10 Gem Fun Facts

Gemstones are more than an eye catching, colored stones found in your favorite piece of jewelry or that you identify with your date of birth. Their Beautiful colors, properties, myths, and legends are diverse and fascinating. Here are 10 gem fun facts:

1. Garnet was named after the seeds of a pomegranate and in earlier times, garnets were exchanged as gifts between friends to demonstrate their affection for each other and to insure that they meet again.

2. Some cultures believe Amber has healing abilities because it has electrical properties when rubbed with a cloth, attracting lint/dust. It also has an aroma, and is warm to the touch. The Greek word "electron" means amber. This is where the word "electricity" comes from

3. A 40.23-carat, white diamond is the biggest diamond found in the United States. Discovered at Arkansas's Crater of Diamonds State Park in 1924, it was named the Uncle Sam diamond. Legend has it that the diamond was named after its finder, W.O. Basham, who went by the nickname, "Uncle Sam."

4. In the Middle Ages, the ruby was viewed as a stone of prophecy - people believed it would darken when its wearer was in danger.

5. The Diamond in the royal scepter of the Queen of England called “The Star of Africa” alone is estimated to be worth $400 million. The total worth of the crown jewels is speculated to be $3-$5 Billion.

6. The ancient Greeks believed that opal’s came from the tears of Zeus the God of lightning, after winning a battle against the Titans. His tears turned into opal when they landed upon earth

7. The Egyptians called peridot “the gem of the sun.” Legend says it was Cleopatra’s favorite gemstone, and historians now believe that many of the “emeralds” she wore were actually peridot because Egypt and Burma were main providers of this gem during ancient times.

8. After millions upon millions of years, it is assumed that the Sun will become one large diamond-star!

9. The Heart of the Ocean, from James Cameron's "Titanic" was not completely fictitious - it was actually called the Love of the Sea and was given to a young woman by the name Kate Florence Phillips by your much older lover Henry Samuel Morley. This beautiful necklace was a deep-blue oblong sapphire not a diamond as changed by Hollywood.

10. One of the largest sapphires is known as the Star of Asia, which is currently housed at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.