Zircon

Zircon has had many positive powers attributed to it during its rich history. During the Middle Ages, Zircon was often prescribed as a protective amulet because it was thought to have the power to ward of plague, wounds and injuries. If the wearer of Zircon came in close proximity with the plague, the gemstone supposedly would turn dull.

Possession of Zircon also promised success in finances, immunity from lightening, protection from weapons and peace instead of violence. St. Hildegard of Bingen said that the stone had the power to cure someone bewitched by magical spells and phantoms.

Zircon has been known since antiquity, although under various other names. Zircon has great brilliance and intensive fire due to its refractive index and strong dispersion. Zircons come in a variety of colors including colorless, yellow, brown, orange, red, violet, blue, and green. In nature, the gray-brown and red-brown zircons are the most common. Colorless zircons are the most rare. The brown zircons are often heat-treated to produce colorless and blue zircons; the color produced this way is not always stable and can be affected by ultra-violet rays or sunshine.

Hyacinth is an old name for yellow, yellow-red, and red-brown zircon; it is the Spanish Birthstone for January.

Pink-red zircons are often referred to as Rose Zircon and are an alternative birthstone to Opal for the month of October.

Jargon is an old term for straw-yellow to almost colorless zircon. Starlight is the trade name for brown zircons heat-treated to produce blue zircons.Blue Zircon is one birthstone choice for the month of December; it is featured in both the traditional and modern birthstone charts. The blue stones of Zircon are also one of the anniversary stones representing the fourth year.

Zircon deposits are mostly found in Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Australia, Brazil, Korea, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Vietnam.