I remember my first "real" jewelry. It was my thirteenth birthday, and my parents beamed with pride as they handed me the tiny gift box. "It's your birthstone," they said.

I almost cried when I opened the box. "It's, it's--green." Why, oh why, couldn't I have been born in January or February, so I could have pretty garnet or amethyst earrings? I was doomed. I was certain that people would give me icky green jewelry for the rest of my life, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Over the years I learned to be more gracious, and have also come to accept peridot as non-icky. In fact, many people adore peridot, and I've even been known to wear it a time or two. But I've also discovered an alternative: zodiac stones.

If you're shopping for a gift and want something a little different than traditional birthstone jewelry, you might want to choose a gemstone based on zodiac signs.

Capricorn, December 22–January 20--Ruby. Ruby symbolizes nurturing, spiritual wisdom, economic stability, and protection from distress. Rubies promote joy. When worn, rubies reduce sadness and negative thoughts, while strengthening willpower and confidence. When you wear rubies to bed, it is believed you will have a nightmare-free, restful sleep.

Aquarius, January 21–February 21--Garnet. Garnet symbolizes health, awareness, commitment, regeneration, order, and insight. It also symbolizes marital love and fidelity, making it the perfect jewel for an engagement or newlywed gift. Some believe that garnet enhances bodily strength, endurance, and vigor, so this stone is worn when you need extra energy. It is also said to relieve skin conditions, regulate the heart and blood, and offer protection against thieves.

Pisces, February 22–March 21--Amethyst. Amethyst symbolizes healing, peace, happiness, love, and intuition. Wearing amethyst is an invitation to happiness and love. In ancient times, people believed that amethyst gave you courage and protection against thieves. Some believe that sleeping with an amethyst under your pillow will ease insomnia.

Aries, March 22–April 20--Bloodstone. Bloodstone symbolizes courage, intense healing, renewal, strength, victory, and intuitive decision-making. Some believe that it instills wisdom and sensitivity in its wearer.

Taurus, April 21–May 21--Sapphire. Sapphire symbolizes joy, peace, beauty, intuition, prosperity, and fulfillment of dreams. Sapphire is love's guardian, and is used to promote fidelity. Sapphire is thought to banish fraud, and is used in litigation and legal matters.

Gemini, May 22–June 21--Agate. Agate symbolizes balancing physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual energies; perceptiveness, strength, inspiration, and awakening talents. Some believe that agate would cure insomnia, invite pleasant dreams, and relieve depression.

Cancer, June 22–July 22--Emerald. Emerald symbolizes love, domestic bliss, sensitivity, loyalty, memory, mental capacity, harmony, and focus. Its green color symbolizes fertility, and years ago midwives believed it would speed childbirth. Some believe that if you wish to bring a love into your life, you should buy an emerald, visualize your love, and wear the stone near your heart.

Leo, July 23–August 22--Onyx. Onyx symbolizes self-control, decision-making, and intuition. It's thought of as a protective stone, used for defense and protection. Onyx has been worn during battles and other conflicts, and for more practical occasions such as walking down a dark street at midnight. In ancient times people believed that dreaming of onyx meant you would have a happy marriage.

Virgo, August 23–September 22--Carnelian. Carnelian symbolizes precision, analytical capabilities, physical energy, verbal skill, peace, and spirituality. It is believed that wearing carnelian will clear your head and promote sharp thinking.

Libra, September 23–October 23--Peridot. Peridot symbolizes warmth, friendliness, understanding, openness in love and relationships, and regulation of cycles. Many wear peridot to bed to promote sleep by calming the nervous system. Some believe it is also helpful in calming anger and all negative emotions, as well as alleviating depression.

Scorpio, October 24–November 21--Aquamarine. Aquamarine symbolizes courage, purification, peace, intuition, self-expression, balance, and preparedness. In ancient times, aquamarine was the gem of sea goddesses. As a stone of protection, it has long been popular with fishermen and sailors. Because aquamarine is also associated with married love, and makes a perfect anniversary gift.

Sagittarius, November 23–December 21--Topaz. Topaz symbolizes intelligence, beauty, fidelity, and true friendship. The ancient Greeks believed that topaz gave the wearer strength. According to legend, topaz is a protective stone, protecting against disease, injury, sudden death, negative magic, intrigue, envy, and lunacy. Many people believe topaz can end sleepwalking and nightmares when worn to sleep. Some wear topaz to help with weight loss, arthritis, and the digestive system.

