Red Gems Red-Hot For Valentine's Day

Not surprisingly, red gems are expected to be red-hot for Valentine's Day, according to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Passionate, confident and never boring, shoppers have a variety of options when looking to gift their love one with a fiery-colored stone. The following are four options the GIA is suggesting to consumers.

Ruby: King of Red Gemstones

Mined in exotic locations around the world including Myanmar, Madagascar, East Africa and Sri Lanka, rubies come in a range of hues that run from pinkish to dark, velvety red. Second only to diamond in hardness, ruby is considered the highest quality when vivid.

Spinel: The Great Pretender

According to GIA colored stone experts, quite a few famous "rubies" in royal jewels throughout the world are actually spinels-some even reside in the British Crown Jewels. Now that it's come into its own, spinel fans love the stone for its brilliance and hardness. Durable, affordable and uncommon, spinel is mined in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Tajikistan and Vietnam.

Garnet: The Popular Gem

Although garnets come in many colors, red is the most admired--it's also plentiful, affordable and durable. The almandine species of red garnet is medium in color, while rhodolite is found in red with purple or raspberry overtones. Pyrope, from the Greek word pyropus meaning "fiery-eyed," is the darkest red garnet. Garnets are mined in East Africa, India and Sri Lanka.

Tourmaline: A Colorful Character

This gem occurs in more colors and color combinations than any other gemstone variety, according to the GIA. In the tourmaline family, a red gemstone is referred to as a rubellite. Important sources of rubellite are Brazil and Nigeria.

Lab Created: Man Made Beauty

For those on a budget, Synthetic or "lab-created" stones have the same physical, optical, chemical properties and mineral content as a natural gem. The only difference is, a synthetic stone was created in a lab rather than in the ground. The advantage of shopping for synthetic stones - it's easier and much less costly to get a large size, good color gem than it is to get a comparable natural stone. In fact, lab-created gems are usually of better quality than most natural gems as they have brighter, richer colors and fewer to no flaws. Synthetic gemstones produced in the United States include garnet, spinel and ruby ... naturally.