Blog: Hidden Gems

I reveal sapphire’s rich secrets including - what’s the most expensive sapphire ever sold? And why sapphires aren’t just blue? And even why your ‘something blue’ is so meaningful at weddings.

Learn more about November’s beautiful and popular birthstone, topaz. Originally all brown, yellow and orange gems were called topaz, which means 'fire' in Sanskrit, so it's the perfect accessory for this month's fireworks parties lit with glowing pumpkins and walks through flaming autumn leaves. As topaz is believed to radiate good health and energy to all around, we all need a boost as winter’s nights lengthen.

​Let's celebrate opal, the birthstone for October, in all its vari-coloured guises. Looking through an electron microscope, you'd see stacks of silica beads that diffract white light into all its colourful wavelengths. But we don't need hi-tech to appreciate nature's creative beauty with our own eyes.