As a young girl, my favourite gemstone was Amethyst. Being a February baby, this semi-precious gemstone is my birthstone.
My grandparents were always travelling to exotic places. I can still remember the excitement I felt when they brought me back a pretty amethyst pendant from Madagascar. When I turned 21 years old, I treated myself to piece of amethyst jewellery.
Amethyst was still my favourite gemstone when I met my husband in 1994. Before we were married, we went on holiday to Greece. Exploring the little shops and markets, we found a lovely boutique selling a lot of amethyst jewellery. In a beautifully spontaneous romantic gesture, he bought me an amethyst necklace as a memento of our holiday together.
Lovely as amethyst is, my taste has changed over the years and I’ve since become rather fond of ruby. After all, there are no rules that say your gemstone of choice must be your birthstone.
Ruby is one of the Big Four precious gems together with emerald, diamond and sapphire. I feel a real connection with this lovely gemstone because Ruby is my birth name; the name given to me by my natural mother, before I was adopted. My adoptive parents changed my name but sometimes I still think of myself as a Ruby – precious by nature, and hard as nails!
Now I have a small collection of rubies from different countries including Madagascar, Tanzania and Thailand. I really love ruby from Tanzania because it has beautiful clarity and colour. Last year, however, my beloved Grandfather passed away at 103 years old and I was given some money to spend on something to remember him by. He was quite knowledgeable about gemstones, so I decided to buy a piece of jewellery because I knew he would approve. I bought a Mozambique ruby ring from master jeweller Kat Florence. Now I wear my ruby every day – with love in my heart and fond memories of my Grandfather.
Do you have a story behind your favourite gemstone? Please share – we’d love to hear from you.
Kim Rix
Be sure. Be smart. Buy with Confidence.