Gem Encyclopedia

Known for its distinctive purple color, amethyst is one of the most celebrated varieties of quartz. Its natural hues range from delicate lilac and soft violet to deep, saturated purple, sometimes with subtle variations of color within a single stone.

Color plays a defining role in the character of an amethyst. The way a gemstone is cut can reveal its depth, tonal variations, and natural beauty, making each amethyst subtly individual.

Amethyst has been admired since antiquity and carries a rich history of symbolism. The ancient Greeks associated the gemstone with clarity and believed it could protect its wearer from intoxication.

Over the centuries, amethyst has also been associated with composure, balance, and inner strength. Its distinctive purple color has held particular significance in religious and ceremonial jewelry and was historically worn by members of the clergy as a symbol of devotion and spiritual wisdom.

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Amethyst is the birthstone for February

Apricot Agate is distinguished by its warm, softly layered palette of peach, caramel, cream, and earthy neutrals. Natural variations in color, translucency, and pattern give each gemstone an individual character, with delicate bands and flowing formations revealing the beauty of its natural structure.

Agate is a variety of chalcedony, a microcrystalline form of quartz, celebrated for the remarkable patterns created as the gemstone forms over time. In Apricot Agate, these natural formations are expressed through warm tonal transitions and subtle contrasts, creating an appearance that can range from softly translucent to richly patterned.

No two Apricot Agates are quite alike. Each gemstone reveals its own composition of color, banding, and natural markings, making individuality an intrinsic part of its beauty. At Nangi, we select Apricot Agates for their color, pattern, proportions, and overall visual harmony.

With its sun-warmed palette and one-of-a-kind natural formations, Apricot Agate brings a soft, organic expression to contemporary fine jewelry.

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Aquamarine is celebrated for its serene spectrum of blue, ranging from delicate, almost crystalline tones to deeper shades of blue and blue-green. Its name derives from the Latin aqua marina, meaning “sea water”, a reference to

Aquamarine belongs to the beryl mineral family, alongside emerald, and owes its color to subtle traces of iron within its crystal structure. With a hardness of 7.5–8 on the Mohs scale, it is well suited to fine jewelry designed to be worn and treasured for years to come.

Color, clarity, cut, and carat weight all contribute to the character and beauty of an aquamarine. The gemstone is particularly admired for its exceptional clarity and luminous appearance. At Nangi, we select aquamarines for their color, proportions, clarity, and overall visual beauty.

For centuries, aquamarine has been closely connected to the sea. Sailors once carried the gemstone as a talisman for protection and safe passage across the water. Over time, it has also come to symbolize hope, harmony, and enduring love.

Aquamarine is the birthstone for March

Citrine is celebrated for its warm, luminous color, ranging from delicate yellow and golden hues to rich shades of amber and reddish orange. A variety of quartz, its distinctive color is created by traces of iron within the crystal.

Color plays a defining role in the character of a citrine. Particularly fine stones are admired for their saturated color, clarity, and warm glow. At Nangi, we select citrines for their color, proportions, clarity, and overall visual beauty.

With a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale, citrine is well suited to a variety of fine jewelry. Its natural transparency and availability in larger sizes also allow the gemstone to be cut in expressive shapes that beautifully showcase its color and light.

Citrine has been used in jewelry for centuries and became particularly prominent in colorful jewelry during the Victorian era. Its name is believed to derive from the French citron, meaning “lemon”, a reference to the gemstone’s characteristic yellow color.

Traditionally associated with warmth, prosperity, and optimism, citrine carries a symbolism as luminous as its golden hues.

Citrine is one of the birthstones for November

Emerald has captivated for millennia with a green unlike any other. Ranging from pure green to subtly bluish green, its rich and vivid color has made emerald the defining green gemstone in the world of fine jewelry.

