What makes "X" gemstone your favorite?

[yennyfire]

Is it the color, because it's your birthstone, etc?

There are so many that I find beautiful, I don't even know where to start. Every time I think I know what I want, I change my mind...therefore, I do nothing, lol! So I'm curious as to what makes you purchase a specific kind of gemstone and how you decide which is your favorite....

 

[T L]

My favorite gem is fine Muzo Colombian emerald because they have a velvet luster unlike anything I have ever seen. The color is so saturated that photos never do them justice. The fine ones tend to glow and have a magical quality about them. Unfortunately, most people have not seen a fine Muzo emerald, and most stores and vendors sell inferior material, so all these cloudy emeralds, or those lacking in saturation, give emerald a bad rap, but I think a fine one is an amazing miracle of nature.

A close tie on my list is a fine green diamond if I could ever find one that was sizable and affordable (I would have to rob a museum!! LOL!).

 

[LD]

Is it the color, because it's your birthstone, etc?

There are so many that I find beautiful, I don't even know where to start. Every time I think I know what I want, I change my mind...therefore, I do nothing, lol! So I'm curious as to what makes you purchase a specific kind of gemstone and how you decide which is your favorite....

Unfortunately I do the complete opposite and just go ahead and buy it before I can change my mind Although in honesty, I'm getting better but that's more to do with the straight jacket and restraints than anything else!

My absolute favourite gemstone that I find difficult to walk away from is Alexandrite. The reason is that I find it fascinating that mother earth can produce such a wonderful, exciting gemstone. If I see a great specimen, I find myself with my credit card miraculously in my hand before my brain has engaged!

Other than that, as of course buying good Alex is a tough challenge as the material just isn't out there at the moment, I find that I'm attracted to colour rather than a specific gemstone. If the colour makes my heart race then I'm sucked in!

 

[jstarfireb]

Like LD, I'm typically more attracted to a color than a specific gemstone. I need to have anything and everything GREEN!

Besides that, my "favorite" gemstone tends to change every few years or so. For a while it was tanzanite because I love the bluish purple color, then it was opal and tourmaline since they're my birthstones, then alexandrite because of the color change, and now I'm really getting into garnets because of their variety and sparkle. Before PS, when garnets were just "those dark red stones" to me, I didn't really care for them much, but now that my eyes have been opened to tsavorite, demantoid, Mali, mint, and other types of garnets, I'm hooked!

 

[soberguy]

Tough one! I love fine alexandrites; nothing on earth compares to them for me... The brilliance, color change... They are probably my absolute favorite... Love that they are "hard" and "tough". Also natural fancy vivid colored diamonds, superb examples of ruby, emerald, sapphire. I cannot help but show you all this absolutely magnificent jadite bead necklace too!!! I don't think I have a favorite lol! I just love excellent examples of almost all of them. I HAVE to mention ZIRCONS because I think they don't get enough attention I love fine pearls too, hard to escape their grasp lol! Oh, coral... um... I could increase the list ad infinitum

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5318708&sid=4cc8008e-5c70-4d73-9c7b-4453ebc97025

 

[ooo~Shiney!]

Like JStar, I am also attracted to the greens, but since I am something of a Magpie, almost anything sparkly will do !!
Most of my favorite gemstones are my greenies, but ooooo my neon Mahenge Spinel, oooo la la

 

[jstarfireb]

I HAVE to mention ZIRCONS because I think they don't get enough attention

Zircons definitely don't get enough attention! It's too bad that they're so prone to wear, because they're so beautiful otherwise.

 

[Gempassion]

Hi Yennyfire,

I was like you... I kept changing my mind for the last six months until I decided on a hot pink mahenge spinel. I am new to buying gemstones but think that spinels are my favorite now because the price point is excellent compared to sapphires, they're durable, and quite sparkly. I have a list of gems that I would like to buy in the future to keep track of what I want. The shape of the gem is very important to me. I could love the color of the gem but if the shape doesn't speak to me, I can wait it out until I find the perfect shape and color (I'm partial to rectangular shapes).

Good luck!

 

[agapitor]

I'm a hardcore blue sapphire lover. It's my and DH's birthstone and our anniversary as well. I prefer the ceylon cornflower blue but wouldn't say no to a vibrant blue kashmir either

 

[FrekeChild]

Spinels. But everyone knew THAT already. I like the gray secondary tones, I like the price point and I love the sparkle. People mistake my spinels for colored diamonds. Can't argue with that!

 

[T L]

Spinels.

REALLY ??? I'm in shock, I had no idea!!!!!

