Birthstones – Gemstones that tell about you: August, September

For August, we have peridot and sardonyx, and for September we have two blue stones, sapphire and lapis lazuli.

August: Peridot, Sardonyx

Peridot is the gem variety of olivine. Peridot is the birthstone for August and the Zodiac stone for the constellation Libra (astrological sources refer to peridot as Chrysolite). Peridot is associated with the values of fame, dignity, protection, and success.

Peridotes are olive green gemstones. Peridotes are associated with love, faithfulness, loyalty and truth.

 Peridotes are believed to help with dignity, protection, openness, growth and fame. This gem is said to help with illness in lungs, sinuses and lymph.

Gem quality peridot comes from the ancient source of Zagbargad (Zebirget) Island in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt; Mogok, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma); Kohistan, Pakistan; Minas Gerais, Brazil; Eifel, Germany; Chihuahua, Mexico; Ethiopia; Australia; Peridot Mesa, San Carlos Apache Reservation, Gila County, Arizona and Salt Lake Crater, Oahu, Hawaii, USA. The best quality peridot has historically come either from Myanmar or Egypt.

Sardonyx is a banded variety of chalcedony (cryptocrystalline quartz), with layers alternating between Sard and Onyx. It is an impure fine-grained quartz whose crystals are too small to see. The color is usually a yellow-brown alternating with white, but other variants are also called sardonyx.

The banded nature of sardonyx is used to advantage by lapidaries and artisans, as a careful selection of material and design allows the creation of bas-relief art, where one layer is left as a foreground, and another is used as the background for a carving.

Sardonyx is the traditional birthstone for August. It is associated with relaxation and security.

September: Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli

Sapphires are well known from such places as Sri Lanka and India, and excellent specimens are also found in Tanzania and the Kola Pennensula of Russia. In addition, sapphires are found in many places throughout the world, including North Carolina, Brazil, and China.

Sapphires are extremely durable (only diamond and moisannite are harder).  Artificial sapphire crystals are used are used as the crystal face in genuine Rolex watches, and they are extremely scratch resistant.

Sapphires are gems that come in various colors, including, white, pink and blue. Sapphires will bring truth, constancy and sincerity. Sapphires are believed to help with insight, interpretation and clairvoyance and sapphires banish bad thoughts. The healing properties that sapphires have are cancer, burns, hearing problems and they are said to lower fever.

Lapis Lazuli

Lazurite is a popular but generally expensive mineral. Well-formed, deep blue crystals are rare and valuable. It is more commonly found massive and combined with other minerals into a rock called Lapis Lazuli, which is an alternate birthstone for the month of September.

Lapis lazuli (often simply called lapis) is mostly lazurite but commonly contains pyrite and calcite and some other minerals. The name means “blue rock” and is always a brilliant blue with violet or greenish tints. The rich blue color is due to the sulfur that is inherent in the structure of lazurite. Small crystals of pyrite are always present in lapis and their brassy yellow color is both attractive and diagnostic in distinguishing lapis from its also blue cousin - sodalite rock, which lacks pyrite. The calcite produces white streaks in the lapis and too much calcite will lower the value of the stone.

Lapis lazuli has been mined for centuries from a locality still in use today in the remote mountain valley called Kokcha, Afghanistan. First mined 6000 years ago, the rock was transported to Egypt and present day Iraq and later to Europe where it was used in jewelry and for ornamental stone. Europeans even ground down the rock into an expensive powdered pigment for paints called “ultramarine”. Today ultramarine is manufactured artificially. Although no longer the only source of lapis, Afghanistan still produces the finest quality material.

Sandra Kemppainen, Susan Fred.