It’s All in the Family Many people don’t know that rubies and sapphires belong to the same gem family, which is called corundum. Fun Fact; the source of the name sapphire is the Greek “Saphiros” which means blue. When they figured out that ruby was a corundum they gave it its own name from the […]

It Made My Ears Hurt Just Watching Jolee was cradling her phone between her shoulder and neck one day while I waited for her. I could tell she was uncomfortable. It was one of those light-bulb-going-off moments. I asked if the phone hurt her ears. She pointed out how one of her ear holes showed […]

I Get it, We Need to Clean Our Jewelry We all need clean jewelry, I do get this. I read with horrified fascination of a couple cleaning their jewelry with gas and was flabbergasted. It did not end well. Why did they do it? I may never know. It prompted me to look into the […]

Spinel Joins Sardonyx and Peridot Exciting news to everyone with an August birthday – spinel is now one of your birthstones! It joins sardonyx and peridot on the official list of August birthstones. The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and Jewelers of America (JA) decided in June to include it with August’s birthstones. JA’s president and […]

What is Porosity? In the simplest of terms, porosity is how holey a material is. No – not “holy” in a religious sense, but “holey,” as in “full of holes.” Materials such as pumice stone and concrete tend to be very porous, while materials like glass and hard plastic are relatively non-porous. All materials have […]