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Did you know that? Part II

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With so many interesting posts on precious stones and jewellery, how about focusing on women who are the primary consumers of jewellery?

I just found a report on some precious things that two Indian women had recently been identified for.

Of the 10 “Women to Watch in Tech in 2013”, two are of interest to NRIs/PIOs Abroad

Poornima Vijayashanker, founder & CEO, Bizeebee
 poornima.webp
Poornima runs a self-sustaining start-up, Bizeebee — which tracks attendance and revenue and handles marketing services and payments for more than 500 yoga and fitness studios.
She also has a new project - Femgineer, a campaign to encourage and empower more women to go into tech and science. It started as a blog, but now Poornima teaches workshops at San Francisco tech hubs such as General Assembly, Parisoma, and HackBright. She is planning to expand to other cities and license the curriculum so others can teach it, as well as sell video courses.
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Prita Uppal, founder & CEO, Hooked
prita.webp

Google’s on a path to reach the 1 million mark in its app store, which means it’s simply not possible to find all the gems buried in that massive pile. Until Hooked, that is.
The game recommendation platform, created by Prita Uppal, uses algorithms and a prediction engine to analyze the games you've already installed to rate other games you might like.
Hooked has been downloaded 4.5 million times and users install an average of 12 games a week. In 2013 Hooked will be expanding to more platforms, including iOS. A big consumer of mobile apps herself, Uppal took an interest in the intersection of gaming and mobile as a business while earning her Harvard MBA.
 
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"Jewels among Indian Women"??? :clap2:

Poornima looks too relaxed to be a Bizeebee :couch2:

and Prita looks hooked to her Hooked alright!!! :laser:
 
[h=1]#57. Hemimorphite[/h]

Hemimorphite, is a sorosilicate mineral which has been chiefly associated with Smithsonite (zinc spar or Zinc carbonate ) a mineral of Zinc. They were assumed to be the same mineral and were classified under calamine. In the second half of the 18th century it was discovered that there were two different minerals. One was a zinc carbonate and the other a zinc silicate.


The silicate was the rarer of the two, and was named hemimorphite, because of the hemimorph development of its crystals. In this unusual form the crystals terminated in dissimilar faces. They show strong green fluorescence in shortwave UV light and a weak light pink fluorescence in long wave UV. Hemimorphite is an important ore of zinc and contains up to 54.2% of the metal.


Hemimorphite occurs in Belgium German border, Poland, Pennsylvania, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, North Africa, Thailand, Siberia, Italy, Austria and England.
 
#58. Hessonite


Hessonite, also called as the Cinnamon Stone, is a variety of grossular. It is a calcium aluminium mineral of the group of garnets with their general chemical formula as Ca3Al2Si3O12.

The name is from the Greek word hēssōn, meaning ‘inferior’ referring to its lower hardness and lower density when compared to most other garnets.

It has a characteristic orange – red color similar to zircon. The difference between them is detected easily by comparing their specific gravity. Hessonite has a specific gravity of ~ 3.65 and zircon ~ 4.6

Hessonite has a hardness of 7 on the Moh’s scale. But the hardness of most garnets can reach 7.5. Hessonite occurs chiefly in Sri Lanka, Brazil and California.

Hessonite is also called Gomedhaka in Tamil and Sinhalese.
 
[h=1]#59. Howlite[/h]

Howlite is calcium borosilicate hydroxide. Howlite is a borate mineral found in evaporite sites. It has a hardness of 3.5 on Moh’s scale.


Howlite was discovered in 1868 by Henry How near Windsor Nova Scotia. He was a Canadian chemist, geologist, and mineralogist. The most common form of howlite is irregular nodules, sometimes resembling cauliflower. The nodules are white with fine grey or black veins in a web-like pattern. They are opaque with a sub-vitreous luster.


Crystals of howlite are rare. They were first reported from Tick Canyon, California, and later from Iona, Nova Scotia. Crystals reach a maximum size of about 1 cm. The crystals at Iona are colorless, white or brown and are either transparent or translucent.


