I know. Two holidays, two days in a row, but yesterday’s Hitchcock day was something I could get behind—but so is Jewel Day! It’s a day to celebrate all that sparkles!

I love jewels. Actually, my love of jewels is based on my lifelong love of rocks/geology. When I was a kid, I kept notebooks of little “book reports” I wrote about things like plate tectonics, volcanoes, geysers, earthquakes, and how rocks were formed naturally. This was when I was in grade school. I collected shoeboxes of rocks: agates, crystals, Apache tears, round river rocks, raw topaz, raw turquoise, fossils, and so many more. I once had a rock tumbler, but I didn’t like seeing my babies ground into smaller bits, so I continued leaving them in their rough, raw form.

When I got old enough, and had enough money to do so, I stared buying jewelry with gemstones I love. My first piece was a pretty Aquamarine ring with the stones forming a flower. Now, I have several rings with lovely topaz, sapphire, garnet, ruby, ametrine, amethyst, etc. I’ve gifted my daughter and the 20-year-old with some of my pieces because, as you know, I can’t take it with me.

Anyway, all this to say, I love sparklies. I also love stones that aren’t as precious—jade, aventurine, pretty agates, amber and the like. Rocks are endlessly fascinating to me. It’s why I love making jewelry, using semi-precious beads.

My favorite jewel is a red ruby. My mother, after she passed, left me a gorgeous, gaudy, huge ruby ring, along with a couple of diamond rings I treasure. I also love pearls, which aren’t exactly stones but are somehow considered jewels. It’s my birthstone, being a June baby.

So, my question to you is, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card is, what’s your favorite jewel or your birthstone? Do you have a piece you treasure?