It’s the most gem-derful time of the year! That’s right, it’s time once again for Gem Days! For the rest of this week, January 14th — 19th to be exact, we’re celebrating some of our favorite gemstones. From the relatively new gemstones like chrome diopside and Ethiopian opal, to familiar favorites like garnet and spinel, we’re here to shine a spotlight on some of the world’s finest stones.

First let’s talk about January’s birthstone: Garnet! This beautiful deep red stone gets its name from the Latin word for pomegranate because of its resemblance to the bright juicy red seeds hidden inside. Whoever named garnet must not have heard of the different colors it can be, though! Besides the classic red, garnet can come in a pinker hue like the rose gold ring above, or orange, and even green! If you or someone you love has a birthday this month, but also all the red garnet in the world, surprise them with one of its other colors; they’ll love it!

Tanzanite is a relative newcomer to the gemstone world. It wasn’t until the 90’s that there was a consistent supply worth marketing. Since then it’s become so popular that it was added as an alternate December birthstone in 2002. And there’s no question as to why! Its beautiful color alone is enough to make you fall in love. It can vary in color and saturation from light blue to violet, and every shade between. If it’s heat-treated it can even look pleochroic!

If you wanted to collect a gemstone in every color of the rainbow you could practically do it with just spinel. Red, yellow, blue and of course black, there’s a spinel for every occasion. The combination of its opaqueness and brilliance makes for a unique and striking stone. It looks great with silver, and its Moh’s hardness of 8 makes it a great everyday piece that will last forever. Add a little mystique to your look with black spinel.

Opal: the Queen of Gems. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t appreciate the play of color of opal. Australia provides the world with a majority of its opal, but recently Ethiopian opal has made quite the splash. It forms differently from most other opals, giving it unique physical and optical properties. For one, it’s usually harder than other opal, giving lapidaries the chance to express their creativity. It also takes dyes far more easily. Visually, Ethiopian opal has been likened to the northern lights; it’s hard not to fall in love when you see how the colors seem to dance inside it.

Imagine a rich, vibrant green stone. Maybe you’re thinking of emerald? Now imagine that it’s far more affordable…okay, now imagine that it forms in such a hostile environment that it can only be mined about 3 months out of the year. You’re probably thinking of chrome diopside! The stone is relatively new to the market, is often very clean and clear, and is almost never treated. The finer material almost all comes from Siberia, which is ravaged by extreme winters for most of the year, making the mining process sporadic. Still, that doesn’t stop us from providing you with the best of this brilliant stone!

We’re thrilled to be celebrating another Gem Days. It’s the biggest gemstone jewelry event of the season, and one of our favorite times of the year. Click here to browse our Gem Days deals, but hurry! It all ends on Sunday the 19th. Happy Gem Days!

-Robert