Businesspally hints Facts about Gemstones and the Types

Gemstones were already used as jewelry around 5,000 years ago in the advanced cultures of China, India and Babylonia, according Chaktty at Businesspally

Even in this modern time, these precious stones are very much more valuable for their qualities and beauty.

Jewels & Gemstones

Jewels and gemstones differ in their workmanship and value. 

Gemstones such as sapphires, emeralds, rubies and diamonds are valuable because they are made of minerals that are formed deep in the earth. 

Their special beauty comes from their purity, composition and symmetrical structure, which gives them hardness. 

Their intense colors are developed by various inclusions. It is only through the precise cut that refines the gemstone into a high-quality piece of jewelry that it becomes a jewel.

What is a Gemstone?

The term gemstones is synonymous to diamonds and colored gemstones (colored stones).

However, the term gemstone is not scientifically defined precisely, and the previously common distinction between precious and semi-precious stones is definitely a thing of the past.

How to identify a Gemstone?

We speak of gemstones when the (cut/faceted) mineral has the highest possible transparency/purity, as well as a certain rarity and, as a result, a corresponding value. 

The respective degree of hardness only plays a minor role, although the often-cited minimum hardness of 7 according to Mohs is no longer necessarily relevant for gemstones today.

Other categories of Gemstones

There are certainly gemstones with a slightly lower hardness, such as tanzanite , some garnet varieties, opal, peridot, etc., which absolutely deserve the status of "gemstone" and are even among the most sought-after and sometimes most valuable gemstones.

• You can find some of these stones in Antique necklaces, rings, and others.

This also applies to numerous gemstone rarities which are unsuitable for jewelry making due to their specific properties, but which sometimes achieve top prices among gemstone collectors.

Diamonds are an absolute speciality among gemstones due to their exceptional hardness of 10 – no other gemstone moves such high sums of money in the search for deposits, their extraction and their sale.

Those minerals with little or no transparency, very common occurrences and lower value are called gemstones (e.g. moonstone, turquoise, chalcedony).

In most cases, these are processed into cabochons or used for necklaces/strands - faceted examples of gemstones are comparatively rarely offered.

You can view these magnificent gifts of nature in their unsurpassable variety of colors and beauty in great variety.

More about gemstones and precious metals

 

A gemstone is the name given to a piece of mineral crystal formed deep within the Earth's mantle. 

Certain stones (such as lapis lazuli and opal) and sometimes organic materials that are not mineral crystals (such as amber, jet and pearls) are also used in jewellery and are therefore often considered gemstones.

In the Western world, a distinction is made between precious and semi-precious stones. 

The precious stones are emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds, and all other precious stones are semi-precious stones.

Three main qualities can categorize a gemstone: beauty, rarity and durability.

The four precious metals most commonly used in jewellery are gold, platinum silver, and sometimes palladium. 

These metals share the properties of attraction, workability, durability and rarity. Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. 

Chemically, precious metals tend to be less reactive than most other elements.