I love when I’m wearing my favorite necklace and someone comments, “That’s a pretty amethyst.” Then I take it off and show them it’s actually a bicolor sapphire that just looks purple. Makes me smile every time.
Nice list. Zircon really is underrated. I have an antique engagement ring that is almost 200 years old. Belonged to my grandmother. When she died, my father discovered someone had pried the diamond out. He gave me the ring. It had beautiful scrollwork. I am a December baby, so he had a blue zircon set in it for me. I still have it. After all these years it is still beautiful.
I like that you are bringing coloured gemstones to the fore👍👏. I have worn an Australian teal blue sapphire as my engagement ring for 49years, love how they are becoming very popular in their own right. I have a Malawi rhodolite garnet ring that is more often than not, mistaken for a ruby. Also have a colour change lavender blue spinel from Vietnam, which never ceases to amaze me, it’s like having two rings in one. I have the most gorgeous seafoam blue zircon from Cambodia, along with a honey red zircon. All these gemstones are 2cts or more and absolutely beautiful, and didn’t break the bank. Diamonds play second fiddle to the main event which are the stones mentioned above, never bought into all the propaganda hype over diamonds, nothing rare about them at all. Now with these semi precious gems, each one is unique.
I've known about Paraíba Tourmaline for many years but never imagined ever seeing one. Then one day I walked into one of my favourite jewellery shops and there it was, almost hidden in a corner of a display case. it came home with me.
Tourmaline is the secondary birthstone for October. When my daughter was deployed to Afghanistan she bought some stones for me. One was a flawless 4ct dark green (think blue spruce) tourmaline.
Now some months have secondary birthstones. I think it has to do with people not interested in the originals. I worked at Macy’s in the bridge jewelry dept. we would have special sales on birthstones. I remember pearls didn’t sell much even the colored ones.
I LOVE the Zircon! When my husband asked me to marry him I designed the engagement and wedding rings. I used a London Blue Topaz for the center stove and flanked it on either side with a diamond cut colorless Zircon giving it a traditional 3 stone look. I used 2 ropes intertwine for the my bands. For hubs I designed a Sailboat face flanked by anchors and an inlay of 2 ropes intertwined. Yes (if you're wondering) I was in jewelry sales in the past and wanted something totally different from what I used to sell. Don't forget that Zircon does come in other yummy colors like sunset, red, brown to name a few. It's my favorite natural alternative gemstone to diamonds.
I really think smokey quartz is underrated. I understand why, most people don't find brown a very appealing colour in a gemstone, but in just the right shade, in a piece of yellow or red gold jewelry, it's absolutely beautiful.
Agree! There are stunning modernist pieces in Scandinavia, often silver statement pieces to die for. I made my mum a collier of smoky quarts cubes and softly oval sweet water pearls in subtle shades of brown to gold and purples, and she gets compliments left and right whwn ahe wears it. Also a lovely stone for cufflinks for him. Also with rutile inclusions. A gemstone for elegant minemalists and fans of single statements. Oh and brunettes! ❤️
years ago, i bought from a japanese dealer some smoky quartz beads. they have the BEST fire, hints of amethyst. the right smoky quartz can be really beautiful!
I think the beryls are my favorite gem family. They’re versatile! You have goshenite, emerald, bixbite, morganite, all sorts! Goshenite was used in some of the first eyeglasses! I adore this gem family
I CLEANED MY PEACH COLORED MORGANIT RING WITH WINDEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STIPUD! STUPID! STUPID! NOW ITS SKY BLUE PINK IN COLOR. STUPID! STUPID! STUPID me!
One story I love is the Black Star of Queensland (the largest Star sapphire known)- because at the time they didn’t realize sapphires came in black- spent a few years as a doorstop.
I have always wanted a pink sapphire ring, but now that I’ve learned that garnet (my own birthstone) can be found in pink, I may have a change of heart. Thank you for this video.
The tsavorite garnet is really pretty! My favorite stone hasn't changed though, alexandrite is still my favorite, some people think it's ugly because it can look muddy under certain lighting but to me those natural, imperfect alexandrite stones are the most beautiful.
Thank you for Zircon. I use Zircon in place of pricey diamonds! Love the colors, too. Some aqua blue/green Zircon goes so well with Aquamarines which I am working with now. And thank you for introducing other lesser known beautiful gemstones to us.
I totally agree with you. I have a special love for demantiod green garnets, spinels and some of the more silky stones. Knowledge really pays in this field of joy. Thank you.
As a long time rockhound and gem enthusiast I am familiar with all of these. I love the corundum group for it's colors and durability -especially the star stones. I would love to have a watermelon tourmaline necklace. Gems with more than one color in them are magical to me.
Zircon is my hands down favorite. I have about 30 of them in my collection from "white" to red, deep green, champagne, yellow, blue. They have such amazing fire, and they are heavier than most other stones.
