Its clear colour and cool transparency occasionally enhanced by green shimmers evoke the blue of glaciers and clear-running water. Aquamarines belong to the beryl family, which includes the emerald as well. Beryl measures 8 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness and neither cracks nor chips away easily, therefore making it one nature’s toughest precious stones. Many aquamarines come from Brazil, where they are found in pegmatite, a coarsely crystalline type of granite, and in alluvial deposits. Aquamarine is also mined in the Ural Mountains of Russia, as well as in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nigeria and Madagascar.
Purity, brilliance, transparency; the diamond has it all. Nature’s masterpiece, this purebred is also a pure carbon… a carbon forged by the fiery depths of Earth itself. The term “diamond” stems from the Greek word “adamas” or “adamant” in reference to its “untameable” hardness. 140 times harder than the ruby and the sapphire, the diamond can be cut only… by diamond powder! The 57 or 58-faceted brilliant cut is the most widespread one.
Cut and polished diamonds are graded according to 4 criteria, or the 4 C’s: Colour, Clarity, Cut and Carat. These criteria follow international norms and allow for great precision in classifying each gemstone.
Diamonds exist in every colour: yellow, pink, blue, brown, black, red, and green (rare). Coloured diamonds with pronounced hues (pink, blue, purple, yellow, brown…) are referred to as “fancy diamonds” or “fancies”. Certain “fancy diamonds” are legendary, as is the case of the Hope Diamond (a 44.50-carat blue diamond), the Tiffany Yellow Diamond (a 128.51-carat, daffodil-yellow diamond) and the Dresden Green Diamond (a 128.51-carat, rare green diamond).
The emerald is the aristocrat of the beryl group; a family of stones which includes aquamarines as well. Its colour ranges from light to dark green, with occasional yellowish-green hues. Rarely perfectly clear, the emerald is clouded by inclusions. These inclusions are referred to as “gardens”. Although the most stunning emeralds come from Columbia, they are also native to Australia, South Africa, Brazil, India, Pakistan, Austria, Norway and the United-States.
To most of us, the word garnet evokes a bright to dark red gemstone. This type of garnet however, is only one member of the rich and varied garnet family… The term “garnet” officially designates an entire family of silicates, which depending on variety, range in colour from palest to deepest reds, oranges, pinks, yellows, and greens, and from colourless to chestnut brown. When used alone however, the term “garnet” refers to the red-coloured variety of the gemstone. All other garnets are identified by either specific names or the term “garnet” followed by a colour indication.
Garnets belong to the silicate family. Their wide colour range depends on their chemical composition. The chameleon like "Vanadium" garnet owes its colour variations to the presence of vanadium ions. Daylight renders it beige and artificial light a beautiful pink.
Gold is highly malleable in its natural state and must be reinforced prior to jewellery-making. Gold is alloyed, or rather mixed with other metals (usually fine silver, copper, nickel, zinc…), to make it harder. The quantity of gold in such alloys remains constant, while that of other metals varies according to colour of gold desired; yellow gold, pink, red, white, grey… French-fabricated fine jewellery is traditionally 18-kt and contains 75% of fine gold and 25% of other metals. Gold content is measured with a three-digit number that indicates the parts per thousand of gold. In this system, “750” means 750/1000 gold (equal to 18K); “500” means 500/1000 gold (equal to 12K). In France, 18-kt gold is guaranteed by the presence of an official “eagle-headed” state hallmark.
Gold comes in a great and subtle variety of shades ranging from bright white to grey, according to alloys used. The use of platinum, palladium, silver, and zinc “whitens” naturally yellow gold. Alloys are the result of complex, and often patented compositions. Finishes can also provide the subtle differences between various shades of white or grey gold; for example, rhodium when added renders gold a brighter white. White or grey, gold is the perfect match to diamonds, coloured gemstones, and Tahitian pearls…
White gold 750 whose pale golden overtones evoke the color of champagne. This delicate shade occurs in non rhodium plated gold (rhodium plating gives white gold its cool platinum like finish). A delicate intermediate color, combining the visual qualities of white and yellow gold, it characterises a number of Daniela Baumgartner’s creations. Particularly flattering to the lustre of cultured pearls and coloured gems.
Cultivated mainly in the lagoons of the Tuamotu Archipelago (including Mangareva, also known as the Gambier Islands), the farming of Tahitian pearls can officially be traced back to the 1960’s. Their natural colour ranges from subtle body shades of pearly white to grey, to lustrous bronze or velvety near-black hues shimmering with aubergine to blue and peacock-green overtones. Their diameter can swell out to 18 millimetres: an extraordinary size for cultured pearls. The black pearls are produced by the large, black-lipped pearl oyster of the genus Pinctada , the Pinctada margaritifera (also called the Tahitian black pearl oyster); a giant pearl-oyster flourishing in Polynesian lagoons.
