December birthstones blue topaz and turquoise play starring roles in the jewelry collection QVC launched in September, based on the Smithsonian Institution's historic gems and jewelry. Judith Ripka took her design cue from a famous blue diamond.
December birthstones blue topaz and turquoise play starring roles in the jewelry collection QVC launched in September, based on the Smithsonian Institution's historic gems and jewelry. Judith Ripka took her design cue from a famous blue diamond.
Forget the mislabeled citrine and the cheap, irradiated blues. Here's a new look at an old gem that's making a comeback, in all its glorious and often-overlooked variations.
In honor of this month's magical birthstone, Bonhams & Butterfields is dedicating an entire auction to opals, from fiery Mexicans to cool Australians. There's even an opal hat.
Known as the "king" of gems in Ancient Rome, sapphire is still most coveted in deep blue - like the stunning parure Christie's Dubai will auction off next month. But sapphire comes in a rainbow of colors and, increasingly, creative jewelers are getting their hands on those.
Charles Vargas is one of the few Apaches born and raised on San Carlos Reservation who left to get a college education and work in the outside world. That experience helped him recognize the treasure he and his tribe had been sitting on for more than a century: peridot. When I visited the reservation...
First recorded peridot was found as early as 1300 B.C. on Saint John’s, an Egyptian Island in the Red Sea. It’s said that this green gem was impossible to spot by day but glowed in the dark, so was mined only after nightfall. Set in gold, peridot was said to achieve its full sun-driven...
“When a ruby exceeds five carats, and is perfect, it is sold for whatever is asked for it,” Jean-Baptiste Tavernier wrote in 1676. Not much has changed in that regard.
Nothing is more universal and timeless than pearls. Wander through any major art museum and you’ll find them on everyone from maharajahs to lowly servants. There’s Rembrandt’s “Weighing of Pearls,” Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”—which inspired a Hollywood movie—and nary a portrait of Queen Elizabeth where she isn’t dripping with them. Leonardo da...
Once considered a powerful curative, emeralds have decorated the world's most glamorous women from Cleopatra to Angelina Jolie. A look at the star-studded history of this rare and fragile green beryl.
Few stones can match the legendary powers of a diamond, from betrothal to battlefield. A flawless diamond was considered the ultimate protector, said to ward off serpents and evil spirits, fire and flood, poison, illness and thieves.