The Tudors new what they had in those days. I found out in most cases the darker & size f stone is the most expensive. I like the London Blue Topaz, Tanzanite and dark pink Tourmaline and dark greens.
My engagement ring has a big spessartine garnet on it - specifically for its orange vibrant color. I hesitated a long time with orange sapphire but couldn't find a ring I liked enough - and fell in love with the spessartine 😍
I don't go for diamonds if I won the lottery I would buy a two and a half carat peachy-pink non-heated non-treated Sri Lankan Padparadscha sapphire. Stunning...
Incredibly feminine, soft and warm gemstone. I’m personally a sucker for star safires and star ruby cabuchons. Doesn’t need elaborate design, simpler is better and good specimens never lean toward tacky. So much of the midern diamond industry (and fakes) is just tasteless tese days, not the stones but the way they are used, set, etc.
I pretty much nailed it. Tourmalines? Check... Spinel and garnet? Check and check. I was happy you started with Zirconia for all the reasons you stated. I've read that cubic zirconia is actually a lab stimulant of natural zircon, thus the name, even though it's marketed as a diamond simulant. I was surprised you included sapphires, but I agree that the variety of colors and bi-colors are largely unknown. Great list of amazing natural gemstones that should be more popular. Sub'd.
Oh, I thoroughly enjoyed this video, especially that I was watching in anticipation of which 5 stones you would mention....and I have all 5 in my rings collection . Brilliant channel by the way, you should have far more subscribers. Thank you for your knowledge and enthusiasm.
I love this! I wish I would have found this channel sooner! So nice to see others are interested in learning and appreciating these gems! Garnet and tourmaline have always been favorites!
thas exactly what i tought right from the begining. i would also question the choice of the music. with jewelery i would asociate more calm and elegant tunes. it is an informative video though.
These are all my favorites! I want a zircon, sapphire, tourmaline, garnet, and spinel in every color. I am on my way to having that in my collection. Honestly I don't think I could choose.
Right now I'm watching the video in mute. Since I'm in the sitting room and guys are watching TV😅 Let me tell you a funny story of mine. I grew up in the Philippines in a remote area where no electricity, running water. Where everyone is poor that the school don't even have a school ID 😅 and growing up I only knew Gold, Diamond and Pearl 😅 So my family moved to a bigger town. And entering high school 1st yearn high school and theirs 11 sections for freshmen and all those sections were indetify as precious and semi precious stones. And I was shocked and felt so stupid 🤣 So, my class section is called Topaz. And I told my self if ever I get married I'll ask for a Topaz as my engagement ring. And yes 11 years later I got engaged with Topaz stone . My husband suggested other stone. Tanzanite is one of the stone he suggested and Tsavorite since his Kenyan. But I declined and stick to my blue Topaz🤩 And now been married for almost 11 years🤩
Sapphires come in any color but RED. Why? It's then a ruby. Same base mineral, but there's one mineral compound that makes it a ruby. I learned this in 8th grade chemistry class, and it made me want to be a gemologist/jewelry designer. I also can tell the difference between a blue topaz and an aquamarine, and between a garnet (my birthstone) and a ruby.
The endless localities, colors and sizes of tourmaline has made it my absolute favorite! While I greatly love the entire color range of corundum nothing beats tourmaline and it’s fascinating pleochroism
Nice video. That watermelon tourmaline pendant is beautiful. My birthstone is garnet. I didn't know it was available in different colors. A recent one I have fallen in love with is lapis lazuli. The history, and third eye chakra energy is fascinating. As a boy in school, King Tut also fascinated me. It's used in his death mask, falcon pectoral, vulture. Cleopatra even crushed it for eyeshadow. It was more valuable than gold.
And crushed lapis lazuli was used in Europe for the oilpaint reserved only to the Madonnas robes back in the day. Strict legislation on these, the most expensive color for more than centuries, actually thousands of years. I’ve an Egyptian silver choker with a stylized lapis eye pendant I love, gifted to me many years ago.
@@gnarbeljo8980 Thanks for the info. That eye pendant I'm sure, is beautiful. Seems like lapis is a very underrated stone given it's long standing history and striking beauty.
I just discovered your channel and love it, they way you demystify gems is wonderful. I'm going to look over all the videos and see if you've done one on Hematite. Thank you for sharing this wealth of knowledge.
Tourmaline is certainly very unique and attractive. It really stands out. I didn't know about zircon being the most shiny. I wish the diamond fad ends and people are more interested in the more beautiful, unique and rare stones.
I love all of the stones you have mentioned. I am currently wearing a 2ct brilliant cut blue zircon solitare. I am a sucker for turkish diaspore and sphalerite too. I do love my danburites too .
I have a 2 carat canary sapphire on a yellow gold band flanked by diamond baguettes for my engagement ring. It’s an eye catcher. Very unique and showy. Love me some sapphires.
