Violet Sapphires: The cause of colour is due to a combination of Chromium (Cr) and a mix of Titanium (Ti) and Iron (Fe) as trace elements. Violet sapphires are found mainly in Sri Lanka, Burma, Madagascar, Tanzania, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. In days gone by violet sapphires were hardly marketable but in the last few decades’ jewellery with suites of colours have become quite popular and these stones fit in well in such suites.
Pink-Star Sapphire: The cause of colour in these stones is mainly Cr in considerably lower con
Citrine, Chrysoberyl, Aquamarine
Citrine : Probably the commonest of all minerals on earth. It belongs to the quartz family and its common name is Silica ( Silicon oxide- SiO2). Much of the dust blowing in the wind consists of Silica and is also that which goes into the manufacture of glass. It is probably found in every corner of the earth.
The most desirable of the Silica group is the Yellow and Golden Yellow varieties and most of the cuttable variety comes from Brazil where it is found in primary deposits sometimes in the form of huge rocks. Citrine is
Zircon & Tourmaline
Zircon: Comes in a wide array of colours from the colourless (Heated) through Sky Blue (also heated) to yellow, golden brown, red, orange and intermediate ranges of these colours.
Zircon is a silicate of zirconium and as a cut stone has a brilliance and lustre close to that of diamonds so much so that it could easily fool one, especially when mounted. It is also a brittle stone and is preferably stored in such a way as to preven
Spinel Garnet, Peridot, Sinhalite
Spinel:Analuminate of magnesium, one comes across a wide range of colours and the recent finds of red and blue spinels rival rubies and blue sapphires in their hues. Spinels are also found in shades of purple, pink, violet, & grey-blue.
While a truly colourless spinel is rare, since of late a few have been found in Sri Lanka and other localities. However a true deep green spinel is yet to be discovered.
Spinels sometimes do show asterism (4