Gemstone

“ The required angle at which these facets must be cut varies with the refractive indices of the different varieties of gem minerals. If the facets are not cut at exactly the proper angle, light entering the top or crown of the gemstone can pass completely through the stone, instead of being reflected back out of the crown facets. ”

“ Precious opal, agate, jade, star sapphire, and fossil wood are some of the stones that are cut mostly as cabochons. Transparent gemstones are usually cut with many plane polished surfaces. Such stones are called faceted, and the process of cutting and polishing these stones is called faceting. Emerald, diamond, topaz, and garnet are examples of gemstones that are commonly seen as faceted stones. ”

“ To be valued highly, gemstones must be beautiful to the eye, durable enough to withstand wear, and rare enough so that they are not easily obtained.
Properties of Gemstones
The beauty of gemstones is mostly dependent on their color, diaphaneity, brilliancy, luster, and fire. Any one or a combination of these properties render stones desirable as gems.
Color is very important in many gemstones. The color of transparent varieties should be distinct enough to be pleasing to the eye, yet not so dark as to appear black or opaque. ”

“ By this scale, any stone that remains unmarred after being scraped by a piece of window glass will have a hardness greater than 51⁄2. The more important gemstones—which include diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald—all have a hardness much greater than 51⁄2. ”

“ Each environment tends to have a characteristic suite of gem materials, but many kinds of gems occur in more than one environment. Most gemstones are found in igneous rocks and alluvial gravels, but sedimentary and metamorphic rocks may also contain gem materials. ”

“ If the fashion follow some new direction, then gem-stones now reckoned of small value might in some measure displace the diamond and the ruby; for, compared with these gems, there are doubtless several hard and beautiful stones which are found in less abundance, but which remain less costly because in less demand. Yet there is something to be said in favour of the high position commonly given to the diamond, the ruby, the emerald, the sapphire, and we may add the pearl and the opal: they all possess a very conspicuous and obvious beauty. ”

“ The gem-stones form a small conventional group of minerals, including principally the diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald and opal. Other stones of less value—such as topaz, spinel, chrysoberyl, chrysolite, zircon and tourmaline—are sometimes called “fancy stones.” Many minerals still less prized, yet often used as ornamental stones,—like moonstone, rock-crystal and agate,—occasionally pass under the name of “semi-precious stones,” but this is rather a vague term and may include the stones of the preceding group. The classification of gem-stones is, indeed, to some extent a matter of fashion. ”

“ He knew the technical analysis of the gems—that they were, as the amber of Terra, the fossilized resin exuded by ancient plants (maybe the ancestors of the grass trees) long buried in the saline deposits of the shallow seas where chemical changes had taken place to produce the wonder jewels. In color they shaded from a rosy apricot to a rich mauve, but in their depths other colors, silver, fiery gold, spun sparks which seemed to move as the gem was turned. ”

“ Although a finely developed diamond, ruby, or other crystal is sometimes found and used for jewelry, the beauty of a precious stone generally remains hidden within a rough and unsightly exterior until the lapidary’s art reveals the gem. ”

“ WE can imagine what the feelings of a lapidary would be--an enthusiast whose life is given to the study of precious stones, and whose sole delight is in the contemplation of their manifold beauty--if a stranger should come in to him, and, opening his hand, exhibit a new unknown gem, splendid as ruby or as sapphire, yet manifestly no mere variety of any familiar stone, but differing as widely from all others as diamond from opal or cat's-eye ”

“ In preparing stones of this class for the purposes of jewellery, for instance, the sapphire or ruby, the first object to be considered is the intensity of color, which must alone regulate the proportion of the gem, and the sort of work that must be put upon it; taking it as a general rule that the beauty of all precious stones depends on the skill of the workman, for, as an inferior stone is much improved by the best workmanship, so is a fine and perfect gem deteriorated and rendered of little value, if finished by an inferior lapidary. ”