My favorites gemstones are all of the ones that play with light, regardless of rarity or price. These would be Labradorite, moonstone, opal, fire agate, sunstone, rainbow obsidian and fire obsidian, iris quartz, alexandrite, and color changing corundum. Anything with asterisms are pretty cool and I have recently had a fascination with optical spar as you can use it to navigate and I feel it might be useful when I go foraging in the Adirondack woods.
Big fan of the "fancy" sapphires, especially purple or violet sapphire. If you hold up one next to an amethyst, you can see the difference. The purple sapphire has more sparkle. Chrome tourmaline can match top quality emerald or tsavorite for vibrancy of the green color with better clarity (especially compared to emerald) at a lower price. Cobalt neon blue spinel, sigh..., I want one, that is all I'm going to say.
I just got a beautiful colorless zircon ring . It is sparkly too! I collect rocks. Nd minerals so I knew about the stones he mentioned. I like to see him feature the many colors of beryl and . Andalusite is a fabulous gem also. So many natural gems that aren’t thought about.
Since when did the mines run dry? A man found a 3 million dollar chunk in the last year. Just because there’s been a shift away from TanzaniteOne doesn’t mean people still aren’t mining…
The huge red stone in the Imperial State Crown of England is a spinel. Spinels are also in the Crown Jewels of Russia. Also, garnets are very popular in jewelry in Russia.
I love tsavorite garnet so much. It's fascinating to think about how small chemical changes can cause a DRASTIC color change. I'm SO glad that yt put you on my recommended page!
My favorites at the moment are Bixbite and Alexandrite. I've been wearing my new 5 1/2 ct Bixbite on my hand since I got it, it's such an amazing color that I haven't swapped out. I keep an Alexandrite around my neck to prove to my kids when I can't see, if it's blue, I'm blind, lol ♥
i like the tourmaline that shows its pleochroism, I have a ratty blue to navy tourmaline, that will reflect back yellow and green fire depending on angle of light. I have 2 Namibian color change garnet-red to blue. The only way there is any blue in garnet, only in this single location, color change garnet shows blue.
I started off my jewellery career in a high end jewellers, i saw columbian emeralds and flawless D coloured diamonds... my favourite gemstone is agate, i find all the different varients of agate fascinating especially when you get varients such as moss agate which can look like a mini piece of art 😍
Agates are definitely underrated, Personally, I really like some of the plume agates, especially those showing a good contrast with richly coloured inclusions in otherwise highly translucent material.
Saphhires and tourmaline are my favorite gems. Indicolite, in particular, has gotten really hard to come by and it's insanely expensive when you do find it.
Being a member of a forum specialized I precious stones and metals, it always made my mind that good precious metal and hardness is my thing, there are lovely garnets, sapphires and so on, but I hate to take off my jewelry to take a shower or do the dishes.
My husband and I, chose custom star saphire rings as our wedding rings. I love them! I also just bought a lovely 1 carat yellow sapphire, clean and a beautiful cut. It sparkles so beautifully.
Thank you for a wonderful video! Allow me to add a few remarks: Padparadsha sapphire is one of the exquisite gems,and, of course,Demantoid Garnet is The Most expensive stone together with Alexandrite! 😊
OMG! ... My two favorite stones! But in reverse order...Demantoid being first...Real vintage demantoid. I used to work with a lady who came in with a 4 carat, emerald-cut stone as a pendant, and it was mesmerizing, like looking into the heart of a forest! I asked her what it was, she didn't know, but it was a gift from her grandmother. I asked if her grandmother was Russian, & she said yes. I told, "If that stone is what I think it is, you should have it appraised & insured. You have a small fortune around your neck"... It was a unique experience.
I have blue sapphire and star sapphire. I wanted to buy watermelon tourmaline or paraiba tourmaline. I am really obsessed with gemstones and im glad i subscribe to your video, i learned a lot.
I'm glad to see zircon getting some well deserved appreciation here, i have a particular fondness for them and have collected more than I'll probably ever get around to cutting, cat's eye and star zircons are my favourites, however, the propensity of cutters to facet zircons over cabbing them seems to reduce the availability of chatoyant or astirated gems in the market. I honestly can't remember the last time i saw a cat's eye zircon for sale. As far as garnets are concerned, I've recently been drawn to the gorgeous blue colour change garnets coming out of Madagascar, absolutely stunning stones.👌
Hi Andrew, I am watching a lot of your videos ! I just wanted to say that concerning Tsavorite Garnet, that I have read it is used for most smaller stones as Emeralds in jewelry. It is one of my favorite stones as well.
You didn't mention that Garnets can have asterism, one of my favorite rings is a star garnet, I often wear it with a black star Sapphire ring on the adjacent finger.
Wow, I had no idea tourmaline was found in Maine. I'm pretty close to Maine, so maybe I'll try finding somewhere to dig for it next time I'm in the area.
