SMOKY QUARTZ is mainly found in quartz veins and pegmatite dikes that cut across igneous and metamorphic rocks. It ranges from a light yellowish brown to a brown that is so dark that it appears to be black.

TURQUOISE is found in only a few places on earth, dry and barren regions where acidic, copper-rich groundwater seeps downward and reacts with minerals that contain phosphorus and aluminum. The result of this sedimentary process is a porous, semi translucent to opaque compound of hydrated copper and aluminum phosphate. Most of the world's turquoise rough is currently produced in the southwestern United States, China, Chile, Egypt, Iran, and Mexico. Turquoise is the traditional birthstone for the month of December and the gem of the eleventh anniversary

TOURMALINE colors have many different causes. Traces of iron, and possibly titanium, induce green and blue colors. Manganese produces reds and pinks, and possibly yellows. Some pink and yellow tourmalines might owe their hues to color centers caused by radiation, which can be natural, or laboratory induced. Brazil has been the world's leading source of tourmaline for nearly 500 years. Tourmaline is a birthstone for October and is also the gem of the eighth anniversary

TOPAZ has an exceptionally wide color range that, besides brown, includes various tones and saturations of blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, and purple. The gem can show different colors in different crystal directions. Brazil has been the world's most important source of topaz for decades. Precious topaz is a birthstone for November and blue topaz is a birthstone for December. Blue topaz is the gem of the 4th anniversary and Imperial topaz is the gem of the 23rd anniversary

SAPPHIRE come in violet, green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, and intermediate hues. Some stones exhibit the phenomenon known as color change, most often going from blue in daylight or fluorescent lighting to purple under incandescent light. Sapphires can even be gray, black, or brown. Sapphire deposits can be found in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Thailand, China, and Australia among other locations in different continents. Sapphire is the birthstone for September and the gem of the 5th and 45th anniversaries

RUBY a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum. Rubies can command the highest per-carat price of any colored stone. This makes ruby one of the most important gems in the colored stone market. In its purest form, the mineral corundum is colorless. Chromium is the trace element that causes ruby’s red color. Historically, rubies have also been mined in Thailand, in the Pailin and Samlout District of Cambodia, as well as in Afghanistan, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, India, Namibia, Japan, and Scotland; after the Second World War ruby deposits were found in Madagascar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, and Vietnam. The Republic of North Macedonia is the only country in mainland Europe to have naturally occurring rubies. They can mainly be found around the city of Prilep. Macedonian rubies have a unique raspberry color. Ruby is the birthstone for July and the gem for the 15th and 40th anniversaries.

PERIDOT most of the peridot seen in jewelry today comes from sources such as China, Myanmar, Pakistan, Tanzania, Vietnam and the United States, some journeyed to Earth on meteorites while others are found in exotic locales like Peridot Beach and Hawaii. Peridot is the birthstone for August and the 15th anniversary gemstone.

PEARLS natural and cultured pearls occur in wide variety of colors. The most familiar are white and cream, but the palette of colors extends to every hue. The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls. Pearl is the birthstone for June and the gem of the third and thirtieth anniversaries

OPAL may be transparent, translucent, or opaque and the background color may be white, black, or nearly any color of the visual spectrum. Black opal is the rarest, whereas white, gray, and green are the most common. Opal is the national gemstone of Australia. Opal is an October birthstone and is the gem for the 12th anniversary

ONYX gemstone found in various regions of the world including Yemen, Uruguay, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Latin America, the UK, and various states in the US. Black Onyx is the anniversary gemstone for the 10th year of marriage

GARNET Red garnet is one of the most common and widespread of gems, found in rocks altered by heat and pressure. Garnet is the birthstone for January and the gem for the second anniversary.

EMERALD is the green to greenish blue variety of beryl, a mineral species that also includes aquamarine as well as beryl in other colors. The principal Emerald deposits are currently mined in Colombia, Brazil, and Zambia. It is recognized as the birthstone for May and is also the gem of the twentieth and thirty-fifth wedding anniversaries.

DIAMOND is a unique member of the mineral kingdom. The only gem made of a single element: It is typically about 99.95 percent carbon. Diamonds crystal structure is isometric, which means the carbon atoms are bonded in essentially the same way in all directions. South Africa, Russia and Botswana are the main producers of gem diamond while Australia produces most of the industrial diamond. Diamond is recognized as the birthstone for April and is also the gem that marks the 60th and 75th wedding anniversaries. FANCY COLOR DIAMOND occurs in a variety of colors, steel gray, white, blue, yellow, orange, red, green, pink to purple, brown, and black. BLACK DIAMOND is one of the toughest forms of natural diamond. It is found primarily in alluvial deposits in the Central African Republic and in Brazil

CITRINE is rare in nature. In the days before modern gemology, its tawny color caused it to be confused with topaz. Today, its attractive color, plus the durability and affordability it shares with most other quartzes, makes it the top-selling yellow-to-orange gem. Citrine most popular shade is an earthy, deep, brownish or reddish orange. Along with topaz, citrine is birthstone for November. It is also recognized as the gem that commemorates the thirteenth anniversary.

AQUAMARINE name comes from the Latin word for seawater and it was said to calm waves and keep sailors safe at sea. This gemstone was thought to enhance the happiness of marriages. The best gems combine high clarity with limpid transparency and blue to slightly greenish blue hues. Aquamarine forms large crystals suitable for sizable fashioned gems and carvings. Most of the aquamarine is found in Brazil. Aquamarine is the birthstone for March and the gem of the 19th wedding anniversary

AMETHYST was as expensive as ruby and emerald until the 19th Century. Today, as the most valued quartz variety, amethyst is in demand for designer pieces and mass-market jewelry alike, and its purple to pastel hues retain wide consumer appeal. Amethyst is the birthstone for February and the gem for the 6th and 17th wedding anniversaries.