The earth never repeats itself

What it has meant

Garnet takes its name from the Latin for pomegranate seed. It has been traditionally associated with loyalty, safe travel and keeping faith with a promise, and in medieval Europe it was carried as a protective stone on long journeys.

What it is

Garnet is not one mineral but a family of closely related silicates. Most red garnet sold today is almandine or pyrope. It takes a high polish, has no cleavage, and is a reliable everyday ring stone.

Colour

Deep red to wine; also orange, green and purple varieties

Mineral

Garnet group silicates (almandine, pyrope, rhodolite)

Found in

India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Brazil

Zodiac

Capricorn and Aquarius

Anniversary

2nd

Care Warm soapy water and a soft brush. Garnet is hard enough for daily wear but store it apart from harder stones to avoid scratches.

What it has meant

The name comes from the Greek amethystos, meaning not drunk. The Greeks drank from amethyst cups to stay clear-headed. It has long been traditionally associated with calm, clarity and a steady mind.

What it is

Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz. Colour comes from iron and natural irradiation inside the earth. The most prized tone is a deep violet with red flashes, often called Siberian, though almost none now comes from Siberia.

Colour

Pale lilac to deep violet

Mineral

Quartz (silicon dioxide), coloured by trace iron

Found in

Brazil, Uruguay, Zambia, Bolivia

Zodiac

Aquarius and Pisces

Anniversary

6th

Care Warm soapy water. Keep out of prolonged direct sun, which can slowly soften the colour.

What it has meant

The name means seawater. Roman sailors carried it for a safe crossing, and it has been traditionally associated with calm and with courage, two things a sailor needs in the same moment.

What it is

Aquamarine is blue beryl, coloured by iron. It is usually eye-clean, unlike its sister emerald, and cuts well in large sizes. Its hardness and lack of cleavage make it one of the most durable pale stones.

Colour

Pale sky blue to blue-green

Mineral

Beryl, the same mineral family as emerald

Found in

Brazil (Minas Gerais), Nigeria, Madagascar, Pakistan, Mozambique

Zodiac

Pisces and Aries

Anniversary

19th

Care Very easy. Warm soapy water, and it tolerates ultrasonic cleaners.

What it has meant

Named for the county in upstate New York where it was first found in dolostone pockets. It has been traditionally associated with amplification, the stone worn alongside another to make its meaning louder.

What it is

Herkimer quartz is a quartz crystal that forms with a natural point at both ends, which is why it needs no cutting. It is sold as Herkimer diamond, but it is quartz, not diamond, with a hardness of 7 rather than 10. We call it what it is.

Colour

Colourless and water-clear, sometimes with tiny black carbon inclusions

Mineral

Quartz (silicon dioxide), double-terminated crystals

Found in

Herkimer County, New York, USA

Zodiac

Aries and Taurus

Anniversary

April's official stone, diamond, marks the 60th

Care Warm soapy water. The natural points are sharp, so store it separately.

What it has meant

Cleopatra claimed the Egyptian emerald mines as her own. The stone has been traditionally associated with growth, renewal and seeing clearly, and Roman writers advised resting the eyes on one.

What it is

Emerald is green beryl. Almost every natural emerald carries inclusions, which gemologists call the jardin, or garden. Clarity is judged by eye rather than under magnification, and the colour matters far more than the clarity.

Colour

Green, from bluish green to a slightly yellow green

Mineral

Beryl, coloured by chromium and vanadium

Found in

Colombia, Zambia, Brazil, Ethiopia

Zodiac

Taurus and Gemini

Anniversary

20th and 35th

Care Gentle only. Warm water and a soft cloth, no ultrasonic or steam cleaners, and keep it away from heat.

What it has meant

Romans believed it was made of solidified moonlight. It has been traditionally associated with intuition, new beginnings and the quiet side of things, and it is one of the oldest stones used in love tokens.

What it is

Moonstone is a feldspar built of thin alternating layers. Light scattering between those layers creates adularescence, the glow that seems to float beneath the surface and move as the stone turns. A blue sheen on a clear body is the most valued.

Colour

Colourless to white, peach, grey, with a blue or rainbow sheen

Mineral

Feldspar (orthoclase), layered with albite

Found in

Sri Lanka, India, Madagascar, Myanmar

Zodiac

Gemini and Cancer

Anniversary

13th

Care Softer than most ring stones. Warm soapy water, avoid knocks, and no ultrasonic cleaning.

What it has meant

The Sanskrit name ratnaraj means king of gems. Ruby has been traditionally associated with courage, vitality and the blood of life, and warriors across Asia set it into armour.

What it is

Ruby is red corundum. Any other colour of corundum is called sapphire. It is second only to diamond in hardness, which makes it the most durable coloured stone for a daily ring.

Colour

Red, from pinkish red to deep purplish red

Mineral

Corundum, coloured by chromium; the same mineral as sapphire

Found in

Myanmar (Mogok), Mozambique, Thailand, Sri Lanka

Zodiac

Cancer and Leo

Anniversary

15th and 40th

Care Very easy. Warm soapy water, and it tolerates ultrasonic cleaners.

What it has meant

Egyptians called it the gem of the sun and mined it on an island in the Red Sea. It has been traditionally associated with renewal, growth and easing the weight of the past.

What it is

Peridot is gem-quality olivine, and one of the few stones that forms in only one colour. It crystallises deep in the mantle and reaches the surface through volcanic activity. It has even been recovered from pallasite meteorites.

Colour

Yellow-green only; it comes in one colour

Mineral

Olivine (magnesium iron silicate)

Found in

Pakistan, Myanmar, USA (San Carlos, Arizona), China; also found in meteorites

Zodiac

Leo and Virgo

Anniversary

16th

Care Warm soapy water. Avoid sudden temperature changes and ultrasonic cleaners.