Emerald belongs to the beryl mineral family, alongside aquamarine and morganite. Color is the most important factor in determining its beauty and value, with the finest emeralds displaying a vivid, saturated green combined with beautiful transparency. At Nangi, we select emeralds for their color, proportions, transparency, and overall visual beauty.

Natural emeralds are known for their characteristic inclusions. Often poetically referred to as jardin – French for “garden” – these internal features are part of the gemstone’s natural formation and can give each emerald a distinctive character. Emeralds with exceptional transparency and few eye-visible inclusions are particularly rare and highly prized.

With a hardness of 7.5–8 on the Mohs scale, emerald is a relatively hard gemstone. Its natural inclusions can, however, make it more delicate than ruby or sapphire, and emerald jewelry should therefore be worn and cared for with consideration.

Emerald has held an extraordinary place in jewelry and culture for thousands of years. The earliest known emerald mines were in ancient Egypt, and Cleopatra famously had a passion for the gemstone. Across cultures and centuries, its unmistakable green has become associated with renewal, hope, love, and new beginnings.

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Emerald is the birthstone for May

Garnet is not a single gemstone, but a remarkable family of closely related minerals celebrated for its extraordinary diversity of color. While deep red garnet is the most iconic, the garnet family also encompasses vivid orange, rich green, pink, purple, and many other hues.

Among its most celebrated varieties are deep red pyrope, vivid orange spessartine, and the exceptional green garnets tsavorite and demantoid. Each variety possesses its own distinctive color and character, revealing a diversity that extends far beyond the traditional image of garnet as a red gemstone.

Color, clarity, cut, and carat weight all contribute to the beauty of an individual garnet. At Nangi, we select garnets for their distinctive color, proportions, brilliance, and overall visual beauty.

Garnet has held a place in jewelry for thousands of years. Red garnet jewelry was treasured in ancient Egypt, while engraved garnets were used in signet rings in ancient Rome. Its enduring presence across cultures and centuries has made garnet one of the most historically significant families of colored gemstones.

Traditionally associated with friendship, devotion, and trust, garnet continues to be treasured for its rich color, individuality, and remarkable heritage.

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Garnet is the birthstone for January

Green aventurine is distinguished by its soft green color and subtle natural shimmer. Within the gemstone, delicate mineral inclusions catch and reflect the light, creating a luminous effect that gives each aventurine its own individual character.

A variety of quartz, green aventurine typically contains fine inclusions of fuchsite, a green chromium-bearing mica. These inclusions contribute to both its color and its distinctive sparkle, an optical phenomenon known as aventurescence. As the gemstone moves through the light, the reflections appear and disappear across its surface, revealing subtle variations in depth, tone, and brilliance.

No two green aventurines are quite alike. The distribution of the natural inclusions, intensity of color, and degree of aventurescence vary from one gemstone to another. At Nangi, we select green aventurines for their color, natural pattern, luminous character, and overall visual beauty.

The name aventurine is associated with the Italian a ventura, meaning “by chance” – a fitting origin for a gemstone whose beauty lies in the unpredictable interplay of color, inclusions, and light.

With its understated green color and softly shimmering surface, green aventurine brings a distinctive natural character to fine jewelry.

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Guava Quartz is distinguished by its soft, luminous spectrum of pink, peach, and coral hues, reminiscent of the delicate color of the tropical guava fruit from which it takes its name. Its warm palette gives the gemstone a subtle and contemporary expression.

A member of the quartz family, Guava Quartz reveals natural variations in color, translucency, and internal character. These subtle differences make each gemstone individual, with its own distinctive balance of tone, depth, and light. At Nangi, we select Guava Quartz for its color, proportions, character, and overall visual beauty.

With its gentle color and understated warmth, Guava Quartz brings a soft yet distinctive expression to contemporary fine jewelry.

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Iolite is distinguished by its captivating violet-blue color and remarkable ability to reveal different hues as it moves through the light. From deep violet and blue to subtle flashes of pale yellow and near-colorless tones, its changing appearance gives each gemstone a distinctive sense of depth and movement.

