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Zircon’s fire, brilliance, and beauty can rival any gem. The affordability of its vibrant greens, sky blues, and pleasing earth tones contributes to its growing popularity today.
Once considered a diamond alternative, today we know that natural zircons are in fact the most ancient materials on Earth, holding within their brilliant depths a time capsule of our planet’s birth.
A tiny fragment of zircon discovered in Western Australia is the oldest known object on earth: 4.404 billion years old. Earth itself formed less than 150 million years earlier.
An even older example was found in a large meteorite in Chile. The oldest thing scientists have ever examined, that zircon formed at least 4.6 billion years ago in the swirling disk of dust and rocks that became the planets.
Although diamonds are harder than zircons, they are quite young in comparison: a mere 3.3 billion years old.
Zircon was available in Greece and Italy as far back as the sixth century. However, the earlier Hindu writing list zircon as one of the many gemstone on the Kalpa Tree of their religion; green zircon was this mystical tree’s foliage, or so the story is told.
In antiquity, the zircon was often called Hyacinth or Jacinth, the legend tells of a mythological character named Hyacinthus, a youth accidentally slain By Apollo who was jealous of the young man’s beauty. This blood produced thy hyacinth flower, whose beauty is said to be reflected in the red zircon.
The red zircon or hyacinth was believed to drive away evil spirits and nightmares, protect its wearer from enchantment and lightning.
Hindu poets tell of the Kalpa Tree, the ultimate gift to the gods, which was a glowing tree covered with gemstone fruit with leaves of zircon.
In the middle ages, zircon was said to aid sleep, bring prosperity, and promote honour and wisdom in its owner.
According to some Zircon relieves pain. It is said to whet one’s appetite. Zircon also prevents nightmares and ensures a deep tranquil sleep.
Zircon supposedly helps one be more at peace with oneself. Zircon is believed to provide the wearer with wisdom, honor and riches. The loss of luster on a Zircon stone is said to warn of danger.
The name probably comes from the Persian word ‘zargun’, which means ‘gold-colored’, although zircon comes in a wide range of different colors.
The minerals jargon, hyacinth, and jacinth also contain zircon and these have been known since biblical times and are mentioned in the bible in several places. The existence of a new element within these minerals was not suspected until studies by Martin Heinrich Klaproth in the late 18th century who isolated Zircon in 1789.
Zircon has been around in jewellery for hundreds of years. It is known for its high dispersion (sparkliness) and for many years was used to imitate diamonds.
Zircon has long had a supporting role to more well-known gemstones, often stepping in as an understudy when other gems were unavailable.
Because of its association with radioactive elements it is often used in radiometric dating. The oldest object to be discovered on Earth is a tiny grain of Zircon, 4.3 billion years old.
Zircon contains its own internal atomic clock. Its crystal accumulates atoms of uranium, which decay to lead at a known rate. By measuring the relative abundance of two types of uranium and lead in a zircon, geologists can determine old it is. Zircon is also incredibly durable. It remains unscathed while other rocks and minerals melt
and re-form under the tremendous heat and pressure of continental shifts, mountain-building, and violent asteroid impacts.
Today, natural zircon is often overlooked because cubic zirconia, the laboratory-grown diamond imitation, is so much more common. Many people don’t even realize that there is a beautiful natural gemstone called zircon.
Cubic zirconia is a man-made compound of zirconium, oxygen and yttrium, which was discovered in 1937. It lacks the silicon of a true zircon, and is, of course, very much younger.
Zircon is found worldwide in igneous rock formations and gem gravels. Most gemstone grade Zircon is from placer deposits, in the form of rounded, water worn pebbles. Thailand, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka, the source of the largest gem crystals and the greatest variety of colors, produce the major portion of the world’s zircon gem material. The gem gravels of Thailand are the most important commercial, followed by deposits from Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam also produce Zircon as a by product of corundum mining. Norway, Germany and Russia produce Zircon but in lesser amounts. Madagascar and Brazil have produced some very large Zircon crystals and Canada and the United States also have small gem grade zircon deposits. The double-refractive uniaxial tetragonal crystals are often twinned and occur in tones of green, red, yellow, grey, orange, reddish-brown, and blue.
