The November birthstone is topaz.  Topaz is a unique gemstone which comes in a huge variety of colors such as orange-yellow, colorless, light blue, pink, brown and green.

Topaz has a hardness of 8 on the Mohs Hardness Scale and a glassy luster.  Igneous rocks are the most common type in which to find topaz gemstones.  Topaz is used for jewelry in its variety of colors.

Sapphires are a blue form of the mineral corundum.  When corundum is red, it is called a ruby.  Corundum is one of the hardest known minerals with a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale.  The gemstone sapphire is usually known for its spectacular blue color, but can also come in many other colors, except for red.  Sapphires have a glassy luster which makes them shiny and are are most commonly used for jewelry.

One of the largest sapphires in the world is called the “Logan Sapphire” and is over 422 carats.  Many beautiful specimens of sapphire are mined in Myanmar, Madagascar, Kashmire, and Sri Lanka, and Australia.  In the United States, sapphires and rubies can be found in the area of Franklin, North Carolina, which is a popular area for mines.

July’s birthstone is the ruby.  Rubies are one of the hardest known minerals.  With a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, it is only softer than a diamond.  Rubies are known for their beautiful red color.  A ruby is a variety of the mineral corundum.

The photo on the left shows corundum ruby in its rough form.Rubies have a glassy luster which makes them shiny.  Rubies are most commonly used for jewelry.  The ring shown in the photo on the right shows a large ruby flanked by smaller diamonds.  Rubies are commonly mined in Myanmar, Thailand, Kenya, the United States, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.  In 2005, a 440 carat ruby was discovered and thought to be one of the largest gems found to date.

Fun Fact:  The gemstone sapphire is also a variety of corundum and comes in many colors, except for red.