October is the month for black cats, witches, spiders, bonfires, and pumpkins – everything black and orange! Halloween is a holiday celebrated each year on October 31st. This tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival, Samhain (pronounced sow-in). On November 1st, people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. Later, the night before became known as All Hallows Eve and then Halloween. Over time, it evolved into a day of activities including carving jack-o-lanterns, donning costumes, and trick-or-treating for candy.
At llyn strong fine art jewelry in Greenville, SC, we specialize in a very different kind of “candy.” Our candy consists of a wide variety of colored gemstones. There are many gemstones that fall into the black and orange color categories.
llyn strong fine art jewelry is located in Greenville, SC, and specializes in creating custom-made fine art jewelry. Browse our online inventory of fine art jewelry. Contact us today at 864-233-5900 or visit our storefront at 1322 E Washington St Suite C1, Greenville, SC 29607. Let us help you reimagine, re-think and re-invent your jewelry collection!
Six Spooky Black Gemstones
1. Black diamonds
Black diamonds are opaque, and they are reflective not radiant like most other diamonds that are translucent to transparent. They are typically heat-treated to even out the color. These gemstones have become more popular over the last 20 years and are being used in rings, earrings, and necklaces. Black diamonds are typically less expensive than many other more traditional diamonds, but they are still just as hard, making them great for everyday wear. The designers at llyn strong love using them in contrast with white or colored stones and always stock a large variety of black diamond bead strands.
2. Black Pearls
Black pearls are produced by a black-lipped oyster found in the waters throughout Micronesia and are called Tahitian pearls. They are cultured, like most pearls today, which means that a bead-nucleus made of processed Mississippi River clamshell is implanted into the oyster. After a two-to-three-year time of the oyster covering the nucleus with nacre, a pearl is harvested. Tahitian pearls can become as large as 18 to 20 mm. These pearls vary in color from gray, to black with greens, purples and blue overtones and have wonderful luster.
3. Onyx
Onyx is a variety of gemstone that comes from Chalcedony – a silicate mineral, mostly made of calcite (like marble and granite), which usually features contrasting layers of color. Most people think of black when they think of onyx, which is cut from black and white onyx. It is a 7 hardness on the Mohs hardness scale for gemstones. Onyx takes its name from the Greek word “onux,” meaning “fingernail.” According to Roman mythology, Cupid clipped the fingernails of the goddess Venus while she slept, then changed them into stone.
4. Black Tourmaline
Typically, black tourmaline has many cracks and crevices and is used mostly for making beads for strands. They come in almost every color and have a hexagonal crystal structure. Tourmalines are a great stone to wear every day as they are very hard (a 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale).
5. Black Obsidian
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. It is more difficult to use in jewelry because of its tendency to crack or chip, like glass, but has a beautiful transparent look.
6. Black Opal
Black opal is really not black! It is one of the most colorful and sought after of all opals. It does have a black underlayer (called potash), thus the name. The name opal is a shortened version of “opalus,” a Roman coinage which means “color play.” Perhaps the best description of opal ever penned is found in Pliney the Elder’s (d. 79 A.D.) vast treatise, Natural History. “For in opals you shall see the living fire of ruby, the glorious purple of amethyst, the sea-green of emerald, all glittering together in an incredible mixture of light.” Still, even with all the colors, they are called “black opals”!
Six Fiery Orange Gemstones
1. Spessartite Garnet
Garnet is found in almost every corner of the Earth, and in many colors, like many mineral families. Its special color variations are region-specific. The name, spessartite or spessartine, is derived from the location of its original discovery in the Spessart Mountains in the Aschaffenburg district of Bavaria, Germany. Today, the oranges of Spessartite garnet can be found in Namibia and Sri Lanka. Garnet is a great stone to be worn everyday as it ranges from 6.5 to 7.5 on the Mohs hardness scale.
2. Orange Sapphires
Yes, sapphires (although mostly known for their blue hues) are available in orange as well. They, like other sapphires, are second in hardness to a diamond. In modern jewelry, they symbolize fiery and passionate love and are associated with creativity, energy, and good health.
3. Orange Tourmalines
Orange tourmalines can range in color from orange to orange/red. It is often a component color of brown tourmalines. Orange Tourmaline is a gemstone associated with the Sacral chakra, located in the lower abdomen. It is known for its vibrant orange color, which aligns with the energy of this chakra. This gemstone is also a wearable stone with its Mohs hardness rating of a 7.
4. Citrine
Citrine is a member of the mineral family quartz. It is a transparent gemstone with a warm golden glow in yellows and oranges. In ancient times, this gemstone was carried as a protection against snake venom and evil thoughts. Most citrine is mined in Brazil with additional deposits in Zambia. Citrine is also a very affordable and beautiful gemstone.
5. Mexican Opal
Mexican opal is a common translucent opal that comes in shades of yellow to red, but mostly orange. It is mostly mined from Mexico. Like all opal it is a heavily hydrated amorphous silica stone, which is comprised of many microscopic tiny silica spheres stacked together. It is only rated at a 5 to 5.5 on the Mohs hardness scale, so we do not recommend wearing this in an everyday ring.
6. Amber
Amber is not a mineral, but is fossilized tree resin. It is often referred to as nature’s time capsule and sometimes contains remnants of life on earth millions of years ago. The oldest amber on record dates to the Upper Carboniferous Period approximately 320 million years ago. It is very lightweight with a specific gravity of 1.08 and is very soft with a 2-2.5 rating on the Mohs hardness scale.
Your Perfect October Look Awaits at llyn strong!
Please visit us at llyn strong fine art jewelry at 1322 E. Washington St., Greenville, SC, to view a few of these spooky and fiery gemstones for yourself or join us for a llyn strong Gemstone Roundtable.
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