Blue crystals are found in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, but heat treatment of the red-brown material from this region produces most of the blue gems.
Healing Properties:
Zircon symbolizes healing, and has a wide range of healing applications. It has an anti-spasmodic effect on the liver and gall bladder; it has a calming effect on asthma and allergies, and has a beneficial effect on lunch, bronchial, cold and general respiratory problems. It helps it’s wearer to overcome loses, heals mental disturbances and promotes common sense.
Zircon should be placed in dry sea salt once a month where it discharges and recharges at the same time.
Magical Properties:
Energy: Projective
Element: Fire
Powers: Protection, beauty, love, peace, healing, anti theft
Zircon is somewhat of a confusing stone. It is found in many colors but some of them have been artificially produced, they are also known by various names all of the possess magical qualities.
Mystical Properties:
A stone of quiet vibrations, zircon enables one to be at peace with oneself. A stone of great purity, it can create unity with the Higher Self and spirit guides.
Chakra Classification:
Zircon works well on the 1st, Root or Base Chakra and the 2nd, Sacral or Navel Chakra.
Zircons along with turquoise are birthstones of Sagittarius (Archer): Nov. 22-Dec. 21.
Pooja procedure of wearing Zircon:
Pooja should be performed on any Friday between 6:00 am to 7:00 am. Take a white silk cloth. Spread Rajmah over it. Apply sandal, kumkum to the ringa and place it on the white silk. Offer white flowers, agarbathi and camphor. Recite the mantra given below 108 times and wear the ring.
Shukra Mantra
“Om Shum Shukraya Namaha”
We talked about Feldspar awhile back, and how pretty they are… but I want to stop for a moment this month to talk about the difference between Natural Sunstone Feldspar (often aka Indian Sunstone or Oregon Sunstone) and commonly misidentified “Goldstone”, which is a derivative of natural or manmade glass by-products. I’ll keep to generalities here, but hopefully will add some clarity to this matter before this short article is spent!
In the June 2006 Gemstone Article, I said that “Sunstone is… a neighboring Feldspar to both Moonstone and Labradorite…” To add to that information, Indian Sunstone is particularly popular right now, with the nicest specimens being a deep orange/coppery sienna color with gorgeous inner sheen ~ much like the adularescence and labradorescence in Moonstone and Labradorite, respectively. Sunstone is a Feldspar crystal formed in molten lava when a certain combination of chemical elements are present at certain high temperatures, and then discharged onto the surface of the earth by volcanic activity. The crystals are released as lava wears away or is disrupted. While color preferences obviously vary, the deep orange/sienna color Sunstones with brilliant inner shiller like this one are considered to be highly desirable.
Now to contrast with Sunstone, let’s switch gears and talk a tiny bit about Goldstone. In January 2006 Gemstone Article, Goldstone was talked about, and I said: “Many argue that Goldstone is a bonified gemstone, standing next to natural wonders like Amethyst (in the Quartz family)… but still others say, ‘Man touched it ~ it’s no gemstone.’ Goldstone was originally a medium brown/orange color with tiny glitter, which is actually tiny copper chips imbedded in a glass stone base. Now, many times the glass stone base is NATURAL glass, such as Aventurine or Obsidian. Most of the time, however, additives are mixed in, and only remnants of the natural glass remain, becoming a man-made product more than any kind of gemstone.” This is NOT a gem created in the earth, nor is it igneous.
Now to the conclusion: SUNSTONE AND GOLDSTONE ARE NOT THE SAME! Now, from the descriptions, you can understand how they are different, right? Well, vendors on the internet, including but not limited to those on sites like eBay, are selling Goldstone (glass w/ copper specks) as natural Indian Sunstone (igneous, natural rock material mined in regions such as Oregon USA and in various places of India)! This is not only an incredible disservice to the customers they are misleading (or perhaps they are uneducated themselves), but it is also a disservice to the gemstone, Sunstone!
