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20/08/2026

🎓 Gemstone Academy – Episode 53
🧬 Mineralogy Explained
By Nadia MH

💎 THE GARNET GROUP — Not One Gemstone. An Entire Mineral Family.

Garnet?

Dark red stone.

Done.

Oh no, darling. 😉

We're only getting started.

GARNET isn't actually one mineral species.

It's an entire GROUP of closely related silicate minerals sharing a fundamental crystal structure while differing in their chemistry.

Six important end members dominate the gemmological story:

❤️ Pyrope
❤️ Almandine
🧡 Spessartine
💚 Grossular
💚 Andradite
💚 Uvarovite

And suddenly “Garnet red” seems a little inadequate, doesn't it?

Natural Garnets can occur in:

❤️ Red
🧡 Orange
💛 Yellow
💚 Green
💜 Purple
🩷 Pink
🤎 Brown

Some Garnets can even display colour-change behaviour.

🔬 GEMMOLOGICAL FACTS

✔ Mineral group: Garnet
✔ Crystal system: Cubic
✔ Optical character: Normally singly refractive
✔ Mohs hardness: approximately 6.5–7.5
✔ RI and specific gravity vary between species
✔ Natural crystals often form beautiful dodecahedral or trapezohedral shapes

And here's today's important lesson:

COLOUR ALONE DOES NOT IDENTIFY A GARNET SPECIES.

Gemologists can use refractive index, specific gravity, spectroscopy, microscopy and other evidence to work out what a specimen actually is.

There's another complication.

Nature doesn't always produce perfectly pure textbook end members.

Garnets form solid solutions, meaning different chemical components can substitute within the same crystal structure.

So a natural stone may contain chemistry belonging to more than one end member.

Which means that next time someone tells you...

“It's just Garnet.”

You know Nadia's answer. 😉

“Which one?”

Over future Academy episodes we'll explore some of this family's extraordinary members individually — without repeating today's family lesson.

Which colour surprises you most: orange, green or purple Garnet?

Discover the science behind extraordinary natural gemstones with Natural Gems Belgium.

Because every gemstone is unique.

19/08/2026

🎓 Gemstone Academy – Episode 52
🧬 Mineralogy Explained
By Nadia MH

💎 SPINEL — The Royal Gemstone Mistaken for Ruby for Centuries

Imagine owning one of history's most famous rubies...
..and discovering it isn't actually ruby.

Awkward, darling. 😉

For centuries, magnificent red Spinel was frequently confused with ruby.

And it's easy to understand why.

Fine natural red Spinel can be absolutely spectacular.

But modern gemmology tells us they are different minerals.

🔬 SPINEL

✔ Formula: MgAl₂O₄
✔ Crystal system: Cubic
✔ Mohs hardness: approximately 8
✔ Refractive index: commonly around 1.718
✔ Optical character: Singly refractive
✔ Characteristic crystal habit: Octahedral

And then there's one rather famous royal example...

👑 THE BLACK PRINCE'S RUBY

Mounted in Britain's Imperial State Crown, this historic red gemstone has been called a ruby for centuries.

Gemologically?

It's actually a large RED SPINEL.

And Spinel certainly isn't limited to red.

Natural Spinel can occur in gorgeous:

❤️ Red
🩷 Pink
💜 Violet
💙 Blue
🩶 Grey
🧡 Orange

Some vivid cobalt-bearing blue Spinels are particularly coveted by collectors.

So perhaps it's time we stopped thinking of Spinel as the gemstone that was “mistaken for ruby.”

Spinel doesn't need to imitate anything.

It's beautiful, durable, historically fascinating and rather fabulous all by itself. 😉

Would you choose a magnificent red Spinel — or one of those exceptional cobalt blues?

Discover the science behind extraordinary natural gemstones with Natural Gems Belgium.

Because every gemstone is unique.

18/08/2026

🎓 Gemstone Academy – Episode 51
🌍 From Earth's Mantle to Outer Space
By Nadia MH

💚 PERIDOT — One Gemstone. Two Extraordinary Origins.

Deep inside Earth...

or arriving from SPACE? ☄️

Rather exotic choices for a gemstone, darling. 😉

Meet PERIDOT.

Peridot is the yellowish-green to green gem variety of the mineral OLIVINE.

🔬 Gemmological Facts

✔ Mineral: Olivine
✔ Gem variety: Peridot
✔ General composition: (Mg,Fe)₂SiO₄
✔ Crystal system: Orthorhombic
✔ Mohs hardness: 6.5–7
✔ Refractive index: approximately 1.65–1.69
✔ Strong birefringence
✔ Typical colour: Yellowish green to green

And its colour gives us our first lesson.

