Sky-blue turquoise from Iran is generally regarded as the most desirable, but in Tibet the greener variety is preferred. Turquoise that comes from Mexico and the USA tend to be slightly green and more porous, this material tends to fade or crack so the surface is treated with wax or resin to maintain its appearance. Turquoise is sometimes also found in Cornwall in England! 

Turquoise has been thought to warn the wearer of danger or illness by changing colour. Some say Turquoise attracts money, success and love and its powers include protection, healing, courage,  friendship, and luck. It is also said to relax the mind, and ease mental tension. Turquoise is sacred to many Native American’s and was carved in the shape of animals and birds. These carvings were placed in the Indians tombs to attract beneficial spirits and to guard the dead. Turquoise was also used by medicine men for healing and by warriors who fixed turquoise to the end of their bows to insure accurate shots.

Click here to check out our Turquoise Jewellery!

Gemstones are generally made up of minerals which are natural, inorganic materials with a fixed chemical composition and a regular structure internally. A few gems are organic; these are produced by living organisms such as shellfish. Amber and pearls are two examples of an organic gemstone. Another type of gemstones are called synthetics which are not natural and are made in laboratories, these are often used as imitations of the real thing.

Gemstones begin their life as a crystal as shown with the amethyst to the left. This is normally built up of crystalline with their atoms arranged in regular and symmetrical patterns, like a lattice. This crystalline is normally embedded in a host rock known as the matrix. In this state the stone is referred to as rough. In its natural state the mineral may be a prism with clearly defined faces as shown with the hexagonal crystal on the right.

The crystals are faceted and polished to make them more attractive and to be set in a piece of jewellery or an ornament. Faceting is the most usual method of fashioning a gem. It is where the surface of the gem is cut in phases. A good example of this a brilliant cut diamond. The diamond begins as a rough stone; the first stage is to cut the top off and to round to lathe of the stone with another diamond. Next the central facet, the flat table, is ground then the bezel facets. Four more sets of facets are then added before the “brillianteer” adds a further 24 facets above the girdle and 16 below. The stone is then polished and this will give the stone a beautiful sparkle. There are four common cuts of diamonds, brilliant cut, step cut, mixed cut and fancy cut.

Sometimes crystals are polished instead of being faceted; this is the oldest form of fashioning a stone. Organic gemstones are most commonly fashioned in this way as they are usually translucent or opaque meaning there would be no advantage of faceting them. Gem fragments of similar hardness are turned into attractive pebbles by tumbling them in a drum containing abrasive grits and polishing powders. It is a similar process to what naturally happens to stones on beaches as they are worn against each other, they eventually become smooth. The most common shape that a stone is polished into is called a cabochon which is a simple cut used to display colours and optical effects in opaque and translucent stones. This is demonstrated well with star sapphires.

In many stones there are natural inclusions, these are internal features in gemstones. These may be solids, liquids or gases that the crystal has enclosed whilst it grew. Sometimes they are also cracks or fractures that have filled after it has finished growing. These are often regarded as flaws or inclusions in the stone; however they do add extra interest and can be helpful when trying to identify the stone. They can also help to create a more attractive stone for example a star sapphires are created by needle inclusions in the stone which have formed parallel to the crystal faces. Another interesting example of an inclusion is when a of a different gemstone forms inside, and example of this is shown right with two small garnets that have formed in a diamond This is not normally visible to the naked eye but does show as a slight mark inside the diamond.

In the Middle Ages, Topaz was credited variously with preserving one from sensuality, calming anger and frenzy, strengthening the
intellect, brightening wit, giving joy and driving away broodings and apprehensions.

There are many other powers associated with it – including correcting sexual disorders, calming passions and giving a glimpse of the world beyond!  All the abilities of Topaz are believed to increase and decrease according to the phases of the Moon, with stronger powers near the full moon.

Originally only yellow and brown stones were referred to as Topaz, but with modern gemmological testing we can identify other members
of the Topaz family and separate other yellow and brown gemstones from Topaz. Citrine (a yellow/brown variety of Quartz) which has been casually referred to as “Golden Topaz” is frequently mistaken for Topaz.

Topaz may be colourless, blue, green, pink, yellow or deep golden yellow/brown. The most desirable shades are deep golden yellow (sometimes called Sherry Topaz) and natural pink. I say natural pink because most pink stones are in fact yellow, which have been subjected to heat treatment to change the colour to pink. This poses the interesting question: what is the difference between a Topaz that has been subjected to a man induced heat treatment AFTER it was mined, to one that has been naturally subjected to great heat while still in the earth.?

One of the most popular light blue gemstones used in jewellery today is Blue Topaz. This is mostly colourless Topaz, which has been subjected to radiation and then heat-treated. This produces a range of blues from ”London Blue”, which is quite dark, to the commercially popular “aquamarine” light blue.  This treatment is safe (these stones are not radioactive!) and permanent. Heat-treated Blue Zircon on the other hand gradually reverts back to its original brown colour on exposure to sunlight.

