Group 66 Designs Blog

With helpful articles on birthstones, jewelry care, and new product and event news.

10 Fun Facts About Diamonds

4/6/2020

April has the glittering diamond as its birthstone! Learn more about this popular gemstone below.

The largest diamond ever found, the Cullinan diamond, weighed in at 3,106 carats, or 1.37 pounds!
Even though there are hardly any gem-quality diamonds mined the US, America makes up 40% of the diamond buyer’s market, the most in the world.
Diamonds are the hardest substance currently known on Earth.
Joseph Asscher, a famed gemcutter, was given the honor of cutting the Cullinan diamond for the British crown jewels. Legend has it that he fainted after making the first cut.
Before the 1700s, most diamonds were found in India.
During the Middle Ages, diamonds were thought to protect the wearer from almost all diseases, both physical and mental.
While white is the most popular, diamonds can naturally come in all colors of the rainbow! Blue, red, orange and green are the rarest.
Because of their hardness, diamond jewelry pieces should be stored separately so they don’t damage other gemstones.
Diamonds were being used by gemcutters in India as early as 300 BCE to engrave other gemstones.
You can burn a diamond. House fires and jeweler’s torches can get hot enough. Diamonds are made of carbon, after all!

3/11/2020

March’s birthstone is the lovely blue Aquamarine. Here’s 10 fun facts about this watery gem!

The name “aquamarine” comes from the Romans, who named it after seawater.
A type of beryl, aquamarines are related to emeralds, May’s birthstone.
Roman sailors wore aquamarines to keep them safe and to calm rough seas.
Aquamarines were also said to ensure happy marriages.
To make a greenish aquamarine more blue, heat-treatments may be used.
Aquamarines have a hardness of 7.5 to 8, so they can easily damage soft stones. Still, keep them from away from sapphires, rubies or diamonds, as they can scratch your aquamarines.
The largest gem-quality aquamarine ever found (so far) weighs around 110 kilos and is almost 19 inches long!
Aquamarines usually grow as large crystals and can be very clear. This makes them highly prized by mineral specimen collectors.
Because they tend to grow as large, clear crystals, aquamarines are a favorite material of stone carvers, and are often used to make statues and other such works.
Aquamarines are also associated with the 19th wedding anniversary.

2/17/2020

Amethyst, one of the most popular colored gems, is February’s birthstone. Here’s 10 things you might not have known about this familiar purple stone.

Amethyst geodes have been found that are so big you can stand inside them!
Amethyst is so closely related to Citrine that sometimes they grow together to form a gold and purple gem called Ametrine.
St. Valentine was said to wear an amethyst ring carved with an image of Cupid.
Heat-treating amethysts can improve the color. Many amethysts on the market have been treated in this way.
The ancient Greeks associated the gem with the god of wine, Bacchus, and believed that wearing one would keep away drunkenness.
With a Moh’s hardness of 7, it can be scratched by diamonds, rubies and sapphires and potentially damage soft gems like opals and pearls. Store them carefully!
Amethysts were once as highly valued as sapphires, rubies and emeralds. You can still see them in royal jewels today.
Amethyst is the most highly-valued variety of quartz, and has been since ancient times.
Amethysts have been popular gems for carving since ancient times. Carved scarabs have been found in Egyptian tombs, and it was popular (though very expensive) in Roman times for cameos. Even today, many artistic stone carvers use amethysts for unique fantasy cuts.
Amethysts are the official state gemstone of South Carolina.

1/6/2020

January’s birthstone, the durable garnet, has been known since ancient time and has a ton of lore attached to it. Learn some of it here!

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, garnets were worn to protect the wearer during travel.
While they’re usually seen in red hues, garnets can come in yellow, orange, purple, green and even blue!
The Latin for “pomegranate”, granatus, is where we get the name for garnets, due to its resemblance to the fruit’s seeds.
Low-quality garnets have been used for abrasives since the Bronze Age.
Garnets have been used in jewelry since ancient times, and can be found in royal jewels from Europe to Egypt to China. The Czars of Russian had a particular love for green demantoid garnets.
Garnets have a hardness between 6.5 and 7.5. It can be scratched by diamonds, rubies and sapphires, but can damage softer gems like opals and pearls, so store it carefully.
During the Victorian era, garnets from the Bohemia region in Eastern Europe sparked a fad for the gem.
Early gunners in ancient China would use garnet bullets in the belief that it would make the enemy bleed more!
In the Middle Ages, people would wear garnets to calm “angry hearts” and to treat inflammatory conditions.
Unless there are obvious flaws or cracks, garnets are usually safe in an ultrasonic cleaner. Avoid steam cleaning.