Amethyst is February's BirthstoneWritten by Sam Serio
If you're still young enough to remember your birthday, you probably also remember special birthstone assigned to it. But at your age, we bet you don't really know SIGNIFICANCE of your birthstone and what power ancients felt would be bestowed about you by wearing it. February's birthstone: Amethyst Birthstone powers: Brings peace and calm to your life Alternative Birthstone: Bloodstone Amethyst is birthstone for month of February and traditional anniversary gemstone for sixth of marriage. Once considered more valuable than diamonds, this member of quartz member occurs naturally as crystals within rocks. The stones are mined in Brazil, Uruguay, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Zambia, Australia and in mountains of Russia American amethysts are mined in Maine, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Montana and Colorado. Amethyst from Maine is usually dark with North Carolina amethyst having a bluish tint unique to that area. Amethyst can lighten if exposed to strong sunlight for a long time. When heated to 550-560 Centigrade, color changes to dark yellow or reddish brown. (They are then called citrines. These are more richly colored and more expensive then natural citrines) Ideally deep medium purple with rose-colored flashes, amethysts generally range in hue from pale lilac to nearly black purple. Since purple has always been color of royalty, amethysts abound in ornaments of in British Crown Jewels and in adornments of ancient Greeks and Egyptians, as well. They have been found in ruins dating as far back as ninth century, adorning royal jewelry, scepters, and crowns.
| | Aquamarine is March's BirthstoneWritten by Sam Serio
If you're still young enough to remember your birthday, you probably also remember special birthstone assigned to it. But at your age, we bet you don't really know SIGNIFICANCE of your birthstone and what power ancients felt would be bestowed about you by wearing it. March Birthstone: Aquamarine Birthstone Properties: Bestows courage, insight, and victory Alternative Birthstone: Bloodstone Aquamarine is traditional birthstones for March. It is also accepted anniversary gem for 19th year of marriage. Aquamarine is mined primarily in Brazil, Nigeria and Zambia. Water Baby Created by combining Latin words for water (aqua) and sea (mare), aquamarine does indeed resemble bottomless blue of seawater. Like Emerald, aquamarine is a variety of beryl (a mineral that crystallizes within large rocks on earth's crust). Aquamarine varies in color from blue-green to a light sky blue, and for generations, those stones containing green are often heat-treated to remove this less desirable color. Surprisingly, unlike other coveted gemstones, majority of aquamarines are flawless. As a gift, aquamarine is unsurpassed in its legendary abilities to preserve and enhance mutual love, to ensure truth in relationships and to maintain a good marriage When In Rome… Ancient Romans believed magnificent gemstone was sacred to Neptune, god of sea. Some legends say that it was gift from mermaids, while others suggest that Neptune retrieved it after it fell from jewel boxes of sirens and washed onto shore. Early sailors wore aquamarine talismans, engraved with likeness of Neptune, as protection against dangers at sea.
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