Known gemologically as a variety of the mineral cordierite, iolite displays strong pleochroism, an optical phenomenon that allows different colors to appear when the gemstone is viewed from different directions. The orientation of the cut therefore plays an essential role in revealing its most beautiful color. At Nangi, we select iolites for their color, clarity, proportions, and overall visual beauty.

Iolite also carries a fascinating connection to Nordic legend. Often referred to as the “Viking’s Compass,” it is said that Viking navigators used thin pieces of iolite to help locate the position of the sun on overcast days. Whether the gemstone was truly used for navigation remains uncertain, but the story has become an enduring part of iolite’s history and identity.

Its name derives from the Greek ios, meaning “violet” – a fitting reference to the color that has defined this intriguing gemstone for centuries. Iolite is traditionally associated with the twenty-first wedding anniversary.

At Nangi, we work exclusively with lab grown diamonds, individually selected to meet our exacting standards of quality, beauty, and brilliance.

A lab grown diamond is a real diamond, with the same chemical, physical, and optical properties as a natural diamond. Created under controlled conditions using advanced technology, it possesses the same exceptional characteristics that have made diamonds one of the world’s most treasured gemstones.

Each diamond is carefully selected according to the 4Cs: cut, color, clarity, and carat, with particular attention to precise proportions, brilliance, and overall visual beauty. Every diamond selected for a Nangi piece must meet our standards for exceptional quality and visual beauty.

For us, lab grown diamonds represent transparency, traceability, and a modern approach to fine jewelry.

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Diamond is the birthstone for April

Moonstone is treasured for its luminous, ever-changing appearance. At first glance, the gemstone can appear almost transparent or softly milky, but as it moves through the light, flashes of blue and subtle rainbow hues emerge from within.

This captivating play of light is created by the stone’s internal structure, which causes light to scatter and reflect between microscopic layers. Each moonstone reveals the phenomenon differently, giving every stone its own distinctive character and interplay of color and light.

Part of the feldspar mineral family, moonstone has been admired for centuries for its ethereal glow. Its name is inspired by the soft, shifting light that appears to move across the gemstone, reminiscent of moonlight.

Throughout history, moonstone has been surrounded by symbolism inspired by its luminous appearance and connection to the moon. Traditionally, it has been associated with intuition, love, new beginnings, and good fortune.

At Nangi, we are particularly drawn to moonstones with beautiful transparency and a captivating play of color, individually selected for their character and visual beauty.

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Moonstone is one of the birthstones for June

Morganite is celebrated for its delicate spectrum of pink, ranging from soft blush and rose to warm peach and salmon hues. A variety of beryl, it belongs to the same mineral family as emerald and aquamarine, with subtle traces of manganese creating its characteristic color.

Color, clarity, cut, and carat weight all contribute to the beauty and character of a morganite. The gemstone is often admired for its exceptional clarity and soft, luminous appearance, while stronger and more saturated pink hues are comparatively rare. At Nangi, we select morganites for their color, clarity, proportions, and overall visual beauty.

With a hardness of 7.5–8 on the Mohs scale, morganite is well suited to fine jewelry and can be worn and treasured for years when treated with appropriate care.

With its gentle color and understated elegance, morganite has become a distinctive choice in contemporary fine jewelry, particularly for designs celebrating love and commitment.

Peridot is distinguished by its luminous green color, ranging from fresh yellow-green to rich, saturated grass green. Unlike many gemstones whose color is created by trace elements, peridot’s characteristic green is an intrinsic part of its mineral composition, with iron giving the gemstone its distinctive hue.

A variety of the mineral olivine, peridot has an extraordinary natural origin. Most peridot forms deep within the Earth’s upper mantle and is carried towards the surface through volcanic activity. Remarkably, peridot has also been discovered in meteorites, making it one of the few gemstones found both within the Earth and in material from space.

