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One of the most beautiful blue gemstones is native to our own country. In 1906, a prospector found what he thought were sapphire crystals in the Diablo Mountain range of San Benito County, California. A year later, mineralogist, G. D. Louderback, identified them as a new mineral which he named benitoite.... (2003) Complete Story
The varieties of beryl found worldwide include one of the most prized and one of the lesser valued of gemstones. The now exhausted mines south of Koseir in Egypt provided Cleopatra with precious emeralds, including, reportedly, one engraved with her portrait. Goshen, Massachusetts is a source of the little known and relatively inexpensive namesake, the colorless 'white' or 'lucid' beryl called goshenite. Aquamarine, heliodor, morganite, and the color designated varieties of beryl, that include yellow, golden, yellow-green, green, and red beryl (bixbite) compose the other members of this group. .... (1999) Complete Story
Aquamarine was the talisman of the sailor for centuries, its colors resemble those of the sea and it has a delicate watery appearance that perfectly suits its name. It is the blue-green to green-blue variety of beryl. It ranges from an icy pale blue to a medium dark blue color. Although, even in the darkest shades, its color is always a pastel blue with varying amounts of green as a secondary color. Aquamarine can be found in fairly large sizes. Light colors can be low in price but more saturated blues can be moderate to expensive.... (1999) Complete Story
Sapphire blue tourmaline! Such stones are very rare. The search for such a stone is like the pursuit of the Holy Grail.
Historically, two Brazilian mines, the Manoel Mutuca in Arauai and the Golconda Mine northwest of the city of Govenador Valadares, are the source of the fabled "sapphire blue" indicolite. The best of these stones have an intense blue primary hue and a turquoise secondary hue, and are known as Mutuca Blue. Stones of this quality are extremely rare. Indicolite is found sporadically throughout the entire region of Minas Gerais.... (2006) Complete Story
The history of Burma’s jade mines in the West is a brief one. While hundreds of different reports, articles and even books exist on the famous ruby deposits of Mogok, only a handful of westerners have ever made the journey to northern Burma’s remote jade mines and wrote down their findings.Occidental accounts of the mines make their first appearance in 1837.... (1997) Complete Story
