This exquisitely beautiful and rare gem is seldom seen in jewelry, but is very popular among collectors and connoisseurs. Discovered in San Benito, CAlifornia - hence the name benito-ite - it was recently selected as the official state stone of California and we are beginning to see more of it in fine jewelry houses there.

Benitoite ranges from colorless to dark blue (often with a violet tint) to violet. A rare pink variety has also been identified. Benitoite can display "fire," the dispersion of white light into the rainbow colors, comparable to a diamond, and is also very brilliant. Some might easily mistake it at a glance for a blue diamond. It lacks diamond's incredible hardness, however, and is more comparable to amethyst or tanzanite, in hardness. It is difficult to find benitoite in sizes over one carat; only about five stones per year are cut which weight two carats or more; only one every five years yields a stone five carats or more. Benitoite's rarity keeps it very expensive - a fine one-carat stone could easily cost $3,000 - and tw0-carat sizes with fine color are extremely rare and even more costly. The largest fine benitoite known weights just over 7 3/4 carats, and is on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

For jewelry, benitoite is a relatively wearable stone, but given its rarity and value, we recommend that it be set in a somewhat protective mounting so that it is not easily subjected to accidental scratching or wear.

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As early as A.D. 1220 the virtues of beryl were well established in legend. Beryl provided help against foes in battle or litigation, made the wearer unconquerable, but at the same time friendly and likable, and also sharpened the wearer's intellect and cured laziness. Today, beryl is still considered important, but primarily for aesthetic reasons. the variety of colors in which it is found, its wonderful clarity (except for emerald), its brilliance, and its durability (again with the exception of emerald) have given the various varieties of beryl tremendous appeal.

Most people are familiar with the blue variety of beryl, aquamarine, and the green variety, emerald. Few as yet know the pink variety, morganite, and the beautiful yellow to yellow green variety, referred to as golden beryl. These gems have only recently found their place in the jewelry world but are already being shown in fabulous pieces made by the greatest designers. While not inexpensive, they still offer excellent value and beauty.

Beryl has also been found in many other colors - lilac, salmon, orange, sea green, as well as colorless. While most of these varieties are not as yet available to any but the most ardent rock hound, the orange varieties are fairly common and can still be found for under $125 per carat.

The rarest color is red, which is even more rare than emerald, and comparable in cost. Until recently, it was known only to serious collectors and was called "Bixbite," after the man who discovered it. The gem variety of red beryl was discovered in Utah, still its only known source. But thanks to the discovery of a new desposit, we are now beginning to see this exciting gemstone in the jewelry market. It faces a major problem, however - what to call it. Some dealers are calling it "red emerald" because it is the same basic material as emerald and because it is truly comparable to emerald in rarity, beauty, and value. Whatever the name by which it is called - red emerald, red beryl, of "Bixbite" - it is a beautiful gem that should be loved and cherished by anyone lucky enough to own one.

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Believed by the ancient Greeks to have fallen from heaven, this stone has held a prominent palce throughout history, and even into modern times, as a great curative. It was (and still is in some parts of the world) believed capable of stopping every type of bleeding, clearing bloodshot eyes, acting as an antidote for snakebite, and relieving urinary troubles. Today there are people who wear bloodstone amulets to prevent sunstrokke and headache, and to provide protections against the evil eye.

The birthstone for March, bloodstone is a more or less opaque. dark green variety of quartz with specks of red jasper (a variety of quartz) spattering red throughout the dark greenfield. Particularly popular for men's rings (perhaps they need more protection from illness?) bloodstone is most desirable when the green isn't so dark as to approach black and the red flecks are roundish and pronounced. It is moderately durable and is fairly available and inexpensive.

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The chrysoberyl family is very interesting because all three of its varieties - alexandrite, cat's-eye, and chrysoberyl - while chemically alike, are quite distinct from one another in their optical characteristics and bear no visible resemblance to each other.

Chrysoberyl in its cat's-eye variety has long been used as a charm to guard against evil spirits, and one can inderstand why, given the pronounced eye effect; the eye, so legend has it, could see all and it watched out for its wearer. But it was also believed that to dream of cat's-eye signified treachery. On still another level, it symbolized long life for the wearer, perhaps as a result of being protected from the evil eye.

Cat's-eye is a hard, translucent gem ranging in color from a honey yellow or honey brown to yellowish green to an almost emerald green. It has a velvety or silk-like texture, and when properly cut displays a brilliant whitish line of light right down the center, appearing almost to be lighted from inside. Genuine cat's-eye should not be confused with the common quartz variety, which is often brown, and called tiger eye; the latter has a much less striking eye and weaker color altogether. This phenomenon is produced only in cabochons (cabs).