Color, clarity, cut, and carat weight all contribute to the beauty and character of peridot. The most prized gemstones display an intense, evenly saturated green with minimal yellow or brown undertones and beautiful clarity. At Nangi, we select peridots for their color, proportions, clarity, and overall visual beauty.

Peridot has been treasured for more than two millennia. One of its most historic sources is the Egyptian island of Zabargad in the Red Sea, where peridot was mined in antiquity. The ancient Egyptians associated its luminous green color with the sun, and throughout history the gemstone has been closely connected with light.

With its vivid color and extraordinary journey from deep within the Earth, peridot holds a distinctive place among the world’s colored gemstones.

Peridot is one of the birthstones for August

With its captivating red color and remarkable rarity, ruby has been treasured as one of the world’s most precious gemstones for centuries. Its hues range from vivid red to deeper crimson, with color playing a defining role in the beauty and character of each stone.

Ruby belongs to the corundum mineral family, alongside sapphire. In fact, it is the presence of red that distinguishes ruby from other varieties of corundum, which are classified as sapphires. Ranking 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness, ruby is exceptionally well suited to fine jewelry designed to be worn and treasured for generations.

The beauty and value of a ruby are shaped by its color, clarity, cut, carat weight, and origin, with the quality of its red color being particularly important. At Nangi, we look beyond specifications alone, selecting rubies for their color, proportions, and overall visual beauty.

Throughout history, ruby has held a special place in jewelry. Coveted by royalty and collectors for centuries, ruby has become an enduring symbol of passion, love, and vitality.

Its rich symbolism makes ruby particularly meaningful in jewelry celebrating love and commitment, from engagement rings to pieces chosen to mark life’s most significant moments.

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Ruby is the birthstone for July

Sapphires are celebrated for their extraordinary spectrum of natural color. Beyond the iconic blue, they occur in remarkable shades of green, teal, champagne, pink, yellow, violet, and combinations of several colors within a single stone.

At Nangi, every sapphire is sourced from Sri Lanka, an island renowned for its exceptional sapphires and centuries-long gemstone heritage. We are particularly drawn to stones with distinctive colors and individual character, from green and teal sapphires to soft champagne and pink hues, as well as bi-colored stones where different tones meet naturally within a single sapphire.

Sapphire belongs to the corundum mineral family, alongside ruby, and ranks 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness. Its exceptional hardness makes it particularly well suited to fine jewelry designed to be worn and treasured every day, including engagement rings.

No two sapphires are quite alike. Color, tone, saturation, clarity, and cut all contribute to the character of an individual stone. At Nangi, we look beyond specifications alone, selecting each sapphire for its distinctive color, proportions, and overall visual beauty.

For centuries, sapphire has been associated with royalty, devotion, and romance. Traditionally symbolizing sincerity, truth, and faithfulness, it has long held a meaningful place in jewelry celebrating love and commitment.

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Sapphire is the birthstone for September

Spinel is celebrated for its remarkable spectrum of color and exceptional brilliance. Found in vivid shades of red, pink, orange, purple, blue, and violet, each spinel possesses its own distinctive character and intensity.

With a hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale, spinel combines beauty with excellent durability, making it particularly well suited to fine jewelry designed to be worn and treasured over time.

Color, clarity, cut, and carat weight all contribute to the beauty and value of a spinel. At Nangi, we select spinels for their distinctive color, proportions, and overall visual beauty.

Spinel also holds a fascinating place in the history of fine jewelry. For centuries, red spinels were mistaken for rubies, and several celebrated gemstones once believed to be rubies were later identified as spinels. Among the most famous is the approximately 170-carat Black Prince’s Ruby, a magnificent red spinel set in the British Imperial State Crown.

The name spinel is believed to derive from the Latin spina, meaning “thorn”, a reference to the pointed form of its natural crystals.