Unlike many gemstones coloured by trace impurities, iron is part of Peridot's own mineral chemistry.

That makes Peridot an IDIOCHROMATIC gemstone.

But its origins are even more fascinating.

🌍 EARTH

Olivine is an important mineral in Earth's upper mantle.

Volcanic processes can transport olivine-bearing material toward the surface, eventually giving us gem-quality Peridot.

And then things become rather more adventurous...

☄️ SPACE

Rare stony-iron meteorites called PALLASITES contain olivine crystals embedded inside iron-nickel metal.

Occasionally those extraterrestrial crystals are transparent and intact enough to FACET.

Yes.

Natural gemstone material from a meteorite.

And no, darling — that doesn't mean the Peridot in your jewellery normally came from space. 😉

Pallasitic gem-quality Peridot is exceptionally rare.

There's another lovely gemmological clue.

Look carefully through a faceted Peridot and its strong double refraction can make rear facet edges appear doubled.

Under the microscope, you may also find the famous little disc-shaped features gemologists rather charmingly call...

🌿 “LILY PADS.”

So today's Peridot can give us:

🌍 Earth's mantle
☄️ Meteorites
💚 Idiochromatic colour
🔬 Double refraction
🌿 Classic inclusions

Not bad for one green gemstone.

Would you choose a magnificent terrestrial Peridot — or an incredibly rare tiny Peridot faceted from a meteorite?

Discover the science behind extraordinary natural gemstones with Natural Gems Belgium.

Because every gemstone is unique.

17/08/2026

🎓 Gemstone Academy – Episode 50
🔬 Gemmology Explained
By Nadia MH

💎 ZIRCON — Natural. Ancient. Definitely NOT Cubic Zirconia.

“Zircon? Oh, you mean cubic zirconia?”

No, darling. 😉

And today we're fixing that one permanently.

NATURAL ZIRCON and CUBIC ZIRCONIA are completely different materials.

💎 ZIRCON
Natural mineral
ZrSiO₄ — zirconium silicate

≠

✨ CUBIC ZIRCONIA
ZrO₂ — zirconium dioxide
Generally manufactured for jewellery

Natural Zircon is a fascinating gemstone in its own right.

🔬 Gemmological Facts

✔ Mineral: Zircon
✔ Formula: ZrSiO₄
✔ Crystal system: Tetragonal
✔ Mohs hardness: approximately 6–7.5
✔ High Zircon RI: approximately 1.925–1.984
✔ Strong double refraction can occur
✔ High brilliance and beautiful fire
✔ Colours include colourless, yellow, green, red, reddish-brown and blue

And Zircon has a rather extraordinary geological story.

Some tiny Zircon crystals discovered in Australia have been dated to approximately...

🌍 4.4 BILLION YEARS.

No, that doesn't mean every Zircon gemstone is 4.4 billion years old.

But these ancient crystals make Zircon one of geology's most remarkable time capsules.

There's another fascinating detail.

Zircon can contain tiny traces of radioactive elements such as uranium.

Over immense periods of time, their internal radiation can progressively damage the crystal structure — a natural process called METAMICTIZATION.

Gemologists therefore sometimes distinguish between high, intermediate and low Zircon depending on how much structural alteration has occurred.

And those gorgeous blue Zircons?

💙 Most blue Zircon in the jewellery market is HEAT TREATED.

The starting material is commonly naturally brown, with heating producing the desirable blue colour.

Treatment doesn't make it synthetic.

It remains natural Zircon — but the treatment should be disclosed.

So today's Nadia rule is very simple:

Zircon deserves its own identity.

Natural gemstone.
Extraordinary optics.
Ancient geological history.

And absolutely NOT cubic zirconia. 😉

Had you been confusing the two before today?

Discover the science behind extraordinary natural gemstones with Natural Gems Belgium.

Because every gemstone is unique.

16/08/2026

🎓 Gemstone Academy – Episode 49
💎 Gemstone Spotlight
By Nadia MH

CHRYSOBERYL — The Tough Gem Behind Two Famous Varieties

Alexandrite?

Famous.

Cat's-eye?

Famous.

But the mineral behind BOTH of them?

That deserves a little attention too, darling. 😉

Meet CHRYSOBERYL.

And first, let's clear up a wonderfully confusing name...

Despite having “beryl” in its name, Chrysoberyl is NOT a member of the Beryl mineral family.

🔬 Gemmological Facts

✔ Mineral: Chrysoberyl
✔ Formula: BeAl₂O₄
✔ Crystal system: Orthorhombic
✔ Mohs hardness: approximately 8.5
✔ Refractive index: approximately 1.74–1.76
✔ Specific gravity: approximately 3.7
✔ Excellent durability

Transparent Chrysoberyl commonly occurs in beautiful yellow, greenish-yellow and yellowish-green shades.

