A gem of celestial blue beauty, turquoise (“The Turkish Stone”) has been prized as adornment and sought after all talisman throughout the ages and all over the worlds. A complex phosphate of aluminum and copper, which ranges in color from bright blue, to green, to gray, turquoise is mined mostly in arid regions with sedimentary and fractured volcanic rocks. The pharaohs of Egypt left inscriptions recording their successful turquoise mining in the Sinai Desert, while the Indians of the American southwest—who considered it a sacred stone—found their sources chiefly in new Mexico and Arizona. Turquoise occurs in a wide area of the near east and Europe, and its use in jewelry and amulets dates from the 5th millennium before Christ. The Egyptians particularly valued it as a bringer of luck, in which capacity it is still used throughout the Middle East. In the Americas, it was considered an essential possession for a medicine man, and was used extensively as adornment, as it still is today. Ancient Indian burial sites have yielded up thousands of turquoise beads used to decorate the deceased. Its power as a charm of good fortunes thought to be unrivaled because of its lucky blue color; it is believed to protect the wearer from accidents and falls. Therapeutically, the gem is useful for freeing the body from toxins, preventing arthritis, curing eye diseases, and relieving urinary disorders. To wear turquoise is to wear the sky on a bright and sunny day. Perhaps no gem delights the senses like the diamond. This most precious of stones seems to burn with a fire deep within. Crystallized carbon, formed under tremendous pressure over millennia, the diamond is famed for its everlasting hardness. In this capacity, the gem has come to symbolize eternal faithfulness and is the traditional focus of the engagement band. Because early cultures lacked the technology to facet the diamond, the gem has only become popular in the last two centuries. Diamonds are normally colorless, but they are also found in shades including yellow, pink, and blue. In eastern belief, the diamond is said to enhance the full spectrum of energies in the body, mind, and spirit. Within the circle of gems, the diamond defines the standards of beauty, rarity, and preciousness.