The Stones

Most, if not all of us has once in our life been in love with material things. Women and men alike have long grown interest and likings towards fine jewelries. What a way to compliment that elegant red dress with a ruby-red necklace, it sure is the perfect way to radiate your beauty both inside and out.

Jewelries are most of the time constructed with a fine piece of metal embellished with gemstones. A gemstone is a crystalline naturally occurring from a mineral. They have been deemed because of their natural beauty and radiance. The stones have long been valued for their extreme rarity and unparalleled durability enough to be benefited and enjoyed for over countless years.

The stones have been utilized by both men and women since early prehistoric ages. Their exploitation of these valuable gems is not as distant as to how we make use of them today as jewelries. Beautiful stones both colorful and rare were also used as ornaments.

Today, there are over 40 known gemstone varieties and countless rarer collector gems. We all know for a fact that some of these stones have already been regarded long time in history; however a huge number of them were only recently founded and discovered. But to whatever timeframe they may seem to emerge, we should all remember that they are the best gift that nature has ever given us. The stones used in making jewelries are divided into two groups – precious stones and semi-precious stones.

Precious Stones

A precious stone is a piece of gem which possesses the highest economic value in their trade. The lofty regard to these stones is mainly due to their rarity and superb physical eminence. Only four among the countless gemstones obtained the rights to be named precious. The gems that made it to the list of precious stones are the diamond, sapphire, ruby, and emerald. The pearl is sometimes classified as one amongst the precious stones because although structurally speaking they are not stones, but they hold a very high value in the jewelry trade.


Semi-Precious Stones

A large number of players who didn’t make it to the list are more commonly referred to as semi-precious stones. Their list may be infinite but the most important amongst them are the amethyst, aquamarine, turquoise, peridot, lapis-lazuli, topaz, opal, zircon, moonstone, tourmaline, just to name a few. Other with lesser importance is jade, coral, bloodstone, agate and garnet. Although all are equally beautiful, some of them are relatively inexpensive.

Along with their steady supply, they also come in a very wide spectrum of colors which makes it easier for jewelers to manipulate them into beautiful designs to adjust to that of the wearer.

A gemstone is esteemed for their matchless beauty. So in other sense, physical manifestation is one of the most important aspects in determining its worth. Some physical attributes to which they are being judged are their color, clearness, and their ability to reflect light. However, along with their aesthetics, they are also being appraised according to their quality and rarity. Among the steady players, the diamonds both excels in requisites of quality and rarity. They have the highest score of 10 in the Moh’s scale in terms of hardness not to mention its extreme rarity. It is even said that you would need to excavate 250 tons of minerals to find a single diamond crystal.

The stones may be the best manifestation of nature at its finest. They may be merely rocks taken from soil of the earth, but people continuously find ways to turn these naturally astounding stones into timeless pieces and they have never failed us a single time.