What’s April’s Birthstone? – Quartz
What’s Quartz’s meaning? – Strength
Color – Clear
“Quartz is the second most common family of gemstones on the planet and are found in a variety of colors due to impurities (similar to the Beryl family). Quartz’s natural color is clear. Quartz is found all over the world in every kind of rock formation. Frequently they can be found inside of geodes, hollow masses of mineral formed by Quartz filling in gas bubbles in cooling volcanic rock or the dissolution of sedimentary rock that is replaced with Quartz particles. Frequently Quartz gems have a twin crystal sharing a point of contact on their symmetrical crystal lattice, this phenomenon is known as twinning.
Quartz’s association with strength comes from its resistance to damage and scratches. Quartz is one of the hardest minerals on the Mohs scale which is used to rate how resistant minerals are to scratches. The connection was strengthened by their appearance in geodes, something beautiful hiding inside something ordinary looking. Quartz crystals or a geode that’s been broken open make an excellent gift for a loved one who needs to be reminded that they are strong even if they don’t look like it on the outside.
What’s May’s Birthstone? – Emerald
What’s Emerald’s meaning? – Hope
Color – Dark Green
Emeralds are unique among gemstones because their surfaces are very resistant to scratches but the crystal lattice that makes up the gem is susceptible to fracturing from impacts. For this reason, an emerald with no cracks visible to the naked eye is classified as flawless even if there are flaws that can be identified using magnification.
Emeralds are named after the Vulgar Latin words ‘esmaralda’ and ‘esmaraldus’ which translate roughly to a green gem. While that might be a little on the nose for some people, we think emerald is a great name for this gem because of its beautiful green color that inspires thoughts of springtime and renewal. This association makes emeralds a great gift for someone who needs a reminder that winter doesn’t last forever (even in the North!) or is starting a new chapter in their life.
What’s June’s Birthstone? – Alexandrite
What’s Alexandrite’s meaning? – Love
Color – Variable
Alexandrite is transparent yellow-green or greenish blue under ordinary conditions. However, under polarized light (like from the Sun), specimens explode into a variety of colors ranging from red to dark purple, or orange depending on the direction of the light as well as your viewing angle. This phenomenon is called pleochroism and is very useful for mineral identification.
There are a lot of gems in the world that are transparent yellow-green, but very few exhibit this range of color when exposed to light. We think this is a beautiful analog for love because it doesn’t come in only one color or form and when you have the real thing, you can always tell. The gift of an alexandrite stone is a wonderful way to express your love with all your loved ones because just like there is more than just yellow-green alexandrite, there is more to love than just romantic love.”