“ Omitting duplicates, one may run along, to spell one’s message, with amber, bloodstone, carnelian, diamond, emerald, fluorite, garnet, hyacinth, indicolite, jasper, kunzite, lapis lazuli, moonstone, nephrite, opal, pearl, quartz, ruby, sapphire, turquoise, variscite, willemite, zircon. This fashion of conveying one’s sentiments has never grown obsolete and is continually renewed. ”

“ The beauty of a precious stone or gem consists of its color or colorlessness, brilliancy or softness of lustre, and transparency. To take a high and lasting polish, a mineral must be hard,—and many stones that would otherwise be highly valued are low in the estimate of worth because they do not possess of sufficient hardness to make them [Pg 8] endure the wear and friction to which a precious stone is subjected when used in the form of jewelry. The rareness of precious stones has a decided effect in determining their values. ”

“ Jewellery catalogues: heaps of 'em, all about diamonds and platinum, chrysoprase and jade, malachite and chalcedony, amethysts and garnets, and the emerald, the precious stone which comes the nearest to approximating that human manifestation known as art, because it always has flaws; red jasper, sacred to the rosy god, Bacchus, the green plasma, blood-stone, cornelian, cat's-eye, amber, with its medicinal properties, the Indian jewels, spinels, the reddish orange jacinth, and the violet almandine. ”

“ Of these four sorts of stones, the ruby, the sapphire, the emerald, and the diamond, you must know that the first is far the most costly. A ruby, for instance, of five grains of wheat, & of as fine a fire as you could wish, would be worth about 800 golden scudi, and an emerald of the same size and beauty would run to about 400, similarly a diamond would be worth 100, & no more, while a sapphire would fetch about 10. These few facts I thought might be worth having to all those many youths always springing up and eager to learn the beautiful art of the goldsmith. ”

“ Stones, Precious, are mineral substances used in jewelry and for other ornamental purposes. They are called precious because of their rarity and expensiveness. The diamond, ruby, sapphire, oriental amethyst and emerald stand first in the list of precious stones, because of their brilliant color, luster, hardness, durability and rarity. ”

“ The ancients were not acquainted with any method of cutting the diamond, although they applied its powder to polishing, cutting, and engraving other stones. Gems of this kind, either rough, or polished by nature, were set as ornaments, and were valued according to the beauty and perfection of their crystallization and transparency. The value of any precious stone, or jewel, depends much upon the skill of the lapidary. ”

“ The beads were of various forms, sometimes round or oval, and at others, rectangular or oblong; besides the stones in general use, such as the emerald, carnelian, agate, lapis lazuli, amethyst, rock-crystal, beryl, jasper and garnet, beads of gold, silver, glass, faience, and even of clay and straw, were employed. To complete the efficacy of the necklace, small images of the gods and of the sacred animals were added as pendants. Even on the mummies and mummy cases such ornaments are painted in imitation of necklaces or collars of precious stones, with flowers, etc., as pendants. ”

“ FASHIONING OF GEM-STONES ALTHOUGH many of the gem-stones have been endowed by nature with brilliant lustrous faces and display scintillating reflections from their surfaces, yet their form is never such as to reveal to full perfection the optical qualities upon which their charm depends. ”

“ That a gem-stone should be a delight to the eye is a truism that need not be laboured; for such is its whole raison d’être. The members of the Mineral Kingdom that find service in jewellery may be divided into three groups, according as they are transparent, translucent, or opaque. Of these the first, which is by far the largest and the most important, may itself be further sub-divided into two sections: stones which are devoid of colour, and stones which are tinted. ”

“ Not many years ago, for instance, violet was the favourite colour for ladies’ dresses, and consequently amethysts were much worn to match, but with the change of fashion they speedily sank to their former obscurity. Another stone may perhaps figure at some royal wedding; for a brief while it becomes the vogue, and afterwards is seldom seen.
Except that diamond, ruby, emerald, and sapphire, and, we should add, pearl, may indisputably be considered to occupy the first rank, it is impossible to form the gem-stones in any strict order. Every generation sees some change. ”

