Semi-Precious Royal Jewels

[Mia]

Originally Posted by Lord Williams

I had no idea amethyst was a birthstone. I thought it was just a substitute for Alexandrite because Alexandrite is so rare.

And I didn't know that alexandrite was a birthstone. Well, at lest in Scandinavia. I see that it is the birthstone of June among pearl and moonstone somewhere in the world.

Actually alexandrite was found as late as 1830 while amethyst has been around for at least some thousand years. So that I think that amethyst is no ones substitute. Somebody has to defend that old fossile.

Alexandrite is not just rare but extremely rare, this can't be pronounced enough. I have seen just a handful of real alexandrites in my life and most of these were heavily included and either too dark moss green in daylight or pale lilac in artificial light. Most of the so-called alexandrite on the market is synthetic or other colour changing gemstones, for example cc sapphire.

The raw material of real alexandrite is quite small but oh, so expensive, so that it is not easily suitable for grand jewelry designs (while amethysts are found in fairly large crystals and work well with all kind of designs, old and modern).

Richard Hughes, some kind of a guru on gemology, writes of alexandrite on www.palagems.com site:

Unfortunately for the lapidaries, larger crystals, usually highly fractured, yielded little facet-grade material and some crystals would not facet at all. Large (over 3 carats), clean alexandrite gems are among the rarest and most costly of all gemstones.

[Lord Williams]

My grandmother had a large real alexandrite ring, a solitaire, the stone was about 2.5 carats at least, it was huge. It was also her birthstone, June. It was stolen and since Alexandrite has went up tremendously since the ring was made, she has replaced it with an amethyst.

[reynard]

Now I've seen it all. Here's smoky quartz:

[Mia]

Oh, the look is very different, but somehow very uniform. Good design.

It would be excellent mourning jewelry, I guess...

[reynard]

Here's coral:

[reynard]

kind of weird, but the Victorians would have loved it.

[reynard]

Here is another amethyst tiara. It is interesting because it belonged to an American First Lady, Mrs. James Monroe

[micas]

God pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

[ElisaR]

The amethysts of the Kent demi-parure. :)

[tiaraprin]

Originally Posted by ElisaR

The amethysts of the Kent demi-parure.

The Kent Demi-Parure was the property of Queen Victoria's mother, Victoire, Duchess of Kent.

[zarzuela]

A diamond and turquoise necklace and earrings belonging to Queen Sofia

ImageShack - Hosting :: joyasav0.jpg

[Prince of Chota]

I absolutely love turquoise parures. My favourite would have to be that of Princess Margaret. Does anyone know what became of it after she passed away?

[RubyPrincess168]

This has to be my favorite pieces of royal jewelry ever!

Originally Posted by reynard

the jewels of Princess Bagration, bought by the Duke of Westminster for his Bride

The amethysts are pretty too. I think they are the birthstone for February. I'm not too found of turqouise in major jewelry pieces though. I think it looks odd - I guess I associate it too closely with the Southwest & Native American style jewelry.

And just in case.......Rubies are actually red sapphires. Sapphires can come in every color under the sun, but when they are red they are called rubies.

[Warren]

Originally Posted by RubyPrincess168

Rubies are actually red sapphires. Sapphires can come in every color under the sun, but when they are red they are called rubies.

From the Gem by Gem website:

Ruby is the red variety of the mineral corundum, one of the hardest minerals on Earth, of which the sapphire is also a variety. Pure corundum is colourless. Slight traces of elements such as chrome, iron, titanium or vanadium are responsible for the colour. Only red corundum is entitled to be called ruby, all other colours being classified as sapphires. The close relationship between the ruby and the sapphire has only been known since the beginning of the 19th century.

For centuries there were differences of opinion among the specialists as to which stones deserved to be called sapphires. Finally, it was agreed that the ruby-red ones, coloured by chrome, should be called 'rubies' and all those which were not ruby-red 'sapphires'.

[HRH Kerry]

Originally Posted by RubyPrincess168

...I'm not too found of turqouise in major jewelry pieces though. I think it looks odd - I guess I associate it too closely with the Southwest & Native American style jewelry...

For me it all depends upon the setting. I like the turquoise and diamond tiara that was owned by Princess Margaret as well as the parure that Queen Mary gave to Princess Alice. But I do know what you mean about the Southwestern style jewelry.

[michelleq]

The southwestern and/or American Indian type of Turquoise has dark specks in it. In my opinion it I prefer the Persian Turquoise which is a beautiful blue.

[Thomas Parkman]

Well, pant, slurp and drool. Here I go again. Just lovely. I have never been wild about turquoises but this has caused me to change my mind. Normally the only things that loosen up my mental rigidity are wine and chocolate. But I have always wished they had used sapphires in place of spinels in the Bagration parurue. It is such an incredible design.

Arent there some Iranian tiaras made of turquoise??? As for Amethysts are just wonderful, no matter how inexpensive they may be. I suspect if you discovered a huge deposit of rubies, all of enormous size the price of that would come crashing to the ground in short order too. Then maybe I could afford a nice ruby paurure or better-or should I say safer-still a ruby aigrette. Perhaps we should do a thread on royal hat pins and aigrettes. Cheers.

[Jane1]

Is there any famous royal jewellery with tanzanite in it? Or is it too modern?

[Thomas Parkman]

If my memory serves me tanzanite is a quite recent modern innovation or discovery from the 1970s (?) and hence would not have had enough time to be a part of famous jewelry. Also I do not know if it is considered a precious or semi-precious stone. Personally I find it a bit too garish, but that is a matter of personal preference. There is, I understand, only one source for the stone, located naturally in Tanzania. Cheers.

[Prince of Chota]

Originally Posted by michelleq

The southwestern and/or American Indian type of Turquoise has dark specks in it. In my opinion it I prefer the Persian Turquoise which is a beautiful blue.

The amount of veining and flecks in the turquoise has more to do with its quality than the location it was found. There is quite a bit of Native American jewellery that employs native turquoise as unmarred as that of persia. HOWEVER, the varied coloration is often prized by collectors of southwestern jewellery for its more rustic look. Much depends on the jeweller and the style of the piece desired.