But this mineral has two particularly glamorous relatives...

✨ ALEXANDRITE

A colour-change variety of Chrysoberyl.

🐈 CAT'S-EYE CHRYSOBERYL

Fine parallel inclusions can create chatoyancy — that beautiful narrow band of reflected light that seems to glide across a polished cabochon.

And here's today's little gemmological detail:

If a gemstone dealer simply says “cat's-eye” without naming another mineral, that term traditionally refers to Chrysoberyl.

Other chatoyant gemstones normally need their mineral name attached.

Rather exclusive, isn't it? 😉

Chrysoberyl can even form fascinating cyclic twins that may look almost hexagonal — despite belonging to the orthorhombic crystal system.

So we have:

💎 Transparent brilliance
✨ Colour change
🐈 Chatoyancy
🔬 Fascinating crystal growth
🛡️ Mohs hardness around 8.5

Quite an accomplished gemstone family.

Which would you choose:

Classic Chrysoberyl, cat's-eye Chrysoberyl, or Alexandrite?

Discover the science behind extraordinary natural gemstones with Natural Gems Belgium.

Because every gemstone is unique.

15/08/2026

🎓 Gemstone Academy – Episode 48
💎 Gemstone Spotlight
By Nadia MH

IOLITE — The Viking Compass Gem

Violet-blue from this direction...

Turn it slightly...

And suddenly it can look much paler.

Have I changed the gemstone?

Of course not, darling. 😉

Meet IOLITE.

Iolite is the transparent gem variety of cordierite and one of the loveliest gemstones for demonstrating strong PLEOCHROISM.

🔬 Gemmological Facts

✔ Gem variety: Iolite
✔ Mineral: Cordierite
✔ Crystal system: Orthorhombic
✔ Mohs hardness: approximately 7–7.5
✔ Refractive index: approximately 1.52–1.58
✔ Strong pleochroism
✔ Typical desirable colour: Violet-blue to blue

Depending on the crystal direction you're looking through, the SAME Iolite can appear blue or violet-blue, yellowish-grey, or remarkably pale.

And that makes life interesting for the gemstone cutter.

Orient the rough incorrectly and a promising blue stone may look pale or grey.

Get the orientation right?

Now we're talking. 💎

And what about that rather fabulous nickname:

THE VIKING COMPASS STONE? ⚓

There's a popular tradition that Norse navigators may have used thin pieces of pleochroic cordierite to help estimate the Sun's direction.

Fascinating?

Absolutely.

Proven historical fact?

Not quite.

Direct evidence for Vikings actually using Iolite this way remains uncertain — and good gemmology should distinguish a wonderful story from established evidence.

So today's Nadia rule is simple:

Never judge a gemstone from only one angle. 😉

Would you choose Iolite for its rich violet-blue colour or for its fascinating pleochroism?

Discover the science behind extraordinary natural gemstones with Natural Gems Belgium.

Because every gemstone is unique.

14/08/2026

🎓 Gemstone Academy – Episode 47
🔬 Gemmology Explained
By Nadia MH

💎 ANDALUSITE — Two Colours, One Gemstone

Green here...

Reddish brown there...

Have I changed the gemstone?

No, darling. 😉

I've changed the DIRECTION.

Andalusite is one of the loveliest gemstones for demonstrating PLEOCHROISM — the ability of a gemstone to display different colours when viewed through different crystallographic directions.

🔬 Gemmological Facts

✔ Mineral: Andalusite
✔ Formula: Al₂SiO₅
✔ Crystal system: Orthorhombic
✔ Mohs hardness: approximately 7–7.5
✔ Refractive index: approximately 1.63–1.65
✔ Specific gravity: approximately 3.1–3.2
✔ Optical character: Biaxial
✔ Strong pleochroism

And here's the important bit:

Pleochroism is NOT the same as colour change.

💎 PLEOCHROISM:
Change the viewing direction.

✨ COLOUR CHANGE:
Change the illumination.

With Andalusite, the cutter can even use those directional colours creatively so that contrasting greenish, reddish and brownish tones contribute to the finished gemstone's appearance.

And there's another fascinating member of the story...

Chiastolite is an opaque variety of Andalusite containing natural dark inclusions that can form its famous cross-like pattern.

Nature clearly enjoys showing off occasionally. 😉

Would you choose a transparent pleochroic Andalusite — or a natural cross-pattern Chiastolite?

Discover the science behind extraordinary natural gemstones with Natural Gems Belgium.

Because every gemstone is unique.

