Iolite is a magnesium aluminium silicate and has a blue-violet colour. This fine gemstone is found in Brazil, India, Madagascar, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and in the United States. Furthermore, the name comes from the greec word “ios” meaning “purple”. The Viking sailors used the iolite as a polarizing filter in order to find the sun…
Amethyst belongs to the macrocrystalline branch of the quartz group of minerals. The amethyst’s colour varries from purple and violet to pale red-violet. Its colour comes from the iron and aluminium impurities. Furthermore, this fine gemstone is found mainly in Brazil but also “in Bolivia, Canada, India, Madagascar, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), Namibia, Russia, Sri Lanka, United…
Lazurite is a feldspathoid silicate and belongs to sodalite group of minerals. It is a blue stone which can vary from “greenish blue to violetish, from medium to dark and from low to highly saturated”. This fine stone is found mainly in Afghanistan but is also found in Angola, Argentina, Canada, Chile (North of Santiago),…
Topaz is an aluminium silicate containing fluorine and hydroxyl. Purely, it is colourless (white) ; it is the impurities which cause the variations of colour. “Topaz ranges from colourless to yellow, orange, red-brown, light to dark-blue, pink to red, violet and light-green.” Furthermore, Topaz is distinguished by its hardness and its perfect cleavage. This fine…