[Source] Oddly shaped Peridot and Blue Topaz

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hello everyone! its been such a long time since I have posted, Its
like riding a bike!

I have a few question so if anyone has any pertaining to
any of them feel free to help me out, Thank you in advanced.

This project has been in the back of my mind for a very long time, I
originally went on this search over a year ago and the results came
up empty, the project has been eating away at me ever since. To start
I am looking for 3mm,4mm, 5mm, and 6mm round ball cut Peridot and
Blue Topaz, I need the stones cut without the holes for beading
because I do not bead and they are not going to be used for beading.
If someone has a source for the stones with the holes, that will
still help because I can use them as a last resort and fill the
cavity with something. I figure I might need to find a Lapidist to
cut the stones for me. The two sizes I need the most are 4mm and 5mm.
Natural stones would be better but I will settle for lab grown. Money
is a issue and is not one as well, I have been thinking about this
for a long time and its a personal project that has a lot of
sentimental value to me so if I have to save up for the natural
stones I will.

My second question is something almost everyone will probably have
an opinion on, Birthstones, the two birthrates for this object are
August 5th 1988 and December 10th 1983, August is commonly associated
with Peridot and December with Blue Topaz, what is everyones opinion
on such? I figure its mostly marketing but anyones input on
birthstones and such is greatly appreciated, I have found web pages
that go down into the day for the birthstone (maybe the year too?) I
find this interesting I am not a spiritual person myself but I have a
open mind.

Thanks,
Michael Woltmann

2

Hi Michael

To start I am looking for 3mm,4mm, 5mm, and 6mm round ball cut
Peridot and Blue Topaz,

Try stachurawholesalegemstones.com The types of stones you are
looking for are not listed, but the company says they have many more
products available than are on their site.

Good Luck
Kim

3

While the concept of the birthstones does trace back to the Old
Testament in the form of the High Priest’s Breastplate Jewel with
stones representing the 12 tribes, birthstones do not have any
religious significance

The -Official- list of birthstones we have is less than 100 years
old and was created by a committee of the North American Retail
Jewelers Association. In my opinion, right from the get-go, they
made mistakes in creating the list. For example, at the time the
committee was considering the issue, Alexandrite was not even 80
years old among known gems. If you take as a premise that the
birthstones should represent a link to our historical past when
people used the gems as charms or amulets or, at least, symbols of
ancient strengths and protection from evils, then a -modern- gem
should not be on the list.

The gem for December was Turquoise. Later, Blue Zircon was added. I
have no problem with either of these or both together. Within the
last 30 years, Blue Topaz came on the market. Wonderful! At last we
had an alternative for those people born in November who only had
yellow gem choices. (On a good day, I can almost give away a Citrine
or yellow Topaz in my area.) So I started suggesting Blue Topaz.
Well, there isn’t nearly enough Blue Zircon to satisfy the 'demand’
for birthstones. Since the color is close, many companies started
using Blue Topaz as a substitute.

So at this point, December had Turquoise, Blue Zircon, and de facto
Blue Topaz. Two years ago, the Powers-That-Be decided that Tanzanite
needed to be a birthstone !! Guess which month they put it in.

I make no appologies for my felling about Tanzanite. It is a
beautiful gem to the eye (in good grades anyway). However, I do not
like the gem because of it’s fragile nature and I am insulted by the
idea that a 10 year old gem should join the list of ancient taslimans
that the birthstones should be. In my store, we continue to mention
only Blue Zircon and Turquoise although we allow the Blue Topaz
substitution.

When designing birthstone items, I always tell my clients to know
what the birthstones are and then to ignore that and
choose gems that they feel represent the people by their
personality. Few people take that advice but it does make them more
open to alternatives.

I bid you all Peace,

Francis Kisner
Kisner’s Gems

4

Are you talking about ‘true’ (ie untreated) yellow topaz? If so I
would be interested in some of your inexpensive gems of good sizes
that I can recut. My sources for true, untreated yellow topaz are
ridiculous.

Also there is quite a bit of blue zircon floating around out there,
much of it is heated but heated is better than diffusion or vapor
deposition where the coating will wear off.

Craig
www.creativecutgems.com

5 
Birthstones, the two birthrates for this object are August 5th
1988 and December 10th 1983, August is commonly associated with
Peridot and December with Blue Topaz, what is everyones opinion on
such?

I generally use Peridot for August and Blue Zircon for December.
Turquoise is also an acceptable stone for use in December birthdays.

BBR - Sandi Graves, Beadin’ Up A Storm
Stormcloud Trading Co
651-645-0343

6

Thank you everyone for your help with this, I have at least a
handful of sources now who should have the smooth cut round ball
un-drilled stones and a lot of excellent on birthstones.

I would also like to thank Ganoksin/Orchid without you I would be
more of a pest to my teacher and friends! I am sorry about my late
reply I have been insanely busy for a while and for the past 6 months
or so I have been sheltering myself from Metal because I had no time
for it, Reading the Orchid posts illuminates that old part of me,
because even though I have not had the time to work on my projects as
much as I would like I still have time to read the posts and benefit
from everyones collective knowledge, My love for metal has never
vanished even though my time for it might have.

Once again a big thanks to Orchid and to everyone who is a part of
this.

Michael Woltmann

7 
Thank you everyone for your help with this, I have at least a
handful of sources now who should have the smooth cut round ball
un-drilled stones and a lot of excellent on
birthstones.

If you wouldn’t mind, would you post a list of the places you have
found to be useful? I have some interest in these myself. I know
Strachura has some, but where else? Plus, if anyone knows where I
can get Chinese freshwater (pretty cheap) pearls undrilled, I’ve
been looking for those as well.

Thanks,
Noel

8 
If you wouldn't mind, would you post a list of the places you have
found to be useful? I have some interest in these myself.

I’ll second that request. Undrilled gem balls are something I’ve
looked for a number of times, and have had no luck.

Matthew Crawford
www.MatthewDesigns.com