three names: 'peridot', 'chrysolite', from the Greek 'gold stone', and 'olivine', for the peridot is the gemstone form of the mineral olivine. In the gemstone trade it is called 'peridot', derived from the Greek word 'peridona', which means something like 'to give richness'.

The peridot is one of the few gemstones which come in one colour only. The rich, green colour with the slight tinge of gold is caused by very fine traces of iron. From a chemical point of view, peridot is an iron magnesium silicate. The intensity of the colour depends on the amount of iron actually present. The colour itself can vary over all shades of yellowish green and olive, and even to a brownish green. Peridot is not particularly hard - only 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale - but it is easy to look after and fairly robust. Peridot cat's eyes and star peridot are particularly rare and precious.

The most beautiful stones come from the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, the peridot as a gemstone also exists in Myanmar, China, the USA, Africa and Australia. Stones from East Burma, now known as Myanmar, have a vivid light green and fine inclusions with a silky shine to them. Peridot from Arizona, where it is popularly used in native American jewellery, often has somewhat yellowish or gold-brown nuances.

-www.gemstone.org

Turquoise Jane Austen ring sells for £150,000 at auction

A gold and turquoise ring belonging to Jane Austen has sold for more than £150,000 at an auction in London – more than five times its estimate.

The ring, which featured a large oval turquoise gemstone, was sold alongside a handwritten letter by her sister-in-law Eleanor Austen bequeathing the rare jewel to her niece Caroline.
The note, dated 1863, confirms the item belonged to the 19th-century British author.
"My dear Caroline," Eleanor wrote. "The enclosed ring once belonged to your Aunt Jane. It was given to me by your Aunt Cassandra as soon as she knew that I was engaged to your uncle. I bequeath it to you. God bless you!"
The rare piece is the latest in a series of the writer's pieces to be sold at auction.
Last year, a handwritten draft of an unpublished Jane Austen book was sold for just over £1 million. It was said to be the earliest surviving manuscript of the author's work.
The sale of Miss Austen's jewellery at more than five times its estimate yesterday appeared to demonstrate that fascination with the Pride and Prejudice writer has yet to wane.
After a tense battle between eight bidders, the item was eventually sold at £152,450 to an anonymous private collector over the phone.
"Jane Austen's simple and modest ring is a wonderfully intimate and evocative possession," said Dr Gabriel Heaton, a manuscript specialist at Sotheby's auction house.
"The price achieved today and the huge level of interest it has generated, is a remarkable testament to the author's enduring appeal and her place at the heart of our literary and cultural heritage."
Other items in the English literature, history, children's books and illustrations sale included early editions of works by William Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte and Geoffrey Chaucer, water colours by Beatrix Potter and letters from Jonathan Swift.
The auction generated more than £1.5 million, with many of the items selling above their estimates.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Ruby.... the red, the passion - July birthstone

The gemstone ruby is the red variety of the mineral Corundum, the second hardest natural mineral to diamond. Ruby is the July birthstone, and the Capricorn Zodiac stone. Ruby has been associated with the values of love, success, integrity, passion, and promise.

All colors of corundum other than red or white are called Sapphire The red color in ruby is caused by trace amounts of the element chromium. The best shade of red for ruby is often given the name "pigeon blood red", but ruby can be any shade of red up to almost pink.


The Hixon Ruby Crystal is a 196.10-carat gem that was donated to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles in 1978 by Frederick C. Hixon. It is considered to be one of the most perfect large ruby crystals in the world.


Known variously as the Alan Caplan Ruby or the Mogok Ruby, this 15.97-carat untreated Burmese stone was sold by Sotheby's of New York in October 18th, 1988 for $3,630,000; a whopping $227,301 per carat. It was purchased by Graff of London, who reportedly sold it to the Sultan of Brunei as an engagement ring for one of his wives.



