Some People Would Believe Anything: 10 Jewelry Myths and Myth-Busters

Some people believe in anything, as the saying goes. Take, for example, the belief that you can tell if gold is real by biting it. This is pure myth, but many people stubbornly believe it. But not all myths are false; there are some that are actually true. Here are some of the myths and myth-busters about jewelry.

• Diamonds are the most expensive stone. True. Although some people believe that alexandrite are more expensive than diamonds, a 6.04 carat blue diamond fetched a record $7.98 million in an auction by Sotheby's in Hong Kong. It is the highest price ever paid for a piece of stone. So that really makes diamonds the most expensive stones.

• Opals bring bad luck. False. There is no truth in the saying that opals bring bad luck. In ancient times, they were believed to be a combination of all precious stones. Roman emperors used to give opals to their wives for good luck. But in the medieval age, they came to be associated with black magic, the plague, misfortune and bad luck, which was rather unfortunate. Today, opals, and especially the black ones, are highly prized as rare treasures.

• Diamonds are indestructible. False. Nothing is indestructible; not even diamonds. Although diamonds are really the toughest stones and nothing can scratch a diamond except another diamond, they can chip and crack if they are not properly taken care of. Also, diamonds melt at the temperature of 3,552 degrees Celsius.

• Pearls can be dissolved in vinegar. True. Pearl is made of calcium carbonate which does dissolve in vinegar but very slowly. Cleopatra, the last queen of ancient Egypt, is said to have dissolved an extraordinarily valuable pearl in vinegar and drank it to impress Marc Antony.

• A diamond is valued by its color. False. Although blue diamonds are sometimes considered to be the most expensive, the color of a diamond is actually no more important than its cut, clarity and weight.

• Paraiba tourmalines only come from Paraiba, Brazil. False. This was true until tourmalines were also discovered and subsequently mined in Nigeria, Mozambique and some other parts of Africa.

• Diamonds are the rarest of stones. False. Although colored diamonds can be extremely rare, the rarest gem mineral is painite, according to The Guiness Book of World Records.

• Moonstone mines have run dry. Somewhat true. The fine blue moonstone mine in Sri Lanka, the main source of moonstone, has run bone-dry, but there are other mines around the world where moonstones of a variety of colors such as white, yellow, gray, pink or green are available.

• You can tell if a piece of gold is real by biting it. False. Gold is a soft metal and you can actually leave a bite mark on it. But you can also leave a bite mark on lead, and if it painted the color of gold, you won't know the difference.

• Gold comes in a variety of colors - yellow, white and rose. False. Colored gold is not pure gold; it is an alloy of pure gold with iron, silver, platinum, copper or aluminum. The only true gold is yellow gold.