Topaz is found in Igneous rocks such as pegmatites, granites and volcanic lavas. Brazil is the world’s most important source today.

Topaz is a hard stone (harder than Quartz but not as hard as Sapphire) but it cleaves (splits) easily, so care has to be taken when setting the stone in jewellery.

When light strikes an Opal and creates a brilliant colour display, the traditional mystic explanation has been that the colours signify a favourable response heralding success and good fortune. When the light creates a dull reflection of colour from the Opal, interpreters have usually taken that for an unfavourable response – failure and disappointment will soon follow!

The name Opal is derived from an Indian word for “stone”. There are three groups of Opals: Common, Precious and Fire. Common or Potch Opal is opaque with no play of colour. Precious Opal, which is the one that most people think of as Opal and the type most used in jewellery, is prized for its opalescence. Fire Opal, named after its bright orange colour, is a transparent orange variety of Opal with no opalescence. As it is transparent, it usually cut in a faceted style. Whereas precious Opal, which is at best translucent, is cut as a shallow cabochon to display its opalescence.

The unique characteristic of Precious Opal is the play of colour caused by the Opal’s structure, which can be revealed under a magnification of 17,500.   It is made up of row upon row of tiny spheres of silica in a siliceous “Jelly”. These tiny spheres diffract light into the different colours of the rainbow and their exact size affects the colours produced. The slightly larger spheres produce a greater range of colours favouring reds and oranges, whereas the smaller spheres will tend to favour greens and blues.

There are two types of Precious Opal: White Opal is the more common form and as its name suggests the “body” colour is white or milky. The rarer Black Opal has a dark greyish body colour – very rarely is it actually black

The greater the play of colours the more desirable the stone. The play of colour of all Opals always appears more dramatic when placed on a black background. This is part of the reason why Black Opal is considered a better looking stone than White Opal. This fact is used to great effect in the production of Opal Doublets, and Triplets. With the Doublet a thin slice of Opal is glued onto a piece of onyx and this imitates a better quality Black Opal. The Triplet is produced in a similar way with the addition of a protective layer of colourless quartz on top. If these stones are then mounted in a closed-back setting in a piece of jewellery they provide a convincing imitation of Black Opal. A trained eye using a jewellers x10 lens will easily spot the masquerade.

Opal is also unique in being the only non-organic gemstone having water in its chemical composition. It should be no surprise therefore that it is the most delicate gemstone – not only is it soft, but as it contains 5 – 10% water, it may dry out and crack. Conversely, if the Opal is soaked in water it may expand.  Soaking an Opal in pure baby oil can stabilise the stone. The Opal is porous and soaks up the oil and can not absorb or lose any water. If setting Opal in a rub-over setting it will be afforded some protection from knocks by the gold that covers all its edges. Unlike most other gemstones Opal is not crystalline; it forms by the slow solidification of a jelly within cavities in rocks. Since the end of the 19^th century Australia has been the main producer of Opal (Black Opal is only found in Australia). Before then the finest quality Opal came from Czechoslovakia.

In common with all other gemstones there are many myths surrounding Opals. At one time they were considered to be a favourable stone for “Affairs of the Heart”.   Should one lover be unfaithful, the Opal’s good influence would be reversed upon the unfaithful lover! This was interpreted as Opals bringing bad luck in love and Opals were deemed to be an unlucky stone to have in your engagement ring.  A belief that is still widely held today.

Thank you to everyone who came along on Saturday we had a wonderful day!

So far we have raised almost £1000 for grove house so we are hoping to reach that major mark very soon!

Our prize winners were picked on Saturday by our mayor, Councillor Aislinn Lee, who kindly came along to join in the celebrations. They should have all been informed and we also have a list of winners in the shop if you wish to check whether you have won. Some of the email addresses were hard to read and we may have made a few mistakes!

The battery competition came to a close on saturday as well, the total amount of batteries was 1567! Thank you to everyone who entered and helped us in raising money for grove house. The winners were as follows:

1st – Hilary Thurlow who guessed 1570

2nd – Val Nash who guessed 1575

3rd- Elaine Gatta, Anne Azzophand and Ann Morely who all guessed 1500

Also a great thank you to the local businesses who supported us.

These include Dixies Cupcakery in St Albans Town centre who provided us with the gorgeous cupcakes pictured above, despite ordering 300 I never thought we would actually get through that many! www.dixiescupcakery.co.uk

Ayletts Nurseries who lent us some beautiful flowers which we displayed outside the shop and around the marquee.www.aylettnurseries.co.uk

Printed Clothing who printed our t-shirts for the day, many people commented on how brilliant we all looked wearing matching tops! www.printedclothing.com

Fleetville Swing Band who performed throughout the afternoon and helped build up the lively atmosphere! www.fleetvilleswingband.co.uk

Also the St Albans Majorettes who performed fantastically despite the torrential rain and looked like they were having a lot of fun doing it! www.freewebs.com/stalbansmajorettesandbatontwirlers

With over 90 watches in the collection, this fantastic brand provides incredible quality and value for money. Every TORGOEN Swiss watch is driven by one or more Swiss movements, with the T8 range having 3 fully independent Swiss Ronda movements!

