lore – Artful Gems

The Power of the Hamsa

Posted on December 6, 2018 by Artful Gems

Hamsa All is Well Today I wanted to write a quick post. I’ll write these once in a while and talk about a symbol or a culture, or just a quick motivation. I began the blog and planned to continue adding to the Cultures and Symbols page, but honestly, it has been hard to keep Read More

Topaz, November’s Birthstone

Posted on November 3, 2018November 4, 2018 by Artful Gems

Topaz is November’s birthstone. Use the blue variety to celebrate the fourth wedding anniversary. It is a colorless gem that has aluminum fluoro-hydroxy silicate. Impurities may vary the intensity of color. Most of the gems are wine, yellow, pale gray, reddish-orange, or blue brown. Blue Topaz does occur in nature, but is rare and almost Read More

Opals for Me

Posted on October 8, 2018October 13, 2018 by Artful Gems

Opal Amy Lowell, 1874 – 1925 You are ice and fire, The touch of you burns my hands like snow. You are cold and flame. You are the crimson of Amaryllis, The silver of moon-touched magnolias. When I am with you, My heart is a frozen pond Gleaming with agitated torches. In the eighth grade, a close classmate, Read More

Peridot Is August

Posted on August 11, 2018 by Artful Gems

Peridot is the birthstone for August and the 15th anniversary gemstone. The ancient Egyptians mined it on the Red Sea island of Zabargad, and called it the gem of the sun. It is one of the few gemstones in only one color. It is the lime green tone that is most recognized. Some believed it Read More

Larimar

Posted on March 18, 2018September 30, 2018 by Artful Gems

Larimar, also called Stefilia’s Stone, is a rare blue variety of Pectolite found only in the Dominican Republic, one of the Greater Antilles. Its color varies from white, light-blue, green-blue to deep blue. Miguel Méndez and Norman Rilling rediscovered Larimar in 1974 on a beach at the foot of the Bahoruco Mountain. I say rediscovered because Read More