Question of the Day - Tuesday, February 21

Hi Everyone! Happy Tuesday! 

Favourite Gemstone?

I really like Emeralds and Sapphires. Biased with Emeralds in particular since it is my birthstone.



I also like pearls, especially in lavender, peach/pink and cream/ivory. Pearls are so beautifully classical to me.
 

Hmmm.      I was going to say I prefer natural stone to gemstones and that got me thinking about the difference between them.  Of course they're both made of minerals.  I found this that more or less explained it to me.  Interesting.

So we can say, by way of an answer, that minerals are crystalline; that rocks are made up of aggregates of minerals; and that gemstones are minerals that humans find especially attractive and valuable (plus a few rocks and organic materials that have found favor). There is a system to it, but the concept of a gemstone, it is fair to say, is a purely human invention.

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(http://www.gemselect.com/other-info/minerals-rocks-gems.php)

Anyway...the only gemstone I wear is amethyst (my birthstone).  

Give me all the gems! 

I'm partial to diamonds myself because I prefer jewelry with no color for daily use.  

I really like opals a lot also.  So many variations in pattern and color in these.  

My favorite is Aquamarine.  My birthstone is an Amethyst but I prefer the Aquamarine.  I also like Fire Opalsl.  I have never had one because I have heard that they are a soft stone that is easily damaged.

I love gems and briefly considered designing jewelry but I don't think I have steady enough hands for that.

My favorites are Sapphire(my birthstone), Opal, Tanzanite, Diamond, pearls and really any gem in a shade of purple or blue.  Onyx is also beautiful as well as amber.

My mother and I used to go to a gem and mineral show every year.  I got a few pieces at good prices (its always around my birthday  ).  Since having kids and essentially changing careers to be home with them I don't wear jewelry like I used to.  And my fingers are now at least 2 sizes larger than they were so the rings don't fit.  I loved rings and used to wear 3-5 at all times. Right now I'm wearing a silicone wedding band replacement.  My how things can change!     I was in a jewelry store this weekend for the first time in years.  SO much pretty stuff everywhere.  My DD wasn't the least bit interested in learning about birthstones.  

No question about it - Sunkist Fruit Gems.

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My birthstone is the garnet and it's probably my favorite stone. 

I am not a big fan of diamonds and shocked my mother speechless when I said I didn't want a diamond engagement ring. 

I love them all. They each have a beauty of their own. Favorites are sapphires, emeralds, rubies.

i'd say that my favorite gemstones are emeralds -- just so pretty!  however, i never wear expensive jewelry, almost never wear any jewelry. 

Opals - my birthstone. I'm not much into jewelry of any kind, though.

I like opals the best.  Especially the black ones.  My birthstone is diamond.  I don't like diamonds.  I mean, you have to have a color chart and a loop to tell the difference between a $1000 diamond and a $10,000 diamond.  What's the point?

It's easy to see the difference between a great opal and a good opal

Here is a video of some beautiful black opals.

Amethysts.  I adore them.  My birthstone is the aquamarine, but so many of those look washed-out.  Give me a good, deep amethyst any day of the week.  My first engagement ring was a marquis cut amethyst flanked by two VERY small diamonds...my choice.  I'm not a big diamond person.

Sapphires first with emeralds being a close second.  I love Princess Kate's sapphire engagement ring.

That would be emeralds but I'm not into birthstones. My birthstone aquamarine . 

My birthstone is garnet. It's OK. 

Diamonds are a girl's best friend.    In a perfect world I would have been able to acquire some of Liz Taylor's jewelry collection when it went up for sale after her passing. 

I also like sapphires and rubies. 

I love colored diamonds. I have a pale blue one for a wedding ring that I absolutely love, but everyone always asks if it is a pale sapphire. My birth stone is the aquamarine, or the blood stone for the other, I like both of them too. I hardly ever wear jewelry, I am grubbing in the dirt too much and have lost stones before, so it is a special treat to put them on when I dress up. My husband gave me a carat marquise cut flawless diamond on our twenty fifth that is so clear it sparkles like a miniature sun, I love showing that one off!

betsygee said:

Hmmm.      I was going to say I prefer natural stone to gemstones and that got me thinking about the difference between them.  Of course they're both made of minerals.

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When you say stones, do you really mean stones? I have some of them -


:lol3::lol3::lol3: I do have friends that comments that I wear "rocks". :lol3:


As far as real gemstones, I actually have very few. I do tend towards the blues/greens/purples if I were to choose. Most of my jewelry is just metal with no stones and most of the colored jewelry I have is all costume. Some of it was bought specifically to go with an outfit for a special occasion.

 Pearl   is often considered a gemstone, although it is not a mineral. Rather, pearlis a composite of the mineral Aragonite (Calcium Carbonate) and the organic compound conchiolin (a protein). ... In pearl  oysters and freshwater pearl  mussels, nacre forms the inner lining of the shell.

Yes, I consider pearls a gemstone, and they are beautiful. I have a necklace and earrings of natural pearls and another necklace of freshwater pearls. They are beautiful.

AbbysMom said:

I do have friends that comments that I wear "rocks".

As far as real gemstones, I actually have very few. I do tend towards the blues/greens/purples if I were to choose. Most of my jewelry is just metal with no stones and most of the colored jewelry I have is all costume. Some of it was bought specifically to go with an outfit for a special occasion.

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  I didn't mean actual 'rocks'.      I'm talking...not sparkly stones (that's the technical term).     Like turquoise, moonstone, sodalite.