Howlite is used to make small carvings or jewelry components. Because of its porous texture, howlite can be easily dyed to imitate other minerals, especially turquoise. The superficial similarity of the veining patterns helps in this deception. The dyed howlite is marketed as turquenite.


Natural Howlite is sold as “white turquoise” or “white buffalo turquoise,” or “white buffalo stone.”
 
#60. Idocrase



Idocrase is a rare gemstone which belongs to the silicate group of minerals. It exists mostly in shades of green but can also be yellow-brown and pale blue.

This gem stone is named as Vesuvianite since the first samples were found on the Mt. Vesuvius volcano.

This mineral was first identified and named by the famous German gemologist Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1795. The name idocrase is from Greek and means ‘mixed form’, since its crystals show a mixture of other mineral forms.

Idocrase is rare and transparent idocrase crystals which have a vitreous luster are even rarer. Opaque idocrase is similar to jade with a resinous luster.

Idocrase is slightly softer than quartz, with a rating of 6.5 on the Moh’s scale of hardness.
 
#61. Iolite


Iolite is derived from the Greek derivative “ion” meaning “violet”. The color of this stone is purplish blue. The more the concentration of this shade, the higher is the value of this gemstone.

Iolite occurs in the regions like India, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Brazil. This gemstone was the “Stone of the Vikings” since Vikings revealed the deposits of this precious stone in the primitive locations of Greenland and Norway.

The Viking sailors used petite pieces of Iolite as a compass needle to find their directions. Iolite acted as a polarizing filter and assisted them to position the precise location of the sun even on cloudy days.

Iolite has an attractive and unique violet blue color. It is comparable to a light blue sapphire. It is also known as “water sapphire”. This gem available at an affordable price.

Iolite exists in shades of yellowish gray through blue to a blue violet. It measures 7 to 7.5 on Moh’s scale of hardness.
 
#62. Jadeite


Jadeite is a nonclinic, pyroxene mineral. It has measures 6.5 to 7.0 on Moh’s scale of hardness. The mineral is highly dense, with a specific gravity of about 3.4.

The name Jadeite is derived from “piedra de ijada” a Spanish phrase which means “stone of the side.” It was believed that if jade was rubbed against the body of a person, it would cure kidney stones.

Jadeite is formed in metamorphic rocks under high pressure and relatively low temperatures. Albite is a common mineral on the Earth’s crust.

With increasing pressure, albite forms jadeite. Jadeite are rocks that consist almost entirely of jadeite. Jadeite is resistant to weathering.

Jadeite’s color commonly ranges from white through pale apple green to deep jade green. It can also be blue-green like the “Olmec Blue” jade, pink, lavender and other rare colors. Chloromelanite is a very dark green to black variety.

Presence of trace elements such as chromium and iron affect the color of the jade. Jade can vary from entirely opaque to almost clear. Variations in color and translucence are often found even within a single specimen.

Currently California, Myanmar, New Zealand, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Russia, British Columbia, Alaska, Turkestan and Italy the best known sources of gem quality jadeite.

Intense green colored translucent varieties are the most highly valued. “Olmec blue” jade with its deep translucent blue-green hue and white flecking is becoming highly valued.

While purchasing jade, quality is determined by the degree of translucence and purity of color. Other minerals sold as jade can be easily differentiated by comparing their hardness.
 
[h=1]#63. Jasper[/h]

Jasper is an opaque form of chalcedony. It is an impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green color. Jasper is rarely blue. Jasper breaks with a smooth surface and is used as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and used for making vases and seals.


When the colors are in stripes or bands, it is called striped or banded jasper. Jaspilite is a banded iron formation rock that often has distinctive bands of jasper. One of the traditional birthstones for March is jasper. The name jasper means “spotted or speckled stone”, and is derived via Old French jaspre.