The materials across the collection are of an excellent quality, including stainless steel cases, mineral glass or Sapphire crystal glass, Italian leather straps, high-quality solid-link stainless steel bracelets and non-radioactive, long-lasting luminescent indices and hands.

We are very excited for their imminent arrival as they will add a new dimension to our watch selection. We will let everybody know as soon as they are out in the shop and a quick preview of what we have ordered is shown below!

From the T05 Range:

From the T25 Range:

Sapphire was widely credited with acknowledging the fidelity of a spouse, as it was believed to change colour if the female partner cheated! Apparently sapphires would refuse to shine for the unchaste or impure. Because of its reputation for preserving chastity, sapphire was formerly worn by priests. In the 7^th Century new Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church received from the Pope “finger rings of gold set with a sapphire to be worn on the right hand showing that the Church is now his spouse and he must never abandon her”

Corundum when pure is colourless, but different impurities give it different colours. Yellow sapphire is caused by the presence of iron.  The colour in green sapphire is caused by the crystal actually consisting of very thin alternative bands of blue and yellow sapphire.

A very rare variety of sapphire is Padparadscha (named after a Lotus Blossom) which is a delicate pinkish-orange colour. It is the most rare and therefore the most expensive sapphire colour and, apart from Ruby, the only variety of sapphire to be given its own name.  Padparadschas are only found in Sri Lanka and are especially popular in Japan where they fetch high prices.

Colour is the most important factor relating to the value of a sapphire. It is most unusual for stones to be sold in their natural state. Heating has been widely used to improve the colour since 2000 BC. This is still the most common of all gemstone enhancements; it is a cheap process, improving the colour and clarity of 90% of sapphires, and is permanent.  Some sapphires found in Sri-Lanka are a milky white colour, called Geuda.  These stones possess iron and titanium, but not in the valence states to give the stones the desirable Royal Blue colour. On heating the valence states are altered and the stones colour changes to a marketable blue.

Titanium also gives a sapphire one of its most beautiful features, that of the star-stone. When microscopic rutile (titanium oxide) needle inclusions are present and perfectly arranged at 60’ angles, they reflect light as a six-pointed star.

Sapphire is the second hardest naturally occurring substance- only diamond or another sapphire will scratch it- and as such is very useful in industry. It is used as an abrasive in emery paper, but is also used to resist abrasion-as in the bearings (or jewels) in mechanical watches.  Since the beginning of the twentieth century, sapphire has been easily synthesised which results in inexpensive and uniform transparent material, which is widely used in industry.  Most people come into weekly contact with a very large piece of synthetic sapphire without knowing it- the window on a supermarket checkout, which houses the bar code scanner!

The collar can be sold separately so it can be added to outfits to create a classic vintage look.

These collars are great to update work clothes as they are very smart yet highly fashionable.

Also necklaces are not required, they do however still look good especially if you wear a longer vintage style chain. 

If you are brave, when adding a collar to an existing top, use fabrics that contrast such as monochrome or leopard print. For a more subtle look pick a sheer or different fabric in a similar colour.

Celebrities seen wearing this trend:

Fearne Cotton, Alexa Chung, Carey Mulligan, Agyness Deyn, Nicole Richie and Emma Watson.

Pearls once again are a prominent feature on the catwalk; the timeless beauty makes them the perfect investment piece as they seemingly never go out of fashion. Normally the classic style pearls are combined with similarly classic looks, however in the recent catwalks they have been coupled with more modern styles. Donna Karan in particular used earthy toned pearls which complimented her designs as seen below.

Stars are another up and coming trend, they have become very widely used in clothing in recent years with many star patterned dresses and blouses, but now they are also being seen in jewellery as small delicate pendants or bold and chunky. Celebrities such as Lea Michele and Miley Cyrus have been seen wearing them.

Bright blue, green, yellow, orange, red and purple coloured jewellery is becoming much more popular as it can be added to any outfit to liven it up. This is especially the case with work wear, as despite casual clothing becoming bright jewel colours, smart clothing is staying relatively dark colours.

Friendship bracelets are a must have this season, its the perfect jewellery for everyday wear and are constantly seen on celebrities wrists, often many grouped together. This stacking is great for accessorising any outfit, however the newest trend is not just any coloured strings woven together, they must sparkle and shine with various bright colours and clashing bracelets.The more the better when it comes to this trend. The friendship bracelet trend is demonstrated by celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Nicole Richie.

In light of this special occasion we will be having lots of different promotions and prize give-aways happening over the next 2 months. All this will build up to a celebration day on Saturday 17^th September when we will be offering free cake, Bucks Fizz and chocolates to everyone. There will be a live jazz band playing in the afternoon and the local Mayor will also be paying us a visit to announce our prize winners. We will also be helping to raise money for the Grove House Charity, our local cancer care unit.