Firstly we talked about the cut of the stone. Now finding a good quality bright green tourmaline with this cut is not impossible to find but can be tricky so we decided that custom cutting was the way forward. We custom cut the green tourmaline from a larger cushion stone to create the look. We combined the chequer board facetted cut on top but with a more square proportioned shape rather than oval. The lapidaries squared up the proportions and then facetted the top of the stone. This creating a square cushion shape with a facetted top! Donna felt a straight sided square stone would be a little harsh so decided that she would like to have the stone with softened corners. The initial stone was 1.72cts and ended up at 1.05ct. After being cut gemstone it is difficult. We searched for a green tourmaline of the right colour that could be cut to shape. The twist ring is simple in style holds the tourmaline for a modern design.

A few are mineraloids not true minerals and are including here: opal, amber, and moldavite. Foremost is durability – it must not easily corrode away, nor can it be brittle. It is so durable that nearly all of the gold ever mined is still in circulation or storage. In some cases, the names are true misnomers, such as Green Amethyst for prasiolite-a transparent green variety of quartz. In most cases, these variety names are historical, as the gemstones were not recognized as being varieties of other minerals until well after the name was in common use such as aquamarine, emerald, and heliodor as varieties of beryl. And that is related to the third characteristic, ductility. You can see the options are endless and when you are commissioning a piece, why compromise a thing when you can choose!

Gems are silicates which can be very stable, hard minerals. Like gemstones, one of the characteristics of a precious metal is its rarity. A few gems are oxides and only one gem, diamond, is composed of a single element, carbon. Often, new names will be created for ordinary sounding minerals which sound prettier or more valuable, such as Moldavite for the green variety of tektites. It could not be “precious” if it were common! This means that the metal must be malleable, that it can be bent, hammered, or otherwise shaped. Two other characteristics are also important. There are also many gemstones that are not true minerals, but which are gemstone varieties of recognized minerals.

Many gemstones are used in even the most expensive jewellery depending on the brand name of the designer, fashion trends, market supply, treatments etc. Others are too common and are given a semi-precious status. Most gemstones have good hardness and a high index of refraction. All gemstones have some characteristics falling short of perfection though; even the seemingly perfect Diamond has four directions of cleavage. Since quartz is everywhere especially in common dirt and dust. Any material that is softer may be scratched during ordinary wear. Nevertheless, diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds still have a reputation that exceeds those of other gemstones.