What it has meant

Medieval clergy wore sapphire as a sign of heaven. It has been traditionally associated with wisdom, truth and clear judgement, and Greeks consulted oracles while wearing it.

What it is

Sapphire is corundum in any colour but red. Blue is coloured by iron and titanium. At a hardness of 9 it wears for a lifetime, and the finest velvety blues come from Kashmir and Sri Lanka.

Colour

Blue, from pale cornflower to midnight; also pink, yellow, green and white

Mineral

Corundum, coloured by iron and titanium

Found in

Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Myanmar, Thailand, Australia, Montana (USA)

Zodiac

Virgo and Libra

Anniversary

5th and 45th

Care Very easy. Warm soapy water, and it tolerates ultrasonic cleaners.

What it has meant

Ground lapis became ultramarine, the blue of Renaissance altarpieces. It has been traditionally associated with truth, wisdom and speaking plainly, and Egyptian pharaohs were buried with it.

What it is

Lapis is a rock made mostly of lazurite, with pyrite giving the gold flecks and calcite the white veins. The deepest even blue with fine pyrite is the top grade. It is opaque and always cut as a cabochon or bead.

Colour

Ultramarine blue flecked with gold pyrite

Mineral

A rock, not a single mineral: lazurite with calcite and pyrite

Found in

Afghanistan (Sar-i Sang, mined for over 6,000 years), Chile, Russia

Zodiac

Virgo and Libra

Anniversary

9th

Care Porous. Wipe with a soft dry cloth, no soaking, no chemicals, no ultrasonic.

What it has meant

Romans called it the queen of gems because it held the colours of all the others. It has been traditionally associated with hope, imagination and feeling things at full volume.

What it is

Opal is not crystalline. It is made of tiny silica spheres stacked in a grid, and light diffracting through that grid creates play of colour. No two opals share a pattern, which is why no two are priced alike.

Colour

No body colour of its own; flashes of every colour from the light around it

Mineral

Hydrated silica, containing up to 20 percent water

Found in

Australia (most of the world's supply), Ethiopia, Mexico, Brazil

Zodiac

Libra and Scorpio

Anniversary

14th

Care Delicate. Soft cloth and warm water only, avoid heat and very dry conditions, and never ultrasonic.

What it has meant

It has been traditionally associated with protection and boundaries, the stone people reach for when they want something kept out.

What it is

Tourmaline comes in more colours than any other gem family, and schorl, the black iron-rich variety, is the most common. It is pyroelectric: it builds a static charge when heated, which is why Dutch traders used it to pull ash from pipes.

Colour

Black, opaque, with a glassy polish

Mineral

Tourmaline group (schorl), a boron silicate

Found in

Brazil, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Mozambique, USA (Maine, California)

Zodiac

Libra and Scorpio

Anniversary

8th

Care Warm soapy water. Avoid sudden heat, which can crack it.

What it has meant

The name may come from the Sanskrit tapas, meaning fire. Topaz has been traditionally associated with strength and with saying what you mean, and Greeks believed it could make the wearer invisible in a crisis.

What it is

Topaz is one of the hardest gems, though it has a perfect cleavage, so it needs a protective setting. Natural colours run from colourless through blue, yellow and pink; the rare imperial topaz from Ouro Preto is the most valued.

Colour

Colourless, blue, yellow, pink and the rare orange-pink called imperial

Mineral

Aluminium silicate with fluorine

Found in

Brazil, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Pakistan

Zodiac

Scorpio and Sagittarius

Anniversary

4th (blue) and 23rd (imperial)

Care Warm soapy water. Avoid hard knocks and ultrasonic cleaners because of the cleavage.

What it has meant

It has been traditionally associated with abundance, warmth and good fortune, and merchants kept a piece in the cash box.

What it is

Citrine is the yellow to orange variety of quartz, named for the French citron. It is one of the most affordable large gems and takes everyday wear well.

Colour

Pale yellow to honey and amber

Mineral

Quartz (silicon dioxide), coloured by trace iron

Found in

Brazil, Bolivia, Madagascar, Zambia

Zodiac

Scorpio and Sagittarius

Anniversary

13th

Care Warm soapy water. Keep out of prolonged strong sun.

What it has meant

Maasai tradition holds that blue is a sacred colour given to women after a birth. Tanzanite has been traditionally associated with transformation and with holding steady while things change.

What it is

Tanzanite is blue zoisite, discovered in 1967 and named by Tiffany & Co. the following year. It is strongly pleochroic, showing blue, violet and burgundy from different directions. It comes from a single deposit a few square miles across, so the supply is finite.

Colour

Blue to violet, shifting with the angle of view

Mineral

Zoisite, coloured by vanadium

Found in

The Merelani Hills near Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Nowhere else on earth.

Zodiac

Sagittarius and Capricorn

Anniversary

24th

Care Warm soapy water only. No ultrasonic, no steam, and avoid knocks.

What it has meant

One of the first gems ever mined, worn by Egyptian pharaohs, Persian kings and Native American nations alike. It has been traditionally associated with protection across more cultures than any other stone.

What it is

Turquoise is an opaque phosphate coloured by copper. It forms where water carries copper through weathered rock, which is why it is found in arid regions. The matrix veining is the host rock, and the even sky blue without it is the historic Persian grade.

Colour

Sky blue to blue-green, often veined with its host rock

Mineral

Copper aluminium phosphate

Found in

Iran (Nishapur), USA (Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico), China, Egypt (Sinai, the oldest mines)

Zodiac

Sagittarius and Capricorn

Anniversary

11th

Care Porous. Soft dry cloth, no soaking, no lotions or perfume on it, no ultrasonic.