Jasper is known to have been a favorite gem in the ancient world. On Minoan Crete, jasper was carved to produce seals in 1800 BC. The term jasper is now restricted to opaque quartz. The ancient jasper was a stone of considerable translucency. The jasper of antiquity was in many cases distinctly green, for it is often compared with the emerald.


The original materials are often fractured or distorted, after deposition, into myriad beautiful patterns which are to be later filled with other colorful minerals. Weathering, with time, will create intensely colored superficial rinds.

The classification and naming of jasper presents a challenge. Names includes the geographic locality where it is found, rivers,lakes and mountains. Many are fanciful such as “Forest Fire” or “Rainbow”, “Autumn”, “Porcelain” or “Dalmatian”.

A few are designated by the country of origin such as a Brown Egyptian or Red African.

The black flinty jasper found in several New England states of the USA is known as the Lydian stone. It is used as a touchstone in testing the purity of precious metals.
 
#64. Kornerupine



Kornerupine is a rare boro silicate with a long and complicated chemical formula (Mg,Fe2+)4(Al,Fe3+)6(SiO4,BO4)5(O,OH)2. It crystallizes as brown, green, yellow or colorless slender tourmaline like prisms or in massive fibrous forms.

It measures 7 in Moh’s scale of hardness. It occurs in boron-rich volcanic rocks and sedimentary rocks which have undergone high grade metamorphism.

Translucent green to yellow shades of Kornerupine is valued as gemstones. The emerald green varieties are popular favorites.

It was first described in 1884 for an occurrence in Greenland and named in honor of the Danish geologist, Andreas Nikolaus Kornerup.
 
#65. Kunzite





Kunzite is a gem in delicate pink hues. In 1902, George Frederick Kunz became the first person to describe this stone discovered in Pala District of San Diego County in California. It was named in his honor as kunzite.

Depending on the angle from which we look at a kunzite, it can appear violet, pink or colorless. Some kunzites found in Afghanistan display a strong violet or a light violet or a light green color depending on the angle of view. This phenomenon is known as pleochroism, or ‘multi-colouredness’.

Kunzites usually have a fairly light color. Deep colored kunzite is rarer and more valuable. This gemstone is the youngest member of the spodumen family.

Together with diopside, jadeite and three other kinds of minerals, the spodumens make up the pyroxene group. Kunzites are found mainly in Afghanistan, Madagascar, Brazil and the USA. The crystals can attain the mass of several kilograms.

As a variety of spodumen, kunzite belongs to the class of the chain silicates. Minute traces of manganese impart a fine lilac color to them. But this can fade in the direct sunlight.

The hardness of Kunzite is between 6.5 and 7 on the Moh’s scale. This gem has perfect cleavage and is thus extremely difficult to cut. The silvery gloss on its facets forms a beautiful contrast to the fine violet-pink of the gemstone.

The color and clarity determine its value. The more intense the color, the more valuable is the kunzite. This gemstone an ideal precious stone for lovers. It is also popular as a healing stone.

Kunzite is said to bestow inner peace on its wearer which holds a promise for those suffering from stress and strain of modern life.

I loved the stone for the lovely shades in which it exists. Adding to it the promise of the inner peace, it is THE STONE to be worn in the 21st century!!!
 
#66. Labradorite






Labradorite is a feldspar mineral. It occurs as clear, in shades white to gray. They may vary from block shaped to lath shaped grains.

Labradorite occurs in mafic igneous rocks and is the feldspar variety most common in basalt.

Labradorescence is an optical phenomenon which occurs in large crystal masses in anorthosite. It shows a play of colors called as
The labradorescence, or schiller effect.

Gemstone varieties of labradorite exhibiting a high degree of labradorescence are called spectrolite.
 
#67. Lapis lazuli



Lapis lazuli (lapis) is a relatively rare semi precious gemstone with an intense blue color.

Lapis lazuli was being mined in Afganistan as early as the 3rd millennium BC. The other sources are Lake Baikal and Siberia.

