Turquoise
Known and valued as a gemstone for thousands of years, the turquoise stone’s original sources, Egypt and Sinai, have exhausted their production and so most of today’s turquoise stones come from Iran. The stones were originally sent to Europe through Turkey. This explains the stone’s name, which means Turkish in French. The great appeal of this stone is its sky blue color, but because it is relatively soft, only 5 to 6 on the Mohs scale, it requires special care.
Blue Topaz
In contrast to turquoise, blue topaz ranks 8 on the Mohs scale. Topaz comes in many different colors but is well known for its remarkable blue variety. Other colors include clear, brown, yellow, orange, red, and pink. Blue topaz stones can display a blue color that is anywhere from pale to medium blue. The color is caused by irradiation. Blue topaz stones are attractive choices due to their large sizes and affordable prices.
Tanzanite
The saying goes, save the best for last, and in this case, tanzanite really is the most stunning of the three. This stone holds such importance that it was added to December’s birthstones in 2002. Not only is Tanzanite the most recent December birthstone but also the most recently discovered. It was first found in 1967 in Tanzania, which remains the only source for the unique stone.