Alexandrite is one of the rarest of all colored gemstones and is famed for its color change from green in daylight to red under incandescent light. Fine faceted alexandrite over 1 carat is more valuable than sapphire, ruby or emerald.

Alexandrite is a variety of chrysoberyl, with an excellent hardness of 8.5 on the Mohs scale, placing it right behind sapphire and ruby. Alexandrite is rare because of its chemical composition. Chrysoberyl is colored by traces iron and titatnium, but alexandrite is also colored by chromium, which gives it the emerald green hue in daylight.

Alexandrite is also the substitute birthstone for June.

Prasiolite is also known as "Green amethyst", a trade name for marketing purposes. Pale lavender amethyst is heat treated to turn the color green. There are many shades of green available, from pale to vivid. This stone is in the Quartz family.

Almandine is a form of Garnet. Almandine occurs rather abundantly in the gem-gravels of Sri Lanka, whence it has sometimes been called Ceylon-ruby. When the color inclines to a violet tint, the stone is often called Syrian garnet, a name said to be taken from Syriam, an ancient town of Pegu.

Large deposits of fine almandine-garnets were found, some years ago, in the Northern Territory of Australia, and were at first taken for rubies and thus they were known in trade for some time afterwards as Australian rubies.

Garnet is the birthstone for January.

This semi-opaque blue-green variety of feldspar is named after the Amazon River.

Amazonite balances feminine and masculine energy. It promotes kindness and practicality. It is an excellent stone for artists and for men.

Pale azure blue amazonite is know as the lucky "Hope Stone". It will be lucky for all your hopes and dreams. Amazonite is blue-green to pale green stone in the feldspar group. It comes mainly from United States and Australia.

Healing properties of amazonite Amazonite helps balance the emotions and gives physical stamina.

Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz and the most valued member of the quartz family. It must be purple to be amethyst, but it can display a range of shades including deep purple, light lilac, lavender and mauve. Top quality amethyst is a deep medium purple with rose-colored flashes. Its purple color made it a stone of royalty for many thousands of years.

Worn to make the wearer gentle and amiable. Amethyst powers include: dreams, healing, peace, love, spiritual upliftment, courage, psychism, protection against thieves, and happiness.

Birthstone: Amethyst is the birthstone for February.

Nature has offered gemstone lovers a fascinating gem called as Ametrine. It is bi-colored quartz found naturally. It is an amazing combination of two semi precious stones viz. citrine and amethyst. It possesses properties of both these stones therefore it becomes a unique gem.

It is a belief that Ametrine balances the metaphysical properties of Amethyst and Citrine. It is believed to develop creativity, self-confidence, self-esteem and emotional stability. It is associated with sixth chakra that relates to inner consciousness thus aids to meditation and increases personal power and spiritual awareness.

Andesine is a member of the group of minerals known as feldspars. In the gemstone world, moonstone is another famous feldspar. But moonstone is an orthoclase feldspar while andesine is one of the plagioclase feldspars, which include oligoclase, andesine, labradorite and bytownite. The name andesine derives from its first discovery in the Andes mountains in South America. Its cousin, labradorite, was first discovered in Labrador in Canada.

Most Andesine, particularly red ones, have been diffusion treated to improve the color. Still, this is a beautiful gemstone and worthy of your consideration. The natural Andesine can be found with colors from yellow to orange to red.

Andradite belongs to the Garnet family, and is rare. Andradite was named after the Portuguese mineralogist d'Andrade.

Andradite is the most lustrous Garnet variety and it's light dispersion is even greater then that of the diamond. This dispersion can often be masked by dark overtones, particularly in larger stones, but small lighter stones almost always display stunning brilliance and fire.

Aquamarine is a member of the beryl family and ranges in color from an almost colorless pale blue to blue-green or teal. The most prized color is a deep-blue aqua color.

Aquamarine has been believed to endow the wearer with foresight, courage, and happiness. It is said to increase intelligence and make one youthful. As a healing stone, it is said to be effective as a treatment for anxiety and in the Middle Ages it was thought that aquamarine would reduce the effect of poisons. A legend says that sailors wore aquamarine gemstones to keep them safe and prevent seasickness.

Birthstone: Aquamarine is the birthstone for March.

Though the various chalcedonies are quartz, they have a very different look from the macrocrystalline quartzes such as amethyst. Chalcedonies are typically opaque to translucent, with a waxy to greasy or dull luster; crystal quartz is usually transparent with a vitreous luster.

A wide variety of colors are available; the most well-known include red-orange (carnelian), apple-green (chrysoprase), blue or lavender (chalcedony) and black (onyx). and deep green with red (bloodstone or heliotrope).

The colors of chalcedony are not confined to solid hues. The deep green with red spots is known as bloodstone or heliotrope. Banded chalcedonies are known as agate. Jasper is typically multicolored, spotted or flamed. Especially treasured pieces form patterns that look like natural landscapes.

Chrysoberyl has been known since ancient times and the name comes from the Greek word for gold. Its most famous varieties include alexandrite, named after Czar Alexander II, and chrysoberyl cat's eye, also called cymophane. Chyrsoberyl is a very hard gem, rating 8.5 on the Mohs scale right behind corundum and diamond. Chrysoberyl usually has excellent brilliance and luster. Eye clean stones should be the first choice.

The cat's eye effect is caused by microscopic needle-like inclusions. The term "cat's eye" always refers to chrysoberyl cat's eyes whereas all other cat's eyes must be designated by an additional name, like "tourmaline cat's eye".