The first piece jewelry that springs to mind with wedding jewelry is a wedding ring. Which wedding ring do you choose? Which pattern? Which metal? Well we have searched the web to give you all of the options to choose from.

For many people, their wedding ring may be the most expensive or even the only piece of jewelry that they will wear or own. Therefore it is important that the right ring is chosen out of the thousands that are available. The choices are almost endless but I will try and give you a few.

Wedding rings are traditionally worn on the left ring finger because it was believed that the vein in that finger went straight to the heart. Nowadays, the tradition still exists even though modern medical technology has proven the belief wrong. In some parts of the world the wedding band is worn on the right hand ring finger, places such as Norway, Germany, Poland, India or Russia.

The metal the ring is made from is the first and most obvious choice. This can be out of a variety of metals including yellow gold, white gold, rose gold, titanium and platinum.

White gold is an alloy of yellow gold and is also measured in carats.

Rose gold is a gold and copper alloy with a reddish color so mainly used for specialist jewelry. Rose gold is also sometimes known as red gold or pink gold.

Titanium is a light, strong, corrosion-resistant metal white a white silvery metallic color. Titanium is as strong as steel but has only 60% of it's density so it is much lighter.

Platinum is a heavy gray white metal resistant to corrosion. Platinum is more precious to gold and it price varies along with it's availability, normally just under twice the price of gold.

These metals are used on their own, but often white and yellow gold, or two other metals or colors are used together in the same ring to give it an extra special effect, this would be called a two tone ring, sometimes three colours are used in a tri-colored ring.

It is a good idea to have your engagement and wedding ring made out of the same metal if they are going to be worn next to each other. This is because over a period of time a harder metal such as 9ct gold would wear down a softer metal such as 18ct gold.

Many different patterns are available in wedding rings, such as a plain band or a twisted pattern or engraving. Rings can be made of several bands intertwined together so that they move around each other even though they are as one ring. Some of the names of different styles of wedding rings are braided, hammered, Celtic and diamond.

Celtic jewelry is available in many different forms and designs such as Celtic knotwork. The most popular form of Celtic jewelry is the Celtic ring which many people choose for their wedding rings or bands, engagement rings, promise rings and also friendship rings.

Some couples have their names and the date of the wedding engraved into their wedding rings to strengthen the symbolism and sentimentality of the rings as they become family heirlooms.

Wedding rings can cost anything from only a few dollars to thousands upon thousands of dollars. It depends totally on what you are buying, what your budget is and what sort of quality you are looking for.

Wedding rings can be tailor made to suit you, you could choose precious stones to be set into your ring, such as diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies and many more. Birth stones are a personal touch to a ring also as a special idea.

I hope these ideas have helped you along your way to choosing the perfect wedding rings for you and your partner.

Coral is the skeletal remains of a marine animal, the polyp corallicum, and is mainly composed of calcium carbonate. The most valuable type of coral is the noble red, Corallicum rubrum. Since Corals are calcified skeletons of sea creatures, they grow in formations resembling the branches of a tree. Most coral used for jewelry comes from the Mediterranean Sea or from the Pacific Ocean near Japan and Taiwan. Precious gem corals are formed deep undersea. A distinctive feature of the precious corals is that they take a perfect polish. In their natural state, corals have a tree-like appearance, which allows the maximum number of polyps to be fed by nutrients in the water surrounding the colony.

The color of coral ranges from white to red. It grows in branches that look like underwater trees. Beautiful coral jewelry is made and worn in many parts of the world. Coral in the form of coral stone and gold jewelry is among the most ancient of gem materials; coral jewelry has been made in many parts of the world and used for adornment since prehistoric times. Coral inlays and coral jewelry have been found from the Iron Age. Coral has a history of religious significance.

Located at a depth of between three and three hundred meters coral can be found along the shores of the western Mediterranean, Japan, Hawaii, Australia, Bay of Biscay, Canary Islands and Malaysian Archipelago.

History

Tibetan Lamas use coral rosaries. It is one of the seven treasures mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures, Coral Jewelry like coral bangles, coral necklace , coral rings, worn against the skin, touching it, was long thought to be powerful talisman that could stop bleeding, protect from evil spirits, and ward of hurricanes.

