EDITING CHRIS CHRISTEN

STYLING + PHOTOGRAPHY MICHELLE BAZIS

romancing the stone THREADS

THE MYSTIQUE AND ALLURE OF GEMSTONES IS AS POWERFUL AS EVER

A

s Valentine’s Day — the gem of all holidays —

danger, while others were kept close at hand to cure or avoid

approaches, here are five nuggets about colored

certain diseases, even protect and shield. Today, gemstones

stones, courtesy of Susan Jacques, president and

are most commonly associated with months of birth.

CEO of the Gemological Institute of America, and her team of historians and gemologists.

MINING REGIONS

MYSTICAL POWERS

The search for them opened up areas for exploration, too,

The allure of colored stones is as old as history itself.

Gems are found in some very remote regions of the world. notably the interior of Brazil in the 1700s. The same kind

Perhaps because of their rarity and beauty, many ancient

of gemstone can come from different sources. For example,

civilizations believed gemstones were imbued with special

Australia is a classic source for the finest opals. But various

powers. ... Some gems were thought to ward off evil and

kinds of opals can be found in Ethiopia, Brazil, Mexico

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