Designing with Aquamarine

Beryl, the family of minerals to which both aquamarine beads and its upscale cousin emerald belong, is naturally colourless in its pure form. However, the presence of various inclusions generates a rich proliferation of highly diverse colour profiles. For example, trace amounts of chromium cause deep green hues to emerge in the bead (resulting in emerald), while aquamarine's blue-green character is the product of iron inclusions in the bead.

While it has long been popular to subject raw aquamarine to extreme heat and irradiation which increase transparency and rid the stone of any greens or yellows, there has recently been resurgence in popularity of the natural milky variety. If the stone hasn't been heated it will also be more durable, and with a hardness of 7.5-8 on the Mohs scale that means quite durable indeed.

Aquamarine (from the Latin aqua marina- 'water of the sea') has been thought to aid one's communication skills, and assist in laying the emotional foundations for a happy and healthy marriage.

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Designing with Onyx

Legend has it that as Aphrodite, goddess of love, lay in majestic slumber on the bank of the Indus River, a playful Eros (Cupid) decided to give her an impromptu manicure with one of his trademark arrowheads. Cast asunder, the freshly clipped fingernails rolled down the bank and sank to the bottom of the river, where they were magically transformed by Zeus' three daughters, The Fates, into splendid black quartz. Thus, 'onyx' (a word roughly translated as 'nail' or 'claw') was born.

The onyx bead gemstone, a banded strain of chalcedony, is actually available in a multitude of different colours- green, grey, white, and brown- but is most well known for, and indeed synonymous with, a deep velvety black. Its metaphysical powers include destruction of negative emotions, deflection of acute negative energy, and defence against evil forces.

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