Trade in the stone is ancient enough for lapis jewels to be found at ancient Egyptian and Sumeian sites and neolithic burials. Lapis lazuli is a rock largely formed from the lazurite.

White colored lapis lazuli contains calcite, blue colored sodalite, metallic yellow colored pyrite. Some lapis lazuli contains trace amounts of the sulfur-rich variety geyerite. Lapis lazuli occurs in crystalline marble formed by contact metamorphism.

Lain word ‘Lapis’ means “stone” and lazuli is from the Persian ‘lāzaward’, meaning “heaven” or “sky”. It is the “stone of heaven” or “sky stone”.

The name of the place came to be associated with the stone mined there and, eventually, with its color. The French ‘azur’, the Italian ‘azzurro’, the Polish lazur and the Spanish and Portugal ‘azul’ are cognates.

Afghanistan was the source of lapis for the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, as well as the later Greeks and Romans.

In 2000 BC, the Harappan colony was established near the lapis mines. Lapis has been extracted for many years in the Andes, Lake Baikal, Siberia, Angola, Argentina, Burma, Pakistan, Canada, India, California and Colorado.

Lapis takes an excellent polish and can be made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, ornaments, and vases. It was also ground and processed to make paint.

Its usage as a pigment in oil paint ended when a chemically identical synthetic variety called French ultramarine became available.
 
[h=1]#68. Larimar[/h]


Larimar or “Stefilia’s Stone”, is a rare blue variety of pectolite found only in the Dominician Republic in the Caribbean. Its color varies from white, light-blue, green-blue and deep blue.


Larimar is composed of an acid silicate hydrate of calcium and sodium. Larimar has an unique blue coloration. This blue color is due to the substitution of calcium by copper.

Larimar jewelry is sold in the Dominican Republic and in the Caribbean. Usually these stones are set in silver. Sometimes high-grade larimar is also set in gold.


Quality grading is according to coloration and the crystal configuration of the stone. Larimar comes in green with red spots. But the more intense the blue, and the contrasts in the stone, the higher and rarer is the quality.

The blue color is photosensitive and fades with time if exposed to too much light and heat.
 
[h=1]#69. Lepidolite[/h]

Lepidolite is a lilac-gray or rose-colored member of the mica group. It is a secondary source of lithium.

It is associated with other lithium-bearing minerals. It is one of the major sources of the rare alkali metals rubidium and caesium.


It occurs in granite pegmatities, in some quartz veins and granites. Some of the popular associated minerals are quartz, feldspar, tourmaline, topaz and beryl.

Places of occurrence are Brazil, Ural Mountains, California, Canada and Madagascar.
 
[h=1]#70. Malachite[/h]



Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral. This is an opaque, green banded mineral in the mono clinic crystal system. The mineral was given this name due to its resemblance to the leaves of the Mallow plant.



Malachite may be bright green, dark green or blackish green and appear green to yellow green in transmitted light. Has a silky luster if fibrous and dull earthy luster if it is massive. Hardness on Moh’s scale is 3.5 to 4. Light green streaks are common. It may very from translucent to opaque.


Malachite was used as a mineral pigment in green paints from antiquity until about 1800. It was also used for decorative purposes.


Archaeological evidence indicates that this mineral has been mined and smelted for over 3,000 years in Israel. Since then, malachite has been used as both an ornamental stone and as a gemstone.

Large quantities of malachite have been mined in the Russia, Congo, Zambia, Namibia, Mexico, New South Wales, France Arizona and Israel.
 
[h=1]#71. Malaya garnet[/h]

Malaia garnet or Malaya garnet is the name of a garnet varying from light to dark pinkish orange, reddish orange, or yellowish orange. It is the gemstone associated with the month of January and the zodiac sign Aquarius.

Malaya Garnets were first discovered in the mid 1960′s in the Umba River valley bordering Tanzania and Kenya. Today this region is still the primary source for this beautiful gemstone. There are also smaller deposits found throughout Eastern and Central Africa.
 