“ The factors that govern the properties of a brilliant-cut stone are large colour-dispersion, high refraction, and freedom from any trace of intrinsic colour. The only gem-stone that can vie with diamond in these respects is zircon. ”

“ On the basis of beauty, stones cannot be divided into precious and semiprecious for, from stone to stone, there is continuous range of color and glow. Nor indeed can price be the one criterion, for here many elements produce variety. Although the term “gem of the first water” is reserved for the flawless blue-white diamond, as the carats of the single stone increase the flawless ruby and the emerald become even more costly; and varieties and special specimens of other stones, such as the fire opal and imperial jade, move up into comparable range. ”

“ The deep green emerald in whose fresh regard
Weak sights their sickly radiance do amend;
The heaven-hued sapphire and the opal blend
With objects manifold.”
Those interested in the sale of gems have observed that most precious stones have their brief day of popular favor, regardless of any superstition connected with them. In other words, the popularity of certain jewels chiefly depends upon the public taste, for the time being. And the demand, therefore, fluctuates according as the particular stone is fashionable or unfashionable. ”

“ A shining array of precious stones, from the white brilliance of the diamond, to the mottled moss agate, greets the bewildered gaze, and skillful workmen are deftly transforming them into the beautiful gems which shine in the jeweler's window. ”

“ Here, sparkling, gleaming, and sportively flashing their prismatic light, are diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds—all the precious stones which Nature has hidden in the depths of her mines—in as48 much profusion as if they were mere glass. They glitter like constellations in crowns, they flash in points of light from the ends of sceptres, they fall like sparkling raindrops upon the Imperial insignias and form arabesques and cyphers until they nearly hide the gold in which they are set. ”

“ The beauty of a stone may arise from its color or lack of color, from its translucency or opaqueness, from its high refraction of light, and from the manner of cutting and polishing to bring out these qualities. Hardness and durability are desirable qualities. The diamond is the hardest known mineral and the sapphire, ruby, and emerald rank high in this regard. ”

“ Beauty of color or lustre in a stone or some quaint form attracts the eye of the savage, and his choice of material for ornament or adornment is also conditioned by the toughness of some stones as compared with the facility with which others can be chipped or polished.
Whereas a gem might be prized for its beauty by a single individual owner, a stone of curious and suggestive form sometimes claimed the reverence of an entire tribe, since it was thought to be the abode or the chosen instrument of some spirit or genius. ”

“ Individual and learned amateurs may indeed value a stone according to what they know of its history, its romance, its memories, or the curiousness of its components; but in ninety-nine cases in a hundred any enhancement of value through such causes is out of the question. Still, from the mineralogical and chemical points of view, it is perhaps legitimate to import some elements of interest when appraising the right of a stone to be called precious, or its place in the list of gems. One need not follow those writers who speak of precious, semi-precious, and common stones ”

“ Sapphire and ruby share with diamond, pearl, and emerald the first rank in jewellery. They are popular stones, especially in rings; their comparative rarity in large sizes, apart from the question of expense, prevents their use in the bigger articles of jewellery. The front of the stones is usually brilliant-cut and the back step-cut, but Indian lapidaries often prefer to cover the stone with a large number of triangular facets, especially if the stone be flawed ”

“ She enjoyed contact with minerals, deriving from those she liked a sense of concentrated life. Her impressions of the precious stones, corresponded with many superstitions of the ancients, which led to the preference of certain gems for amulets, on which they had engraved talismanic figures.
The ancients, in addition to their sense of the qualities that distinguish the diamond above all gems, venerated it as a talisman against wild beasts, poison, and evil spirits, thus expressing the natural influence of what is so enduring, bright, and pure. ”

“ This matchless gem combines the beautiful color of the sapphire with the prismatic fire and brilliancy of the diamond, and on account of its extraordinary color, great [Pg 128] size and other fine qualities it certainly may be called unique, as we may presume there exists no cabinet nor any collection of crown jewels in the world which can boast of the possession of so curious and fine a gem as the one we are now describing, and we expect to be borne out in our opinion by our readers. ”