Gemstone Research

  Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide Al2O3, when in any color other than red or dark pink, in which case the gem would instead be called a Ruby. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give corundum blue, yellow, pink, purple, orange, or greenish color. Pink-orange sapphires are also called Padparadscha.   Sapphires are commonly worn as jewelery. Sapphires can be found naturally, by searching through certain sediments or rock formations, or they can be manufactured for industrial or decorative purposes in large crystal boules. Because of the...

  Emeralds are a variety of the mineral beryl Be3Al2-SiO3-6 colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium which has been commonly used in fine jewelry for centuries. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5-8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Emerald is regarded as the traditional birthstone for May, as well as the traditional gemstone for the astrological signs of Taurus, Cancer and sometimes Gemini. In some cultures, the emerald is the traditional gift for the 55th wedding anniversary. It is also used as a 20th and 35th wedding anniversary stone.

ET Gems, Black Diamonds Come From Outer Space   If you’re looking for a space-age way to propose marriage, a black diamond ring might be the way to go. Long baffled by their origin, scientists now have evidence that these charcoal-colored gems formed in outer space.   Stephen Haggerty and Jozsef Garai, both of Florida International University, analyzed the hydrogen in Black Diamond samples using infrared-detection instruments at the Brookhaven National Laboratory and found that the quantity indicated that the mineral formed in a supernova explosion.   Also called carbonado Diamonds, meaning burned or carbonized in Portuguese, Black Diamonds defy mineral-making...

  The ruby is a red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum aluminium oxide. The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties or colors of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires.   Rubies have a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Among the natural gems only moissanite and diamond are harder, with diamond having a Mohs hardness of 10 and moissonite falling somewhere in between corundum Ruby and diamond in hardness.