Ruby – July’s birthstone This much-loved precious gemstone is one of the few truly red stones. It does vary through pink and purple tones, but the finest rubies are vivid red and come from Myanmar. Rubies feature heavily in Indian wedding jewellery, as red is thought to bring good luck and the wedding saree is often a red one, emblazoned with gold threadwork – and very heavy to wear! We all know what a ruby looks like, but you may not have come across the much rarer Star Ruby. This is an amazing stone which due to light refraction and...

June’s birthstone is pearl, representing purity and devotion and a firm favourite of the Royals from Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II. Our Queen can often be seen wearing her 3 row pearl necklace, so similar in look to our Imperial Pearl Necklace. The Queen Mum more usually wore 4 rows. Our version is called the Empress Pearl Necklace. Of course, Princess Diana loved pearls too – we created the Diana pendant in sapphire and pearls in her memory. In Elizabeth I’s day, the only pearls available were natural, found growing in oysters on the sea bed. Nowadays, most pearls are...

  May’s birthstone is Emerald, that fabulous beryl gemstone, named from the Greek for ‘green’. It is one of the original ‘precious gemstones’, famed for its rich green colour, first mined in Egypt from 330BC, but nowadays there are two main sources – Columbia and Zambia. The availability of fine quality emeralds is limited and treatments such as glass filling are widespread, in order to produce enough commercially viable stones. Legend has it that emeralds have the power to make the wearer more intelligent and quick-witted. It was once also believed to cure diseases such as malaria and cholera. Its...

Diamond is April’s birthstone, and to my mind they really deserve their place as the queen of gemstones.  Apart from the unparalleled beauty of a large, beautifully cut and polished diamond, I love the fact that they are the hardest of all the gemstones, so will never get scratched or roughed up when worn as a ring or bracelet, as is the case with so many other stones.  Diamonds are in fact 140 times harder than the next closest gemstone. So much has been written on diamonds, how to judge and buy, with issues of colour, cut and clarity, that...

This month’s birthstone is aquamarine, a beautiful subtle pale blue gemstone, named after the colour of seawater.  Its my birthday in March so this is my birthstone too.  Prices for the deeper blue gemstones, which I prefer, put them outside my price bracket, but if like me you love pale blue, then you’ll find sky blue topaz a great alternative, especially if you get a well cut stone with plenty of sparkle.  They are the perfect foil for spring outfits, adding a classy finishing touch.     Factoid: There are myths and legends surrounding almost all the ancient gemstones and...