Brief History of Birthstone Pendants

Everyone has a birthstone pendant. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be reading this. Where did birthstones come from? Why were they assigned the properties and characteristics they were? Do they actually have healing properties? These are all legitimate questions I will be attempting to answer in this blog post, so stick around!

We collect gemstones and shiny, sparkling things because they’re beautiful. They become priceless when we attach meaning to them or mark them as “sacred” or special. That is, beauty, in combination with a lovely meaning, is what makes birthstones so incredibly popular. There is a special legend of symbolism behind each individual birthstone, with supposed healing properties applied to each. I will take a few unrelated stones and give some back-story behind them.

Garnet: It is believed that garnet came from Persephone, the Greek goddess of sunshine who was captured by Hades, god of the underworld. Persephone was released with garnet gemstones that looked very similar to pomegranate, which makes sense seeing as the word garnet comes from the Latin word ‘granatus’, meaning seed.

Emerald: Perhaps the most difficult of conditions, emerald has been mined since the ancient Egyptians. The emerald was a favorite stone of Cleopatra herself, who claimed the mines as her own property. She often gave portraits of herself carved in emerald to important visitors. This stone is associated with Venus, the goddess of love. With that being said, emeralds are associated with love, beauty, and fertility; all characteristics Venus exemplified. It also explains why these properties are still associated with emeralds; they have nearly always been considered the stones of fertility.

Peridot: From the French word peridot, meaning ‘gold’ is the birthstone of August and the stone given to a married couple of 16 years of marriage. A peridot birthstone pendant was originally used as a carved talisman of the ancient papyri, even found in the Pharaoh’s treasury. Europeans often used peridot to decorate church plates and robes. They attached various meanings to the stone including happiness, aiding friendship, keeping away envious thought, protect against the ‘evil eye’, etc.

All in all, a lot of attributes that gemstones are said to have come from a lengthy history, most often associated with gods and goddesses of religions old. As for healing qualities, there is little to no proof that these stones have any sort of medicinal properties. However, there is no harm in treating birthstone pendants as if they have they healing attributes as long as you understand that gemstones will never replace the care you will receive from a licensed, trained professional.

The Tennis Bracelet: Game, Set and Match

Believe it or not: the tennis bracelet actually did get its name from the game of tennis.

Tennis bracelets were originally known as an eternity or in-line bracelet, but in 1987, tennis queen Chris Evert put this piece of jewelry on the map.  The athlete loved her in-line bracelets and wore them everywhere; she even wore them on the court while playing.

At the 1987 U.S. Open, she stopped a match already in progress when she noticed that her signature bracelet had fallen off.  The whole world watched as Evert looked for it.  Soon after, the eternity bracelet became affectionately known as the tennis bracelet.

Today, tennis bracelets are considered a classic piece of jewelry and are a must for every fashionable woman.  The bracelets are often given as a gift to celebrate a very special occasion like a coming of age,  a graduation, a birthday or an anniversary.  In fact, the traditional diamond tennis bracelet has become an extremely popular gift for one’s 10th anniversary as the diamond is the G.I.A. gemstone listed for one’s celebration of ten years together and the endless ring of diamonds cascading around the wrist signify strength, eternal love and constancy.

While the diamond in-line bracelet is the one traditionally recognized as a tennis bracelet, there are multiple variations.  Now it is very common to combine diamonds and with other gemstones like rubies or sapphires, others feature colorful birthstones or mix gemstones with decorative metalwork.  Any type of bracelet that has a repetitive design could be considered a tennis bracelet.

The multiple varieties give way to different meanings.  Where a diamond tennis bracelet symbolizes love and security, different stone selections and designs represent different things.  Pink topaz or pink sapphire tennis bracelets have become a popular way to fashionably show support for breast cancer awareness.  Tennis bracelets featuring a repeat of two different gemstones often symbolize one’s relationship with another be a it a family member, friend or life long companion.  Recently, mothers have begun wearing bracelets featuring the birthstones of their children.  A tennis bracelet set completely with one’s own birthstone represents independence and pride.

The choices are endless.  Regardless of the style you choose – the tennis bracelet is a timeless versatile piece.  They are simple enough for everyday wear – as illustrated by one of Sport’s most revered tennis players – and perfect for adding glamour to an evening event.

August – Favorite Treasure of the Pirates & August Birthstone

A part of the olivine family, peridot ranks between a 6.5 and 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness and is known for its sparkling lime green brilliance.  Peridot (pear-a-doe) is known as the birthstone for the month of August as well as the anniversary gift stone for a 16^th wedding anniversary.

But there’s more to the verdant beauty than birthdays and celebration.  In the early days, pirates wore this gem to ward off all evil and enemies as peridot is thought to bring the wearer luck, good health, success and peace.  While pirates may not have desired the effect of the latter, they could certainly use any talisman promising success and health.

Cleopatra was another fan of the lime green gemstone.  She’s often been associated with emeralds, however it is now believed that due to early mistaken identity between the two stones, that she predominantly wore peridot.

In early days of trading, Peridot was mistook for Emerald. This caused trouble for the gem early on, but once it established its own reputation as the “evening emerald,” traders were no longer scared of being caught with it.

This gem saving reputation comes from the ability of Peridot to flash even in the smallest of light. Thus, the evening emerald is a perfect gem to wear out to the opera with that little black dress.

Oddly, until recent times, a vast majority of Peridot mining occurred in Gila County Arizona on an Apache Indian reservation. Unfortunately, this US based Peridot is not as well regarded as Burmese, Pakistani or Egyptian Peridot. However, very little mining is going on in these regions at this time. In its best form, Peridot can fetch as much as $300 per carat in larger sizes of 5 carats or more.