Sunstone is an incredible gemstone, and deserves to be named and identified properly! Goldstone has its place, but is absolutely NO SUBSTITUTE for Sunstone Feldspar ~ not even close! There are, of course, several colors of Sunstone ~ but we are really discussing the deep colors of high quality Indian Sunstone in this article ~ which is most commonly mistaken with Goldstone
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Coral is the gemstone of Mars and its positive influence gives the strength to a person to defeat his enemies. Coral is known as Praval in Sanskrit, Moonga in Hindi, Povel in Marathi. In Urdu and Persian language, it is known as Mirjaan.
Gem Therapy – Effects of Wearing Coral
The positive influence of Coral gives the happiness of younger siblings, courage, strength, patience, leadership qualities, and ability to defeat enemies. Coral is also auspicious for those who want to make their career in the field of mechanical engineering. This gemstone is worn in the beginning of Mahadasha of Mars.
Origin of Coral
Coral is not a non-living product. It is a product of vegetation. This vegetation is found at the bottom of the sea. The plant of coral is about 1.5 to 2 feet long. In Italy, the pictures of lord Ganesha, Krishna and goddess Saraswati are carved on Coral and they are sent for sale in various countries. The wreath of coral is used for chanting mantras.
Gem Therapy – Effect of Coral on Health
Coral is not much expensive but it is very useful. If the person uses ash of Coral, his physical strength increases. It is worn to cure the diseases related to stomach. It is also believed that if a child wears the stone of coral, his health problems may get reduced.
To improve your eye sight, keep coral in water overnight and wash the eyes with that water in the morning. You can do it regularly to get better results. If a person is suffering from jaundice, he should eat the ash of coral with milk cream. If the person has heart or mental problems, he should use the ash of coral.
Who should Wear Coral
If Mars is debilitated and inauspicious in the birth chart, then wear coral to reduce its inauspiciousness. If Mars is located with inauspicious planets in the birth chart, the person becomes short-tempered and aggressive in nature. Therefore, he should wear coral.
If a person is under the influence of Mahadasha of Mars or may not get the results of its Antardasha, he should wear coral to get favourable results.
If a person lacks leadership qualities, due to which he may not be able to get benefits at work, then he should wear Coral.
If Mars is in the fourth house in the birth chart, the person may feel physically weak. If Mars is located in fourth house, Manglik dosha is formed. To reduce the malefic effects of this dosha, he should wear Coral.
If Mars is in third house, the person may have conflicts with his younger siblings. He may not have good relationship with his father. Therefore, to remove such doshas from the birth chart, the person should wear Coral.
A person should wear coral if Mars is in second house and affects the auspiciousness of the ninth house.
If Mars is retrograde, debilitated or in transit in the birth-chart, the person may not get fruitful results. The person may be short-tempered in nature. The debilitated Mars reduces the courage of the person. This kind of a situation may create problems for businessmen. If any of this Yoga are formed in anyone’s birth chart, he should wear coral to increase his courage and strength.
Moonstone is actually a variety of oligoclase crystal and is a member of feldspar family of minerals. Some folks also refer to oligoclase as sunstone and can be found in colors ranging from yellow to orange. Moonstones are commonly found in several colors including green and pale yellow or blue and often translucent or colourless with a noticeable blue or white shimmer. This is a relative soft stone and can be easily scratched if the wearer is not careful. Cleaning usually requires no more than mild soap and water. Avoid the use of harsh cleaners and abrasives so as not to score the surface of the stone. Synthetic stones are available on the market and care should be taken when looking for genuine oligoclase. Genuine high quality moonstone is not commonly used as costume jewellery.
History
This stone can be found in such diverse areas of the world as the United States, principally in Virginia, Brazil, Europe, India and Mexico and even the Alps in Europe. The stones of the highest quality are thought to come from the island nation of Sri Lanka. The use of moonstone as a gemstone dates back to the Roman Empire. More recently, the stone was very popular in at the turn of the twentieth century and became a prominent part of the Art Nouveau movement. The stone has been growing in popularity in North America and has been a gemstone favourite in Europe for much longer time.
