Search Results for: white sapphire

As we turn our calendars to September, we start thinking of things like heading back to school, indulging in a pumpkin spice latte, and planning our fall fashions. For those celebrating a birthday in September, they’re thinking of their birthstone: the sapphire! Although sapphire typically refers to the rich blue gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, this royal gem actually occurs in a rainbow of hues. Sapphires come in every color except red, which would then be classified as ruby. Trace elements like iron, titanium, chromium, copper and magnesium give naturally colorless corundum a tint of blue, yellow, purple, orange

By Isabelle Corvin, CG, Staff Gemologist at Panowicz Jewelers Spinel is an oxide mineral that crystallizes in the cubic structure and has quite the mixed-up history. As of 2016, it is also the newest birthstone to be added to the birthstone list! August babies now have a choice between vivid peridot and alluring spinel. The word “spinel” comes from the Latin word Spinella, which means “little thorn” or “arrow-shaped.” Spinel gems come in a wide range of colors and saturations, though perhaps the most famous (and mistakenly infamous) is the red variety. In ancient cultures, red spinel was always grouped together