[h=1]#72. Mali garnet[/h]


Grossular Garnet is colorless or exists in a variety of colors such as yellow, brown, white, green, violet-red and orange-red. Stones from the deposit in Mali are typically yellowish green or brownish green.


It is described as a mixture of grossular and andradite but the concentration of andradite is only 5% . Hence the stone is actually more of a grossularite.


Mali garnet is mined in Mali, West Africa. Its hardness is 6.5 to 7.5 on Moh’s scale of hardness. It is somewhat brittle. Fractures are conchoidal. It varies from yellow to brown through yellowish brown shades.
 
#73. Maw-sit-sit




Maw-sit-sit is a chromium-rich metamorphic rock with brilliant emerald green blotches and bands interspersed with dark green-black blotches. It is found in Kachin State, Myanmar.

It was first discovered in the early 1960’s by Eduard J. Gübelin a famous Swiss gemologist. Some of the other names by which this gemstone is known are mawsitsit, maw-sit-sit jade, chrome-jade, kosmochlore-jade, chrome-albite, jade-albite, chloromelanite.

This rock varies from brilliant emerald green to dark green and to almost black. Patterning varies from splotches to swirls and from to veins to bands. It is normally opaque but very thin splinters are translucent.

The dominant mineral species in maw-sit-sit is kosmochlor, a sodium chromium pyroxene. About 60% of maw-sit-sit is made up of kosmochlor and 15% by a chromium-enriched jadeite. Kosmochlor was known as ‘ureyite’ meaning “green from outer space,” This mineral was found in meteorites.

It has a hardness of 6 to 7 on Moh’s scale of hardness. Maw-sit-sit is translucent to opaque and used for carving or is cut as cabochons. Maw-sit-sit must not be cleaned using chemical agents, nor be exposed to rapid changes in temperature.
 
#74. Moissanite



Moissanite originally referred to a rare mineral discovered by Henry Moissan. It has a chemical formula SiC and various crystalline polymorphs. Earlier, this material Silicon carbide had been synthesized in the laboratory.

Mineral moissanite was discovered by Henry Moissan , while he was examining rock samples from a meteor crater located in Canyon Diablo in Arizona, in 1893.

At first, he identified the crystals as diamonds, but in 1904 he identified the crystals as silicon carbide.The mineral form of silicon carbide was named moissanite in honor of Moissan later.

Until the 1950s no source other than meteorites, had been found. Later moissanite was found as inclusion in kimberlite from a diamond mine in Yakutia in 1959, and in the Green River formation in Wyoming in 1958.

Moissanite, in its natural form, is very rare. It has only been discovered in the upper mantle rock and meteorites. Discoveries have shown that moissanite occurs naturally as inclusions in diamonds.

Moissanite has several applications. Since 1998, it has been regarded as an excellent fine jewel, with optical properties exceeding those of diamond. But it has its own unique appearance.

Moissanite gemstones are sometimes marketed under the trademark “Berzelian,” a reference to the work of Berzelius on SiC.

Because of its hardness, it is useful for high-pressure experiments competing with or even replacing diamonds. Synthetic moissanite has electronic and thermal applications because its is similar to diamonds in its thermal conductivity.
 
dear Subha,

Thank you for the latest cascade of likes. :hug:

I really love to see that I have company here as a lover of crystals.

We call them rocks and minerals but they turn out to be so pretty! :love:

Dr. C.N also loves these as we do. :)

I got a windfall during this visit to USA.

We went to the reptile park.

Since I am not very fond of reptiles after a few lose encounters with the

slithering SSSSSSSSSSSSnakes, I was shopping in the gift shop.

I got a small velvet bag which can be filled with any crystal I liked. I stuffed it

with sparkling grey ones, the maroon crystals which are rather rare to find

and the double colored crystals (golden and purple) for merely 6 $. I made 4 strings and one

bracelet with these. In the shop a single string may cost anything up to 1000 Rs depending on the

weight and size of the crystals. :cool:
 
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