Birthstone Information
Moonstone is one of two stones recognized as birthstones for the month of June, the other being alexandrite. Though not technically a gemstone, pearl also represents the month of June. Moonstone is associated with the astrological birth sign of Cancer.
New Age Beliefs and Powers through the Ages
The moonstone is considered by many to be a lovers stone with the ability to inspire great feelings if passion and commitment. In certain cultures such as in India, the stone is regarded as blessed or holy and is thought to bring good fortune to the wearer. In some cultures the stone was thought to make the wearer invisible and is now believed by some in the New Age community to impart a level of spiritual permanence or even immortality to the wearer. Small children and infants are thought to be granted certain protections by owning the stone.
Artificial Forms of Enhancement
There are no known treatment methods used to enhance the color or appearance of this stone.
Color
Moonstone is typically can be found in color can range from white or translucent, to light pink, blue and gray. Green shades of the stone can also be found but are not as common as other colors.
The color of oligoclase ranges from green, gray, yellow, red, and is also found in a colorless state.
General Scientific Information
The chemical name Na(90-70%) Ca(10-30%) (Al, Si)AlSi2 O8 known as sodium calcium aluminum silicate
Hardness measures 6.0 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale – the Mohs scale measures the hardness of metals, minerals, gemstones and crystals on a scale of 1 to 10. For example the hardness properties of most quartz crystals fall around 7 on the scale, as does steel and titanium. Diamond is the hardest known substance on the Mohs scale coming in at a hard 10. To most consumers hardness generally reflects the stones able to resist scratches and cracks.
The cleavage of moonstone (oligoclase) is perfect.
The index of refraction ranges from 1.53 to 1.54 and generally indicates the purity of the stone.
The specific gravity ranges between 2.64 – 2.68.
The crystalline system is triclinic.
It was believed wearing a fine red ruby bestowed good fortune on its owner – although the owner must have already had good fortune enough to possess such a rare and beautiful gemstone! Many people associate its brilliant crimson colors with passion and love, making Ruby an ideal choice for an engagement ring. Ruby is the red variety of the corundum mineral species, while all other colors of corundum are called Sapphire.
Ruby is mined throughout Southeast Asia. While Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) produce exquisite examples of this gemstone that the ancient Sinhalese people called “Ratnaraj,” the King of Gems.
This most sought after gemstone is available in a range of red hues, from purplish and bluish red to orangish red. Ruby is readily available in sizes up to 2 carats, but larger sizes can be obtained. However, in its finest quality, any size Ruby can be scare. In readily available small sizes, Ruby makes an excellent accent gemstone because of its intense, pure red color.
Despite all the best efforts of gemstone merchants to use technology to enrich color, fine ruby is still exceptionally rare. After being extracted from the earth, rubies today are commonly heated to high temperatures to maximize the purity and intensity of their red hue. Impurities may also dissolve or become less noticeable after heating. However, heating will only improve the color if the gemstone already contains the chemistry required. Occasionally rubies with small imperfections are permeated with a silicate bi product of the heating process, which helps to make small fissures less visible. This enhancement, like heating, is permanent and rubies, whether enhanced or not, remain among the most durable of gems.
Today a new method of artificially colouring the surface of paler rubies through the diffusion of beryllium, or a similar element, has made the red of ruby more affordable. Although this method is not yet common, in the future beryllium-diffused rubies may offer an affordable alternative to either untreated or heat-enhanced rubies, which are both much rarer. However, recutting or repolishing may affect the color of some beryllium-diffusion treated rubies.
Natural ruby shades vary from light to dark red and rubies often have undertones, such a purplish cast. The variations add to the charm and individuality of each gemstone.
If you were born in July, ruby is your special birthstone, but ruby jewellery is a universal favourite. We associate the color red with the universal feelings of love and passion.
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