13/08/2026

🎓 Gemstone Academy – Episode 46
🔬 Gemmology Explained
By Nadia MH

💎 TITANITE — SPHENE

More rainbow fire than diamond?

Yes, darling. 😉

Titanite — traditionally also called Sphene — has exceptionally strong dispersion.

And here's the rather spectacular comparison:

✨ Titanite dispersion: approximately 0.051
💎 Diamond dispersion: approximately 0.044

That means a beautifully cut transparent Titanite can separate white light into extraordinary spectral flashes.

But don't confuse FIRE with BRILLIANCE.

They're different optical properties — and gemmology does love its details. 😉

🔬 Gemmological Facts

✔ Mineral: Titanite
✔ Traditional gem name: Sphene
✔ Formula: CaTiSiO5
✔ Crystal system: Monoclinic
✔ Mohs hardness: approximately 5–5.5
✔ Refractive index: approximately 1.84–2.11
✔ Very strong birefringence
✔ Strong dispersion
✔ Pleochroism can be pronounced
✔ Typical colours: yellow, green, orange and brown

And here's something wonderful to look for:

👀 FACET DOUBLING

Titanite's strong double refraction can make rear facet edges appear doubled when you look through the gemstone.

No, darling — you haven't had too much champagne. 🥂

That's optics.

There is, however, a trade-off.

Titanite is considerably softer and more brittle than many familiar jewellery gemstones, so those spectacular optical properties come in a gemstone that deserves careful handling.

Would you choose Titanite for its incredible fire — or would its delicate nature make you keep it safely in your collector's box?

Discover the science behind extraordinary natural gemstones with Natural Gems Belgium.

Because every gemstone is unique.

12/08/2026

🎓 Gemstone Academy – Episode 45
✨ Optical Phenomena
By Nadia MH

💎 DIASPORE – One Gemstone, Different Light, Different Colour

Greenish now...

Pinkish later...

Have I swapped the gemstone?

No, darling. 😉

I've changed the LIGHT.

Certain natural Diaspores display a fascinating genuine colour-change phenomenon.

Under daylight-equivalent illumination, a stone may appear greenish-yellow or olive.

Move the SAME gemstone into warm incandescent light and pinkish or brownish tones can become much more apparent.

🔬 Gemmological Facts

✔ Mineral: Diaspore
✔ Formula: AlO(OH)
✔ Crystal system: Orthorhombic
✔ Mohs hardness: approximately 6.5–7
✔ Refractive index: approximately 1.70–1.75
✔ Perfect cleavage
✔ Strong trichroism can occur
✔ Colour-change material is particularly prized

And here's today's important gemmology lesson:

COLOUR CHANGE and TRICHROISM aren't the same thing.

✨ Colour change:
Different illumination can change the colour we perceive.

💎 Trichroism:
Different crystal directions can reveal three different directional colours.

Same gemstone.
Two fascinating optical lessons.

You may also see colour-change Diaspore marketed under names such as Zultanite or Csarite.

But gemmologically?

The mineral is Diaspore.

So next time a gemstone seems to change its personality under different lighting...

Don't immediately blame your eyes. 😉

Sometimes the science really is that beautiful.

Would you prefer your Diaspore in its greenish daylight appearance or its warmer pinkish appearance?

Discover the science behind extraordinary natural gemstones with Natural Gems Belgium.

Because every gemstone is unique.

11/08/2026

🎓 Gemstone Academy – Episode 44
✨ Optical Phenomena
By Nadia MH

💎 LABRADORITE – When Light Reveals Hidden Colour

Grey gemstone?

Look again, darling. 😉

Move a beautiful Labradorite through the light and suddenly you may see intense blue, green, gold or even orange flashes appear.

But here's the fascinating part:

Those colours aren't simply its body colour.

The phenomenon is called LABRADORESCENCE. ✨

Extremely fine internal structures within the feldspar interact with light, creating the spectacular optical effect that appears only at particular viewing angles.

🔬 Gemmological Facts

✔ Mineral group: Feldspar
✔ Series: Plagioclase
✔ Crystal system: Triclinic
✔ Mohs hardness: approximately 6–6.5
✔ Refractive index: approximately 1.56–1.57
✔ Optical phenomenon: Labradorescence

And here's something lapidaries know very well:

Orientation matters.

Cut the rough at the wrong orientation and a spectacular flash can become dramatically weaker.

Find the right orientation?

That's when Labradorite comes alive. 💎

So perhaps Nadia's rule for today is rather appropriate:

Sometimes, darling, you simply need to look at things from the right angle. 😉

✨ Which Labradorite flash would you choose: electric blue, green or golden?

Discover the science behind extraordinary natural gemstones at Natural Gems Belgium.

Because every gemstone is unique.

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