A gemstone is a piece of mineral crystal that, in cut and polished form, is used to make Jewelry.
The traditional classification in the West, which goes back to the ancient Greeks, begins with a distinction between precious and semi-precious; In modern use, the precious stones are diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald, with all other gemstones being semi-precious.
At House of Lor, we love to use gemstones in our Jewellery. Below are the gemstones we use in our Irish Gold Jewellery.
Corundum Sapphire
Sapphire is said to be the wisdom stone, stimulating concentration, enhancing creativity and promoting purity and depth of thought. It is believed to focus and calm the mind as well as remove unwanted thoughts, depression and mental tension.
Sapphires, and their close cousins, rubies, are members of the corundum mineral species.
Topaz
Topaz soothes, heals, stimulates, recharges, re-motivates and aligns the meridians of the body – directing energy to where it is needed most. It promotes truth and forgiveness. Topaz brings joy, generosity, abundance and good health. It is known as a stone of love and good fortune. It releases tension, inducing relaxation. Topaz promotes openness and honesty, self-realisation and self-control. It aids problem-solving and assists in expressing ideas. Stabilises the emotions, making you receptive to love from all sources.
Rose Quartz
Rose Quartz purifies and opens the heart at all levels to promote love, self-love, friendship, deep inner healing and feelings of peace. Calming and reassuring, it helps to comfort in times of grief. Rose Quartz dispels negativity and protects against environmental pollution, replacing it with loving vibes.
Blue Chalcedony
Blue Chalcedony encourages harmony, enthusiasm and goodwill. Blue Chalcedony is a nurturing stone that absorbs negativity and promotes emotional harmony and stimulates feelings of benevolence and generosity. Blue Chalcedony enhances mental flexibility, boosts listening and communication skills, enhances self-perception, and improves memory. Blue Chalcedony is a nurturing stone and it absorbs negative energy. It brings the mind, body, emotions and spirit into harmony. Chalcedony instils feelings of benevolence and generosity. Blue Chalcedony helps promote peaceful assertiveness; this can bring a peaceful resolution to conflicts.
Smoky Quartz
A powerful grounding and balancing stone that is a super-charged variation of the extensive Quartz group of crystals, but with a distinct twist. It gets its wispy hints of brown from exposure to natural underground radiation from granite deposits, giving regular Quartz an added punch of celestial vibrations.
Amethyst
Amethyst is a natural tranquiliser, it relieves stress and strain, soothes irritability, balances mood swings, dispels anger, rage, fear and anxiety. Alleviates sadness and grief, and dissolves negativity. Amethyst activates spiritual awareness and opens intuition.
Cubic Zirconia (referred to as “CZ”)
Cubic zirconia is made from a naturally occurring mineral called zirconium oxide.
Cubic zirconia is a lab-grown gemstone. Cubic zirconia is a colourless, synthetic gemstone made of the cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide. In all cubic zirconia Jewelry, the gemstones are exclusively lab-created.
Cubic Zirconia is much cheaper than real diamonds. It strongly resembles diamonds, which is why it is so popular in Jewelry. Available in any colour or diamond cut, it has flawless clarity.
Because cubic zirconia is such a clear and bright gem—even more so than a natural diamond—it is often associated with clarity.
This stone is believed to improve focus, increase clarity and release the ego.
Green Cubic Zirconia
The colour of Green Cubic Zirconia is like a top-grade emerald. Bright, beautiful, hard and flawless.
Emerald is a life-affirming stone. It opens the heart chakra and calms the emotions. It provides inspiration, balance, wisdom, and patience. It is said to promote friendship, peace, harmony, and domestic bliss by enabling the wearer to both give and receive unconditional love.
Emerald, being a stone of love and romance, will bring joy, enhance emotions, memory, faith and clairvoyance. It is said to benefit one’s intuition, promoting communication through truthfulness.
Are there different qualities of cubic zirconia?
Yes, there are six categories used to describe the quality of cubic zirconia: AAAAA (the highest quality), AAAA, AAA, AA, A and AB (the lowest quality). The highest quality stones are hard and clear, while the lowest quality stones are cloudy and soft.
House of Lor uses ‘AAA’ high-quality cubic zirconia in our Irish Gold Jewelry.
What is your favourite gemstone? Let us know @houseoflor