The traditional center for the fashioning of coral is Torre del Greco, near Naples. It was Napoleon's Italian campaign, with its associated taste for all things Italian that heralded the fashion for carved coral jewellery. The rose pink variety became at this time the most sought after.

During the 1860's coral beads and ovoids were set into gold brooches, much like turquoise had been. In the 1870's coral was combined in bloomed gold brooches with diamonds and emeralds.

Care

Corals are delicate gems and should be taken proper care of. To clean Coral jewelry, wipe it gently with a moist soft cloth, as Coral is much softer than other gem materials with a hardness of only 3.5. As a result it should be stored carefully to avoid scratches. Coral is also porous so care should be taken to see that coral jewelry does not come in contact with any chemicals.

Precious coral jewelry is the oldest form of gemstone jewelry with pieces as old as 25,000 years in museums. It predates the later use of pearls. Each coral gemstone color has its own distinct quality. Black coral is exotic and dramatic and has long been considered to guard against misfortune. Pink coral is delicate and is said to bring good health. Red coral is best described as rich and romantic and can never go out of fashion.

I've heard it said that all that glitters isn't gold. This might be true, but I wonder if the quote would have been different if this person would have had the opportunity to wear some diamond cut gold jewelry.

There is nothing like the look of light hitting diamond cut gold jewelry. I remember the first time that I saw a diamond cut gold piece. It was a fourteen carat gold necklace with matching earrings. I was in the shopping mode and wanted something unique. There it was, the perfect piece starting up at me from the case.

At first glance, a piece of gold jewelry that has been diamond cut may appear to have gemstones in it. In fact a true, quality piece of diamond cut jewelry is actually cut to mimic the way light plays of diamonds or other cut stones. They are designed to have the look of expensive diamond jewelry without the price, all the glitter at a fraction of the cost.

Gold jewelry has a rich tone to it to begin with. When you add the diamond cuts you are often just enhancing its beauty. Diamond cuts also enhance the beauty of white gold jewelry and silver jewelry. The facets cut into the gold, when done by a professional jeweler, are cut in such a way to refract light no matter which way the jewelry is turned.

Beware of diamond cut jewelry that is poorly cut. These pieces often appear dull and the cuts are uneven (some large and some small) making the jewelry look cheap. It is best to buy diamond cut jewelry in person or from a reputable dealer to avoid making a bad purchase.

If you want a piece of jewelry with some sparkle, but don't want the expensive price that comes with diamond jewelry, look for diamond cut jewelry. Necklaces, earring, bracelets and other items can all be diamond cut. All that glitters might not be gold, but diamond cut gold has a lot of glitter to give.

For the longest time, we were told that big earrings were gaudy, out of style, out dated and over rated among other things. The thought over wearing hoops as big as tennis balls was just not something that we even thought of. Well ladies, that trend has turned and bigger is considered better in the jewelry world these days.

Working in the fashion world, I always try to keep up with the latest list of dos and don'ts and to stay a step ahead in my wardrobe and accessories. About a year or so ago, I began to notice that trend in jewelry to shift from small and dainty to big and bold. I began to shift with it. My silver bracelets were bigger, my rings were wide enough at the top for two fingers and my necklaces practically covered my whole neck. For some reason it took me awhile to turn myself over to big earrings.

May big earrings make me think of the 80s, and who wants to go back to the days of 80s fashion faux pas? So, I started slowly with big silver hoops. Once I put them on I wore them every day for about two weeks. If you look at all the stars, what do you see? Big earrings, specifically big hoops. JLo, Beyonce, Jessica Simpson and Lindsay Lohan are just a few of the many people who have jumped on the big earring band wagon and made it what it has become today.

I get questions from many people regarding what kind of style looks best with big earrings. I have one friend who feels she can't wear them because she has short hair and one who doesn't wear them because she has long hair. The beauty of big earrings is that anybody can wear them. Short hair, long hair, petite women and curvy gals all look good with big earrings. They are one size fits all. Short hair shows off the earrings and long hair allows you to catch a glimpse of them. Those of you with long hair should appreciate big earrings because if you wear small earrings such as small diamond studs or tiny hoops, nobody can see them.

If you still haven't bought a pair of big earrings, the time has come. All you have to have is a little attitude, because a little goes a long way. Big earrings are the one size fits all piece of jewelry that we all most embrace in today's fashion world.