 

[m76steve]

my favorite stones have a green color or shades of same-ive had green cars-green snakes-& a good assortment of green gems-my latest car has a color called natural neutral metalic & appears a light greenish tint-so far its the only car iv seen in this color-its unusual but pleasing to look at-my secondary color is red but that is mainly in the gems i have-steve...

 

[PinkTower]

I like the Trifecta--emerald, sapphire and ruby.
I don't wear my emerald so much because they need to be babied. But I wear my ruby nearly every day without worry.

 

[redfaerythinker]

anything GREEN. and Tourmaline_lover... i'll help you rob that museum if you'll let me have joint custody of that green diamond! I would love one the same color as Kenny's but about 3 cts.

 

[yennyfire]

I'll go in with you guys on the green diamond. We can each wear it the 1/3 of the time we're not in jail serving our sentence, lol! I think what I really want is a bunch of eternity bands....pink stones set in rose gold, blue stones in white gold, aqua stones in yellow gold....where to start???

 

[Largosmom]

I don't have a single gemstone that I like best, but I have more amethyst than any other stone (yet) so that is my first of several favorites.

I am less attracted to the "big three" than other stones.

Current list includes:

Amethyst...for it's purply self
Moonstone...for it's phenomenal sheen of color, it's just magic to me
Sphene...for it's sparkle and shine
Opal...an old favorite for its play of color
Of the "big three" I like sapphire best, in blues and purples.
Spinel...moving up the list for the reasons that others have noted...price for amount of color and usability in rings and other projects
Garnet...spessartite my current favorite. Garnet is another great value stone for what you get...most can be used in many types of projects and some is downright sparkly.

 

[m76steve]

iv said green is one of my favorite colors-i have pics of an emerald green tree boa from south america-had her as a pet for @ 4 years & sold her back to the store i bought her from-they are tree dwellers and usually not hand tamed but im lucky she never read the book about her kind-i will post pics if i know they will not offend anyone-her color & markings are outrageous-steve...

 

[Arkteia]

Everything that used to be mined in Russia but is now a rarity there. Amethyst, emerald, demantoid, topaz, spinel, alexandrite. Diamonds are still mined, so they are not on my list - so far. The deposits of charoite (opaque purple-volet stone) are to be exhausted in 10 years, so it is getting on my list, too. Since the first list of "precious gems" that I ever saw contained diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and "noble" spinel, everything from this list is important. I have very special feelings for blue sapphires. Since "noble" spinel was probably pink and red, pink and red spinels are on my list forever. And then all garnets, which is a funny whim that started with "bohemian" jewelry.

 

[chrono]

Such a difficult choice; I think the best thing to do is to get one of every favourite stone!

 

[colorluvr]

Such a difficult choice; I think the best thing to do is to get one of every favourite stone!

+1

I totally agree! It would be hard for me to choose a favorite. I have always loved a beautiful blue sapphire, but right now I'm totally into spinels (among others), so I guess one of each is the answer!

 

[loriken214]

Spinels. But everyone knew THAT already. I like the gray secondary tones, I like the price point and I love the sparkle. People mistake my spinels for colored diamonds. Can't argue with that!

Spinels, because Freke convinced me!
Barry's gemstones...nuff said!

Lori

 

[JewelFreak]

Any beautiful example of a gem variety makes me sigh, "Oooh, that's my favorite I ever saw!" Until the next one. As a kid I always loved amethysts, still do, and tanzies. Real paraibas give me an orgasm, I swear.

Yellow diamonds.

Blue spinels for reasons already stated.

Emeralds & sapphires but I'll never be able to afford the quality & size I'd want.

Iolites are a new love.

Green garnets: tsavorites, mint, not so crazy about demantoids.

Before PS I'd never heard of Mexican fire opals -- now I drool over them.

Funny, almost all the posts here mention green and/or blue stones, but the ones in posts when someone gets a thrilling buy are most often in the pink range.

--- Laurie

 

[ruffysdad]

Easy, Garnets and Tourmalines !

They're what I consider to be "honest" stones. By that I mean they have no nasty cleavage planes for the cutter, they're durable, attractive, and treatments are usually not done either because they won't take or because it's not worth the effort. Properly cut, they face up well and best of all, in most cases they're not super expensive. As a cutter, I love these guys

Pete

 

[mynattk]

Tsavorite is one of my favorites because garnet is my birthstone and green is my favorite color. Also, I love a pretty honey-toned Citrine. It's just such a happy color. Lucky for me that I like the less expensive stones.

 

[marcy]

Sapphires and Garnets are my favorite - mostly because I like the diversity of colors you can get them in and they are very sparkly. Blue would be my first choice of color then green.

 

[Burberrygirl]

I also really love green gemstones, so pretty much anything green! I really like sapphires, garnets, and tourmalines for their variety of colors too.