Golden pearls owe their golden overtones to nature itself. Unlike other categories of coloured cultured pearl, a genuine golden pearl undergoes no treatment: its natural beauty remains unaltered.
The ruby is a variety of corundum; a family to which the sapphire belongs to as well. The ruby’s name refers to its glowing red colour; “ruby” stemming from the Latin word “rubeus”; meaning red. Rubies span the entire range of reds, from palest to deepest red, depending on chromium and iron content. The most beautiful of rubies are found in Myanmar (Burma) but are also mined in Thailand, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Vietnam, India, Russia, United States, Australia and Norway.
Like the ruby, the sapphire is a variety of corundum. Apart from the blue sapphire whose tone and intensity depend on origin, sapphires span an impressive range of colours; colourless, pink, orange, yellow, violet, and black. The term “sapphire” designates all fine quality corundum except… the red ones (rubies). Sapphires come from Australia, Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Thailand, Brazil, the United States and Africa.
The term “coloured sapphires” defines all precious stones of the corundum family apart from the best-known corundum of all: the blue (sapphire) and the red (ruby). A jeweller identifies such gemstones not only as “sapphires” but specifies their colour as well: yellow sapphire, pink sapphire, and so on… Basically, all coloured sapphires are aluminium oxides and only the presence of other trace metals varies their colour.
Sapphires, and rubies, are both 9 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness, and are second in hardness only to the diamond.
Up to the very end of the 19th century, this sapphire is referred to as the “oriental topaz”. Yellow sapphires of great size do exist: a 396-carat, raw gemstone called the “Australian Sun” was extracted from the Anakie deposits of Australia in 1976. Yellow sapphires originating from Australia are a most often a greenish-yellow, much akin to sapphires from Thailand. On the other hand, yellow sapphires from Sri-Lanka (Ceylon), West Africa or Montana are a pure yellow. The brilliant cut is generally applied to yellow sapphires.
The pink sapphire owes its rosy colour to minute traces of chromium. In greater quantities, chromium imparts the glowing red colour to the ruby… Traces of iron, on the other hand, produce a rare pink-orange variety of sapphire aptly named « Padparadschah », meaning “lotus flower” in Singhalese. Traces of iron and titanium produce violet-coloured gemstones. Pink sapphires originate from Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Myanmar (Burma), and Western Africa and vary in colour from very pale to almost reddish-pinks. The most frequent cuts used on the pink sapphire are the brilliant, the oval, the cushion, and the pear-shaped.
This precious gemstone belongs to the topaz family and comes in colours varying from clear to pink, yellow, blue and green. Eight on the Mohs Scale of Hardness, topaz is found in Brazil, in the United States, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Myanmar (Burma), Australia, Africa, and Mexico. Yellow topaz itself is mined in the former Soviet Union…
Yellow to brownish yellow topaz, also referred to as “honey topaz”, is one of the most valued topaz varieties. It owes its colour to the substitution of aluminium within its crystalline structure by iron, chromium and so on…Topaz is mined notably in Brazil and Siberia.
Tourmaline probably has the greatest colour range of any gemstone. Pink, bright red, and deep green are the best known of its colours. Tourmalines also exist in other colours: yellow, brown, blue, black, and violet… as well as colourless and even multi-coloured ones (such as “watermelon” tourmaline which is both pink and green). Tourmaline is found in pegmatite, a coarsely crystalline types of granite, and in alluvial deposits. Although tourmaline mainly comes from Brazil, it also comes from Madagascar and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) as well.
The word opal stems from the “Sanskrit” « upala », meaning "precious stone », and is popularly believed to preserve and promote luck. Opals exist in many varieties and colours: the noble opal with its coloured flames upon a translucent or creamy white background; the black opal with its coloured flames upon a dark background, the orange fire opal and the cacholong or « white porcelain » opal. Opals are widespread, naturally occurring in volcanically active regions, close to hot sources and geysers rich in silica. Opals can be shaped into beads and cabochons and the translucent fire opal faceted.
Rose quartz owes its soft rose colour to the presence of titanium. A naturally clouded stone with soft creamy overtones. The most valued quartz comes from Brazil. Rose quartz is also found in Madagascar, Namibia, Japan, Germany or the USA. Certain specimen are exceptional, weighing several hundred tons. Most often shaped into cabochons or beads, rose quartz is rarely faceted.