Spinel is one of the birthstones for August

Tanzanite is celebrated for its extraordinary blue-violet color and singular origin. Found commercially in only one place in the world – the Merelani Hills of northern Tanzania – this remarkable gemstone ranges from rich violet-blue to deep blue and purple hues. Its strong pleochroism allows different colors to emerge when viewed from different directions, giving each tanzanite a captivating sense of depth and movement.

Discovered in 1967, tanzanite was introduced to the international jewelry world by Tiffany & Co., who named the gemstone in honor of its country of origin. At Nangi, we select tanzanites for their color, clarity, proportions, and overall visual beauty.

With its extraordinary color, singular geographical origin, and distinctly modern heritage, tanzanite holds a unique place in contemporary fine jewelry.

Tanzanite is one of the birthstones for December

Topaz is celebrated for its remarkable spectrum of color, ranging from luminous yellow and golden orange to pink, red, violet, blue, and subtle shades of green. While blue topaz is perhaps the most familiar today, some of the rarest and most prized topaz gemstones are found in warm pinkish-orange to reddish tones.

Color plays a defining role in the beauty and character of topaz. The gemstone can also display pleochroism, revealing subtle variations of color when viewed from different directions. At Nangi, we select topaz gemstones for their color, clarity, proportions, and overall visual beauty.

With a hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale, topaz is a relatively hard gemstone and well suited to fine jewelry. Its crystal structure, however, means that it should be protected from hard knocks and treated with care.

Topaz has been admired for centuries and carries a rich history of symbolism. The ancient Greeks associated the gemstone with strength, while in Renaissance Europe it was traditionally believed to dispel anger and offer protection from enchantment.

Today, topaz continues to be treasured for its extraordinary diversity of color, from cool and crystalline blues to the warm golden, pink, and reddish hues of precious and Imperial topaz.

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Topaz is one of the birthstones for November

Tourmaline is celebrated for its extraordinary diversity of color, displaying one of the widest color ranges of any gemstone. From delicate pink and vivid red to green, blue, yellow, and deep violet, its remarkable palette makes each tourmaline distinctly individual. Some gemstones even reveal two or more colors within a single crystal.

Color is the defining characteristic of tourmaline. Its many hues are created by subtle variations in chemical composition, while the intensity, tone, clarity, and cut all contribute to the character and beauty of the individual gemstone. At Nangi, we select tourmalines for their distinctive color, proportions, and overall visual beauty.

With a hardness of 7–7.5 on the Mohs scale, tourmaline is well suited to fine jewelry and can be enjoyed for years when treated with appropriate care.

The name tourmaline derives from the Sinhalese toramalli, referring to mixed or multicolored gemstones. Its extraordinary range of colors also meant that tourmaline was historically mistaken for other precious gemstones. Green tourmalines were once believed to be emeralds, while red varieties were confused with rubies until advances in mineralogy revealed their true identity.

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Tourmaline is one of the birthstones for October

Zircon is a natural gemstone of exceptional brilliance and fire, admired for the vivid flashes of color created as light moves through the gemstone. Its remarkable optical qualities give zircon a luminous intensity and distinctive beauty of its own.

Naturally occurring in a rich spectrum of colors, zircon can be found in captivating shades of blue, green, golden yellow, orange, red, and warm reddish brown, as well as colorless varieties celebrated for their extraordinary brilliance. At Nangi, we select zircons for their color, proportions, brilliance, and overall visual beauty.

Zircon is also one of the world’s most ancient natural treasures. Zircon crystals discovered in Australia have been dated to approximately 4.4 billion years, making them the oldest known minerals on Earth – a remarkable connection to the earliest history of our planet.

Despite the similarity in name, natural zircon is entirely distinct from cubic zirconia. Zircon is a naturally occurring gemstone with its own mineral composition, history, and exceptional optical properties.

Treasured in jewelry for centuries, zircon continues to captivate through its combination of brilliant light, natural color, and extraordinary geological heritage.

Zircon is one of the birthstones for December