Call it what you will

We’re all used to the majority of gems being called by their name:
Diamond is diamond;

Opal is opal;

Turquoise is turquoise;

Even in it’s many different colours Topaz is still Topaz.

Emerald is emerald…well actually it’s Beryl…as is Morganite, Aquamarine, Heliodore and Goshenite!  What distinguishes each of these is the colour that the gem comes in (green, pink, pale blue, yellow and colourless respectively).

Ruby, well that’s actually a form of Corundum, called Ruby only when it is red, when it is pinky orange it is called Padparadscha.  All other colours of Corundum are called sapphires so you can find all kinds of sapphires, such as the green one below.

 

Green sapphire

 

Tourmaline comes in a variety of colours and several of these have particular names too.  When it is red/pink it is Rubellite, green is Verdelite, blue is the fabulous Indicolite and colourless is Achroite.

Tanzanite is a form of zoisite, Morganite is a Beryl and they were both named by Tiffany and Co.

Amazonite is a type of Feldspar, as is Labradorite.  Incidentally Feldspar is the most prolific mineral in the Earth’s continental crust and can be found on Mars!  This is a good example of two types of mineral which are chemically related but clearly very different.

Quartz (the second most abundant mineral behind Feldspar) has another wide variation in colour, and many names or nicknames to go with it.  From the yellow citrine, to stunning purple amethyst (and of course the incredible ametrine is therefore part of this family).

Another variation is green quartz, sometimes referred to as green amethyst although if we were going to be strict about it that’s not it’s real name!  So we are going to go with the official Prasiolite, and here’s an example:

 

However the quartz pseudonyms don’t stop there, even more strangely Chalcedony (see ring below), Agate, Onyx, Jasper, Tigers Eye, Aventurine and Carnelian are all types of quartz that you might not guess from the name!

 

Blue Chalcedony

 

Smokey Quartz

 

Of course the feminine pink of rose quartz to the stunning brown hues of smokey quartz (ring above) and the fascinating Rutilated Quartz are also, more obviously part of the family.

Another slight confusion may arise when considering the names of gems in that often the gem quality variation of a type of mineral has a different name to the non-gem form, Csarite/Diaspore, Peridot/Olivine and Iolite/Cordierite by way of example.

 

Call them what you will, they’re all beautiful to us!

All the fun of the fair

The Masterpiece Fair, London, is the pinnacle of the summer art and antiques fair calendar.  Set in the South Grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea; collectors, curators and designers have flocked to this event due to the astonishing diversity of material covering 3,000 years!

The range of art, antiques and design works are not only vast, but expensive, so it’s not surprising then to see a few famous faces along the way!  The most valuable sale to date belongs to Jewellers Symbolic & Chase who sold a 1912 Cartier corsage for in excess of $20 million.

Jewellery was well represented at this years fair, from the ancient to the very modern, I have to confess to getting diamond blindness after two hours, it’s true – you can have too much of a good thing!

Here are a few picks from the fair that caught my eye. At the Wartksi stand, who specialise in the finest period jewellery.  I was drawn to this ‘little’ beauty, proudly housed in its own cabinet.

 

It’s a diamond and aquamarine necklace mounted in platinum by Russian born and New York based, Olga Tritt, she was asked by the Brazilian government to create a collection of pieces set with the finest examples of semi-precious stones from its mines, for presentation at the 1939 Worlds Fair in New York.  Over 70 years on it’s still stunning!

 

At the Chatila stand this spectacular opal neck-piece and earrings stole the show for me, the stones were amazing in their quality and depth of colour.

 

 

Each stand was like a mini work of art in themselves, none more so than at Theo Fennell, I didn’t expect to look for long here as I’m familiar with the work of this modern day jeweller, but I was intrigued and drawn to the highly conceptual displays in their cabinets.  Each cabinet contained a different scene, ranging from a forest to a haunting underground tomb!  Of course there was the Emerald City ring (which we featured a short time ago on Facebook) wonderfully displayed on the yellow brick road to Oz!

Complete with it’s own yellow brick road and accompanying characters!

Unique…slightly unnerving…

I wish my walks in the wood led to discoveries like this!

 

All in all I had a great time looking at the jewellery I could only dream of having, although I did need a long sit down after working my way around this huge fair, trying to dodge pass the champagne filled parties along the way!