ALL ABOUT MOONSTONE JEWELLERY Moonstone is the opalescent variety of orthoclase. Traditionally thought to be a good luck stone and linked to romantic passion, it was often offered as a gift between lovers. Moonstone  can be transparent with a stong blue hue on the surface, or it can be milky with the appearance of inner light . It can have a striking cats eye or star effect.The h..

  All about the Amethyst Gemstone    Amethyst is known to be a purple variety of the mineral quartz and is often used to make beautiful amethyst jewellery including necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings. The name amethyst  comes from the Ancient Greek where it meant “not intoxicated”. This stemmed from the belief that the stone would protect the ..

The Complete  Guide to Vintage and Antique Bracelet Styles.  Check out our illustrated
guide to help you identify the different type of bracelets.

What is a Festoon, Riviere, Sautoir, or Lavalier necklace? Check out our illustrated guide to help you identify the different types of necklaces.   1) LAVALIER NECKLACE    A lavalier is a chain type necklace that ends in one large size pendant or tassel. Sometimes there may be additional smaller pendants dangling from the main stone. In the 1600's the lavalier got its name..

  Cartier The idea for the clip pin apparently came to Louis Cartier, the french jeweller while watching a peasant women hanging up her washing with wooden clothes pegs. This then evolved into a variet of clip types inlcuding the double  clip - this was two fur clips that could be worn seperately or worn together attached to a frame. Coro and the Duette clip Cartier ..

TYPES OF CHALCEDONY BLUE CHALCEDONY - This is a very attractive  stone with different hues ranging from lilac to periwinkle blue to lavender. The great increase in the popularity of blue chalcedony over  recent years has pushed its price up and good quality strong blue material can be  moderately expensive. CARNELIAN - Carnelian has been a popular stone for man..

TYPES OF BERYL The beryl species has a great mix of gemstones which are all viewed as precious gems. They include the following: EMERALD - The colour of emerald varies  according to its source and location in the world.The most prized colour is a strong slightly blueish - green.Colombian emeralds are pure green with a slight hint of blue.They are dichroic which mea..

  About Beryl Gemstones One of the most glamorous gems in the beryl species is emerald. In addition to emerald the species also includes aquamarine, morganite and helidor.They are all precious gems and are very popular with jewellery designers.The main feature that determines value of these gems is the intensity of the colour Sources of Beryl Emerald - Best sources are ..

  What is Labradorite? Labradorite is part of the feldspar mineral group. The feldspargroup has two different varieties,the orthoclase (alkali) ​feldspars,which include amazonite,orthoclase and moonstone, and the plagioclase feldspars. The  plagioclase feldspars include labradorite and aventurine feldspar. Labradorite is a colourful and intere..

OPAL - QUALITIES OF OPALS AND SOURCES The different colours that can be seen on an opal stem from the diffraction of light from very small silica spheres within the gemstone. This is the reason the colours change when opal is looked at from different directions.Larger and more ordered silica spheres within the stone  result in a greater range and intensity of colour. This colour p..