Weighing 138.7 carats, the Rosser Reeves Ruby is one of the world's largest and finest star rubies. This Sri Lankan stone is renowned for its great color and well-defined star pattern. Advertising mogul Rosser Reeves, who donated the piece to the Smithsonian in 1965, carried it around as a lucky stone, referring to it as his baby. He often stated that he had acquired the stone at an auction in Istanbul in the mid-1950s. He actually bought the stone from Robert C. Nelson Jr. of New York who was acting on behalf of Firestone & Parson of Boston. Firestone & Parson were selling the stone for Mr. Paul Fisher of New York. Mr. Robert Fisher, Paul's father, had bought the ruby at an auction in London in 1953. At the time the ruby then weighed just over 140 carats, but was very heavily scratched, and a few carats were removed in the repolishing. The repolishing also helped to center the stone's star. Articles in the New York World-Telegram and The Sun in 1953 mentioned this fabulous gemstone.


www.famousdiamonds.com

India Proposes Import Duty on Polished Colored Gems

India's Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, on Friday proposed to impose customs duty of 2 percent on cut and polished colored gemstones in order to prevent round-tripping, bringing the duty on par with diamonds. He also proposed increasing the basic customs duty on imports of gold and other precious metals.

The industry was disappointed with the proposals announced by Mukherjee in Parliament while presenting the Union Budget for the fiscal year starting April 1, 2012.

Mahavir Lodha, the chief executive for Mumbai Wholesale Gold Jewellers Association, said, "The budget is disappointing and these taxes will hurt the consumer demand.”

The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) stated that in a ''politically safe'' budget, the finance minister has announced one-sided measures to control the FOREX reserves of the country by making gold, colored stones and gems more expensive for the consumer. The council explained that one driver behind the current account deficit is due to surging imports of gold and other precious metals in the first three quarters of this fiscal-year. With the announcement of additional duties, the government aims to limit the imports of gold and colored gemstones, GJEPC added.

India’s colored gemstones import surged to $255.02 million during April 2011-February 2012 from $111.3 million one year ago, according to GJEPC’s provisional data. The country exported colored gemstones worth $309 million during the period, up 14 percent year on year, the data showed.

Mukherjee proposed to increase customs duty --on standard gold bars, gold coins of purity exceeding 99.5 percent and platinum-- from 2 percent to 4 percent and on non-standard gold from 5 percent to 10 percent.

“Our demand for the turnover tax has not been considered and the existing uncompetitive tax environment is driving investments away from India,” commented Rajiv Jain, GJEPC’s chairman. “Additionally, the measure of increase from 2 percent to 4 percent duty announced will lead to corrupt state of affairs due to greater probabilities of trafficking of gold into the country through illegal channels”.

During the first 11 months of the 2011-2012 fiscal year, India’s gold bar imports rose 44 percent year on year to $10.05 billion, while platinum imports declined to $7 million from $29.3 million a year earlier, GJEPC data showed.

Mukherjee said that basic duty on gold ore, concentrate and ore bars for refining is also being enhanced from 1 percent to 2 percent, while the excise duty, a type of tax charged on goods produced locally, on refined gold is being increased from 1.5 percent to 3 percent.

The government also proposed to extend the levy of excise duty of 1 percent on branded precious metal jewelry to include unbranded jewelry. However, to simplify its operation and minimize the impact on small artisans and goldsmiths, Mukherjee said that this duty will be charged on tariff value equal to 30 percent of the transaction value.

In addition, he proposed to extend small-scale exemptions up to annual turnover not exceeding $300,963 (INR 15 million) for units having a turnover below $802,568 (INR 40 million) in the previous year and to compute turnover on the basis of tariff value. He placed the onus of registration and payment on the person who manufactures the jewelry.

Jain said that the interest in buying gold jewelry and gold bars will also fall if consumers have to pay more duty.

Mukherjee said that branded silver jewelry will be fully exempt from excise duty, which the industry saw as the only exemption that benefits consumers.

-Rapaport

Photo Credit: © Imagemore Co., Ltd./Corbis