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Celebrate with Zircon - The traditional December Birthstone!
Zircon's fire, brilliance, and beauty can rival any gem. The affordability of its vibrant greens, sky blues, and pleasing earth tones contributes to its growing popularity today.
Once considered a diamond alternative, today we know that natural zircons are in fact the most ancient materials on Earth, holding within their brilliant depths a time capsule of our planet's birth.
A tiny fragment of zircon discovered in western Australia is the oldest known object on earth: 4.404 billion years old. Earth itself formed less than 150 million years earlier.
An even older example was found in a large meteorite in Chile. The oldest thing scientists have ever examined, that zircon formed at least 4.6 billion years ago in the swirling disk of dust and rocks that became the planets.
Although diamonds are harder than zircons, they are quite young in comparison: a mere 3.3 billion years old.
Zircon contains its own internal atomic clock. Its crystal accumulates atoms of uranium, which decay to lead at a known rate. By measuring the relative abundance of two types of uranium and lead in a zircon, geologists can determine how old it is. Zircon is also incredibly durable. It remains unscathed while other rocks and minerals melt and re-form under the tremendous heat and pressure of continental shifts, mountain-building, and violent asteroid impacts.
In the middle ages, zircon was said to aid sleep, bring prosperity, and promote honour and wisdom in its owner. The name probably comes from the Persian word zargun which means "gold-colored."
Today, natural zircon is often overlooked because cubic zirconia, the laboratory-grown diamond imitation, is so much more common. Many people don't even realize that there is a beautiful natural gemstone called zircon.
Cubic zirconia is a man-made compound of zirconium, oxygen and yttrium, which was discovered in 1937. It lacks the silicon of a true zircon, and is, of course, very much younger.
Zircon is mined in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, and other countries. Because it can be colourless, green, blue, yellow, brown, orange, dark red, and all the colours in between, it is a popular gem for connoisseurs who collect different colours or zircon from different localities.
Zircon jewellery should be stored carefully because although this ancient gem is hard, facets can abrade and chip. Clean with mild dish soap: use a toothbrush to scrub behind the stone where dust can collect.
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Happy Holidays!
The year end brings no greater pleasure then the opportunity to express to you season's greetings and good wishes. May your holidays and new year be filled with joy!
Merry Christmas,
Jeff W. Nechka
Premier Gems LTD
Be Born To Tanzanite
Since a Maasai tribesman stumbled upon a shimmering blue crystal in the foothills of Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro in 1967, tanzanite has become one of the world's most cherished and sought-after gemstones.
It is no wonder. With its symphony of exquisite royal blue, lilac, and periwinkle hues, and supply of the gemstone likely to last just a single generation, tanzanite has captured the imagination of the world's most beautiful people, and earned its rightful place next to diamonds as a must-have gemstone.
In 2002, the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) selected tanzanite as the December birthstone, adding it to a list of birthstones unchanged since 1912.
Despite its official status, tanzanite is regarded as a birthstone, irrespective of the month, as the celebration of new life and new beginnings.
Besides being recognized as the birthstone, tanzanite will, because of its limited availability, become the gemstone of just one generation, adding to its appeal as an heirloom, to be handed down to future generations.
This growing tradition has its roots is Maasai custom, which upholds the colour blue as sacred and spiritual. According to Maasai folklore, only women blessed with fertility, with the miracle of new life, have the honour of wearing blue beads and fabric.
Since the discovery of tanzanite, a new tradition has evolved whereby Maasai chiefs give tanzanite to their wives on the birth of a baby to bestow upon the child a healthy, positive and prosperous life.
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