BIG3

Chances are, you are passionate about gems. Vivid green of emerald, fiery crimson ruby, shimmering glow of pearls and other elegant gems probably attracted you.

Colour Stone, any gem other than Diamond.

For centuries, artist and poets have used the powerful images of coloured stones to express love, passion and power. At the same time people from all walks of life have adorned themselves with the dramatic, radiant grace of coloured stones jewelry.

Coloured stones world is very enormous. There are no particular organisation to regulate the coloured stone prices where the entire diamond prices are controlled by De Beers.

The world of coloured stones has a BIG 3 of its own, which is Emerald, Ruby and Sapphire. Like a great music these three stones can inspire the heart and soul. Like great art they can dazzle the mind and the eye.

EMERALD :

Indian name : PANNA

Famous for its distinctive green colour. The first known emeralds emerged from the mines of ancient Egypt; estimated about 330 BC.

Emeralds from Cleopatra mines (Egypt) were adorned the elite of ancient civilizations and were also credited with magical power.

Some people believed its green colour represented fertility and rebirth. Others believe to see the future by holding an emerald under the tongue. Some believe wearing an emerald would strengthen your memory, make you more eloquent, help you avoid evil spells.

The history of emeralds became deadly serious in the sixteenth century. Spanish conquistadors. Rampaging through South America, discovered the Chivor and Muzo mines in Colombia. They looted thousands of emeralds and then enslaved the natives. They put the slaves to work mining Muzo and other mines in western Colombia.

Muzo, (Colombia) is the largest emerald mine in the world. Other sources of emerald are Brazil, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Madagascar.

Surprisingly, Indian cutters made their reputation as master shapers of emerald rough.

The most prized emerald hues are green to bluish green. Value of emerald contributed to its tone. An emerald's value is lower if it is too dark in hue, even if it has high saturation.

Not surprisingly, the best collection of major emerald crystals is in the same country where the best emerald comes from - Colombia. Display emeralds ranging from about 200cts to 1.796 cts in weight.


RUBY :

Indian name : CHUNI

It's very probable that humans discovered rubies about 300 BC from the famous Mogok mining area of Burma. ( now the Union of Myanmar)

Do you know, where are the world's major source of ruby?

The world's most prized, fine quality rubies are Burmese. Beside Madagascar is another largest source of ruby. Srilanka, Thiland, Cambodia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Kenya, Tanzania are other source places of Ruby.

Ruby hues range starts from orangey red to purplish red. The finest ruby has pure vibrant red to slightly purplish red hue. Orangey or more purplish rubies are less valuable.

Ruby is the first precious gem to be synthesized. Rubies have see-through inclusions. These inclusions often provide the only way to tell whether a ruby is natural or synthetic.

Today, synthetic rubies pose one of the most difficult challenges to gemologists to telling them from natural rubies.


SAPPHIRE :

Indian name : POKHRAJ

Sapphire comes in blue. And also in variety of other rainbow colors.

About 2000 years back, It's possible that the first sapphire to appear in ancient Rome came from Srilanka by way of a trade route through India.

It is interesting to know that the sapphire and ruby both belong to the same gem family , expect for the impurity elements that cause colour. When the word sapphire stands alone, it usually means the stone is blue in colour. But interestingly sapphire comes in wide range of colours. They include violet, green, yellow, orange, pink and purple. They designated by colour, as in "yellow sapphire", "pink sapphire" "green sapphire"

People took sapphire as an antidote for poison and poisonous bites. They believe the stone could clear the mind and skin and cure fevers. They even enlisted it in their fight against the plague.

The most famous historical source of sapphire is from the Kashmir region, India. They are intense, medium dark blue, with a unique velvety appearance. The colour is called "cornflower" because it resembles the almost fluorescent blue petals of that flower.

"Padparadscha" pink-orange to pinkish orange sapphire very rarely found in Sri Lanka.

Beside Sri lanka the major sapphire sources are Madagascar, Eastern Africa, Australia and Thailand.

The most valuable blue sapphire colours are velvety, violetish blue to blue with medium dark tone.

Picture & Information: My study books from GIA