Agate
The name agate comes to us through Latin from the Greek word for the River Achates, in Sicily, where this material was first found in significant quantities.
Agate is one of the first materials known to man. According to legends it makes the wearer oral has been used as adornment since prehistoric times. Agate was also said to cure insomnia and give to its owner pleasant dreams.

Amethyst
Purple has long been considered a royal color so it is not surprising that amethyst has been so much in demand during history.
Leonardo Da Vinci wrote that amethyst was able to dissipate evil thoughts and quicken the intelligence.



Aquamarine
It has long been considered the symbol of happiness and everlasting youth. It was also thought to induce sleep. It has been believed that when held in the mouth, aquamarine could enable one to call a devil from hell and receive answers to any questions ask.


Aventurine Quartz
The appearance of this green variety of quartz is characterized by a spangled or glittery adventurer effect that can be seen when the stone is rotated in front of a light. This is caused by inclusions of different minerals, mainly platelets of green fuchsite.  

Carnelian
This variety of chalcedony with colors between red, brownish red, and orange red was said to have the power to drive away evil and bring good luck.
Carnelian was supposedly the right stone for those with weak or timid voices, because it could give them courage to speak boldly and well.
It was also said to protect against the envious, and was responsible for making sure the desires of its wearer were gratified.

Cat's eye
In the Orient, cat's eye is highly revered as a preserver of good fortune, the belief being that it guards the owner's wealth and it protects him from poverty. In Sri Lanka cat's eye was considered to be a potent charm against evil spirits.    


Citrine
Is one of the most affordable gemstones. A transparent quartz named from the French for lemon, "citron", citrine has yellow to gold to orange brown shades.
In ancient times, citrine was worn as protection against snake venom and evil thoughts.

Coral
Coral has been used as adornment since prehistoric times. Coral inlays and ornaments have been found in tombs from the Iron Age. It has a history of religious significance spreading from Romans to Tibetans. It was held in high esteem among the Chinese and the Hindus and used as ornament in the images of their gods. Coral was long thought to be a powerful talisman that could stop bleeding, protect from evil spirits, cure sterility and ward off hurricanes.

Emerald
Emerald is the most valuable type of beryl.
The history of the emerald is as fascinating as it is voluminous. The name emerald is a derivative of an ancient Persian word, coming to us through the corruption of the Latin « Smaragdus ». The ancients prized it as the symbol of love, rebirth and the eternal youth. Because the rich green color of emerald reminds of spring, it has been treasured for at least the past 4,000 years by different Cultures around the world.
The first emerald mines recorded in history are the famous Cleopatra’s mines rediscovered in 1818 in Northern Egypt. These ancient mines were exhausted long ago. The emerald mines in Colombia have a history somewhat similar to those in Egypt. When the Spaniards conquered the Incas, they saw emeralds in their possession, but even under torture, these never revealed their source. Years later, one mine in the Chivor area in Colombia was discovered quite by accident.

Garnet
Garnet was known thousands of years before our era and is mentioned in early biblical writings, where it is called «carbunculus» meaning «Little Spark». It should be considered, though, that in Pliny's time all glowing red gems were referred to by this name. Garnet was thought to have strong curative powers. In powder, it was used as poultice to relieve fever. As an amulet, garnet was favored by travelers, for it was said to protect and preserve health and honor, cure the wearer of all diseases, and guard him from all perils during the course of a journey.  

Lapis Lazuli
The name of lapis lazuli has international roots. The word lapis is the Latin «lapis» meaning stone, and lazuli comes from an old Arabic word, «allazjward», meaning heaven, sky or simply blue.
Lapis lazuli shares with turquoise the distinction of being among the most prized of all gemstones of earlier civilizations. In a grave from the Indus valley, the lapis ornaments found were dated as 9000 years old. In Babylonia, Ur and ancient Egypt, lapis was very highly valued. It was believed to cure melancholy and one particular kind of recurrent fever. In Rome it was considered a powerful aphrodisiac

Moonstone
Moonstone is the most valuable stone from the feldspar group. A billowy or floating blue light becomes visible when the stone is rotated in front of a light source. This effect, called adularescence, is caused by the intergrowth of feldspar in oriented positions within the main mass of the moonstone. In many areas of the world, moonstone is believed to bring good fortune to its wearer .            

Onyx
The only proper use for the term onyx is to describe the opaque chalcedony composed of straight, parallels bands of black and white.
The term is used incorrectly when applied to grayish chalcedony or agate, which has been dyed since ancient times to produce a material known as black onyx. The name onyx comes from the Greek word Onux, which means fingernail. The story is that one day Cupid cut the divine fingernails of Venus with an arrowhead while she was sleeping. He left the clippings scattered on the sand and the fates turned them into stone so that no part of the heavenly body would ever perish.

Peridot
Peridot is the gem form of the mineral olivine and is called sometimes Chrysolite. Small crystals of peridot are often found in the rocks created by Volcanoes and can also be found in meteors that fall on earth. Peridot was called «Gem of the sun» by the ancients. They believed that it had the power to dissolve enchantments and to drive evil spirits away. For peridot to exert its full powers as a talisman, it had to be set in gold, and when worn in this way, it was thought to dispel the terrors of the night.          

Tiger eye
Tiger's eye is quartz with inclusions of very small quartz crystals that are stained and which replace the crocidolite fiber inclusions of the gem. The presence of the fibrous structure produces a silky sheen when the material is cut. If well cut in cabochon, it can reproduce an «eye» quite well. If crocidolite has not been completely replaced by silica, the original grayish blue color of crocidolite remains and produces what is called hawk's eye or falcon's eye.

Tourmaline
The name tourmaline comes from a Singhalese word, «touramalli», meaning "mixed colored stones" and was originally applied to an assortment of colored stones consisting mainly of zircons. Tourmaline occurs in every color of the rainbow and also in combinations of two or three colors. Sometimes the colors are at different ends of the crystal, while other times one color is in the heart of the crystal and another on the outside. When the later combination displays a pink center with a green rind it is called "watermelon tourmaline".
Rubellite tourmaline cabochon Tourmaline was prized as a gem through history, but her main admirer was Tzu Hsi, the Dowager Empress who ruled China from 1860 to 1908, and then wielded behind the throne her power until her death in 1911. This last Empress of the Ch'ing Dynasty loved this stone so much that she bought enormous quantities of it when a new mine opened in California. The gem was used for carving purposes and for fashioning toggles or buttons for the jackets worn by the royal court and by other wealthy individuals. Even now, her body rests eternally on a tourmaline pillow.