April’s Birthstone is Diamond May’s is Emerald June’s Birthstone is Alexandrite
 |
One hundred years ago in 1912, on a hot August day in Kansas City, the meeting of the National Association of Jewelers were to decide upon the modern pantheon of birthstones; who was in and who was out. The following were the birthstones they decided upon for April May and June. |
|
Birthstone for April - Diamond
Diamond is the gem birthstone of April. Some believe that Alexander the Great was first to bring back diamonds from the East after his travels into Asia, but there are no records of diamonds being cut in Europe until the thirteenth century. In truth, it is extremely doubtful that the Israelite slaves at the time of the Exodus had access to diamonds. Diamonds are the toughest mineral known to man, used on oil well drill bits and windows in spacecraft. Diamonds have the best luster of all gems called adamantine. Diamonds can boast the greatest thermal conductivity of any mineral: if you hold a diamond in the hand it feels cold hence its moniker of Ice. Diamonds are mined from Volcanic phenomena called Kimberlitic pipes, which are the long extinct channels of once active volcanoes forced up to the surface, revealing metamorphic rocks containing dormant diamond cargoes dating back millions of years. Diamonds are famous for being colourless, but rarer and more valuable diamonds are natural pink diamond, natural yellow diamond, natural blue diamond and natural green diamonds. Other diamonds gaining much popularity are Champagne diamonds, Tan Diamonds and Cognac diamonds.
Birthstone for May - Emerald
Emerald is the gem birthstone of May. Emerald was known to the ancients as ‘Smargados.’ Emerald could well be the ‘Bareketh’ or ‘Shoham’ gemstones of the breastplate of Jerusalem’s first breastplate. Emerald, like Aquamarine, Morganite, Heliodor and Goshenite are members of the Beryl family. Emeralds get their famous coloration from chromium and iron, and these impurities give rise to the prerequisite inclusions within emeralds for which the gems are famous. The ‘Jardinage’ inclusions within Emerald are named from a French word used to describe foliage, but far from being considered a fault, an emerald would not be considered a natural emerald ‘without’ its foliage! Emeralds have always been oiled to improve their luster, this is not considered a flaw, and it is simply considered as an enhancement of an Emerald’s natural qualities. Emeralds are sourced from around the world with Columbia producing fine deep-green emeralds of excellent transparency. Brazil and Pakistan are other notable sources of fine emeralds.
Birthstone for June - Alexandrite
Alexandrite, alongside pearl, is one of the gem birthstones for June and is a newcomer to the birthstone collection. Alexandrite was first sourced from Russia’s Ural Mountains at the turn of the last century. Alexandrite was named after a member of the Russian royal family, and became a favourite with high society throughout the world. Alexandrite is famed for its colour change; in fact that is the pre-requisite of an Alexandrite. Alexandrite must change from green hues in daylight to red hues in incandescent or candle light. Alexandrite is a gem variety of the mineral known as Chrysoberyl, which is sourced from Brazil, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Tanzania and India. Alexandrite scores an excellent 8.5 on the Moh’s scale of hardness, coming just after Diamond Ruby and Sapphire. Alexandrite is classified as a GIA type 2 gem, meaning that Alexandrite is usually eye clean. Under a x10 loupe magnification, minor inclusions are visible, this is to be expected as the norm with many gem types but is a very rare quality amongst the already rare colour change category of gemstones.
Birthstones June July August
|
Continue 