The stone called chrysoberyl, on the other hand,is a brilliant, transparent, very clear, and very durable stone found i yellow, yellow green, and green varieties. This is another stone that still offers excellent value. It's a real beauty, very moderately priced, and just beginning to be appreciated and used in contemporary jewelry.

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Chrysoprase has long been the subject of marvelous stories. In the 1800s, it was believed that a thief sentenced to be hanged or beheaded would immediately escape if he placed a chrysoprase in his mouth. Of course, it might be hard to obtain the stone unless he just happened to carry on e around! And Alexander The Great was believed to have worn a "prase" in his girdle during battle, to ensure victory.

Chrysoprase is an inexpensive, highly translucent, bright, light to dark green variety of quartz. While its color is often very uniform and can be very lovely in jewelry, for many years these gems have been dyed to enhance their color, where necessary. Chysoprase is another stone that is usually cut in cabcochon style. It has become very popular for jewelry as a fashion accessory. Do not confuse it with jade, however. It is sometimes called "Australian Jade" and is sometimes misrepresented as real jade.

If you're the timid sort, carnelian is the stone fro you. "The wearing of carnelian is recommended to those who have a weak voice or are timid in speech, for the warm-colored stone will give them the courage they lack, so that they will speak both boldly and well," reports G.F. unz, a turn-of-the-century gemologist and historian.

This stone is especially revered by moslems, because Muhammad himself wore a silver ring set with a carnelian engraved for use as a seal.

Carnelian, one of the accepted birthstones for August, is a reddish orange variety of quartz. A moderately hard, translucent to opaque stone, its warm uniform color and fair durability have made it a favorite. It is often found in antique jewelry and lends itself to engraving or carving (especially in cameos). It is still a relatively inexpensive stone with great warmth and beauty and offers an excellent choice choice for jewelry to be worn as an accessory with today's fashion colors.

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If you are loyal, devoted, and energetic, perhaps the garnet is your stone. Or if not, perhaps you should obtain some! Red garnets were "known" to promote sincerity, stop hemorrhaging or other loss of blood, cure inflammatory diseases, and cure anger and discord. And if you engrave a well-formed lion upon a garnet, it will protect and preserve health, cure the wearer of all disease, bring him honors, and guard him from all perils in traveling. All in all, quite a worthwhile stone.

The garnet family is one of the most exciting families in the gem world. A hard, durable, often very brilliant stone, available in many colors (greens, reds, yellows, oranges), it offers far greater versatility and opportunity for the jewelry trade than has yet been capitalized upon. Depending upon the variety, quality, and size, lovely garnets are available for under $40 per carat or more than $5,000 per carat. Garnet can also be mistaken for other, usually more expensive, gems; green garnet, tsavorite, is one of the most beautiful, and all but a few would assume it was an emerald of the finest quality. In fact, it is clearer, more brilliant, and more durable than emerald itself. There is also a rarer green garnet, called demantoid, which costs slightly more than tsavorite but which although slightly softer, has more fire. These gems offer fine alternatives to the person desiring a lovely green gem who can't afford emerald. While still rare, expensive gems themselves, these garnet varieties are far less expensive than an emerald of comparable quality. Garnet also occurs in certain shades of red that have been taken for some varieties of ruby. And in yellow it has been confused with precious topaz.

Garnet is found in almost every color and shade, including a rare color-change variety that appears red in incandescent light and blue (the only color not normally seen in garnet) in daylight or fluorescent light. It is best known in a deep red variety, but is commonly found in orangish brown shades and brilliant wine red shades as well. Other colors include orange - the new "Mandarin" garnet being an intense fiery red-orange - red purple, violet and pink. A nontransparent variety, grossularite, resembles jade and may be mistaken for jade in cabochons and carvings.

A star garnet found in the United States is a reddish to purple variety that displays a faint four-rayed or six-rayed star, similar to the six-rayed star ruby but not as pronounced.

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Hematite is a must of the lawyer, for it ensures for its wearer "alertness, vivacity, and success in litigation." It is also believed to ensure sexual impulse, so if you know of someone with a problem, thai may make a "thoughtful" gift.

Hematite is an iron oxide (like iron rust), a metallic, opaque stone found in iron-mining areas. It takes a very brilliant, metallic polish that can look almost like silver, or almost pure black, or gun-metal blue. It was and is poplual for use in carving hollow cameo portraits known as intaglio.

Marcasite, the tiny, glittering stone with a brassy-colored luster often seen in old belt buckles and costume jewelry, is a relative of hematite. Most "marcasite" seen in jewelry is not marcasite, but pyrite (fool's gold) - another brassy-colored metalic mineral.

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