Chrysocolla is a gemstone with a beautiful sky blue to bluish-green color. Copper in its chemical structure is responsible for the bright attractive color. It is often multicolored with inclusions or veining of black and brown matrix material. Chrysocolla's lack of widespread gem use is due to its low hardness and lack of durability. It is sometimes coated or admixed with harder Quartz, and these harder, more solid forms are better fit for gemstone use. Chrysocolla is often confused with turquoise. It is a copper bearing mineral found wherever copper deposits occur especially in areas of the southwestern USA, Chili, Zaire, Australia, France and England.

Chrysocolla is associated with tranquility and peace, intuition, patience, and unconditional love. It is thought to offer gentle and soothing qualities.

Natural Citrine, which is rare, is yellow to orange-yellow, and occurs in much lighter hues than the heat-treated material, which is dark orange-brown to reddish-brown. Natural light yellow Citrine is often called "Lemon Quartz" on the gemstone market. Sometimes Citrine has a "smoky" hue to it, and can be borderlined between Citrine and Smoky Quartz, with either definition being correct.

The Citrine is the birthstone gem for those people who are born in the month of November. It is also associated as the wedding anniversary gem for the thirteenth year of marriage. Citrine is known as the “success stone” as it is thought to bring prosperity and success in business. People in the ancient times used to carry the citrine as protection against evil thoughts and snake venom.

Birthstone: Citrine is the birthstone for November.

The traditional birthstone for April, diamond gets its name from the Greek word adamas, which means "hardest" or "unconquerable," likely given to diamond because of its extraordinary hardness. Though the early Greeks couldn't have known it, diamond ranks 10 on Mohs' scale of hardness, proof that it is in fact the hardest material on Earth.

Most Diamonds used as gemstones are colorless or very faintly colored. However, colored Diamonds, known as "Fancies", can be extremely rare and valuable, and the most valuable gemstones ever known have been Fancy Diamonds. In fact, Fancy Diamonds are the most valuable substances known to man, with vivid colored Diamonds historically being sold for more than a million dollars per carat!

Birthstone: Diamond is the birthstone for April.

Diopside has been regarded only as a collector's gemstone until recently, when the deep forest-green Chrome Diopside variety has made its way into the mainstream gemstone market.

It is believed to develop the intellect and analytical skills of the wearer. It also protects from all the evil and bad memories. It is even associated with healing of few chronic diseases.

This fabulous green gemstone came into existence, got little popularity and was again lost due to its scarcity in nature. This is the reason why it is considered as investors stone and is yet to achieve the jewelry grade or jewelry status. In spite of all the odds, this gemstone has an incredible charisma. Gemstone lovers after the first look would like to see it again and again. It is treasured and collected by those who have the ability to judge the real beauty.

Emerald, the green variety of Beryl, is the most famous and valuable green gemstone. Its beautiful green color, combined with durability and rarity, make it one of the most expensive gemstones.

Emeralds are often characterized by a garden of inclusions of veils of tiny bubbles and other types of minerals trapped within the stone. Under magnification, you will see all sorts of lovely patterns resembling foliage in a garden. The inclusions are like a fingerprint, giving each emerald a distinct personality. The extreme rarity of transparent emerald is why the finest quality emeralds can be more valuable than diamonds. Emerald's rich green color is caused by minute traces of chromium or vanadium. Chromium is the rare Midas element of gemstones: its presence also gives rubies their fiery redness. Crystals of emerald grew long before human history in metamorphic rocks, which usually restricts the size of emerald crystals, making them very rare in large sizes.

Birthstone: Emerald is the birthstone for May.

Pyrope garnet is a very saturated red: beautiful small Pyrope garnets found in Arizona are called anthill garnet because they are mined by ants, who carry them up when they are excavating their anthills. The red of Pyrope is the truest red and in smaller sizes it is the closest to ruby in color. This is true because both the ruby and the Pyrope garnet are colored by the element Chromium. However, some gems cut too large from this deeply colored material will not sparkle because they are too dark to reflect the light. Most Pyrope is best cut in sizes of no more than about a carat. Pyrope garnets sometimes form in the same deposits as diamonds.

With its beautiful green color, for many years the queen of the garnet family was the Demantoid garnet, which was discovered in Russia's Ural Mountains in 1868. Though bright and attractive, Demantoid was available mostly only in small sizes. Mining of this beautiful, brilliant green garnet lasted only about 30 years and was completed by the turn of the last century. Today the only source for top quality stones is antique jewelry. The Demantoid garnet is a variety of Andradite. Adradite has a high level of optical dispersion, causing rainbow colored reflections which are seen in diamond.

The Grossularite mineral group consists of three main garnets Massive hydrogrossular, Hessonite Garnet and Tsavorite garnet.

Massive Hydrogrossular Garnet is mainly found in green and pink colours. The green variety of the gem is a very close stimulant of Jade, thus is it also marketed under the name Transvaal Jade. This can be misleading though.

Spessartite Garnets are commonly seen in bright shades of intense Orange or reddish Orange. One type of Spessartite garnet growing in popularity is a newly discovered garnet from Namibia, which is a bright orange shade of Spessartite. It is called mandarin garnet because of its true orange color.

A beautiful orange colored Spessartite garnet is found near Ramona in San Diego County, California, but this rare garnet has also been mined in Brazil and a few locations in Africa. Truly clean bright orange Spessartite garnets are unusual, especially in sizes over 5 carats. Most have at least minor inclusions. The darker reddish orange stones are generally cleaner and commonly larger in size. Lighter oranges colors and larger clean gemstones can be moderately expensive for a garnet.