Hello my dear readers. What girl has not dreamed of jewelry at least once in her life?
Especially about those that are made of real gems. Do you know what is the most precious stone in the world? What are gemstones? How to find out if a stone in a piece of jewelry is natural or fake? All these questions have answers. This is what will be discussed today.
The most expensive stone in the world
Almost all influential monarchs and aristocrats adore diamonds. The possession of this decoration emphasizes the historical significance and significance of a person. The most successful among them is the British King Edward VII, who in 1905 took possession of the largest and most expensive diamond in history – a stone called Cullinan.
He made a difficult journey from a mine in the Transvaal (the territory of present-day South Africa) to the workshop of the best jeweler in Europe – Joseph Asher. Since the stone originally had cracks, in fact, it was part of some unknown, larger diamond, the Cullinan could not be cut in its entirety. Asher decided to follow the procedure that made him famous: he studied the structure of the stone in detail, singled out a certain point and hit it, splitting one large diamond into very small diamonds.
In a few weeks, he managed to do what later allowed him to produce diamonds of 530 and 317 carats, as well as much smaller gemstones.
How many carats are in the most expensive stone in the world?
Cullinan starting weight is 3100 carats. Its estimated cost is about $8 billion. So the most precious stone in the world was discovered. Now there may be more, but Cullinan was the first in history.
Gems
Gemstones are minerals of natural origin that are not very common in nature and have a good appearance when well processed. These include diamonds, rubies and sapphires, as well as many other minerals. Often the special properties of precious stones are used in various technical activities, such as diamonds and sapphires.
Undoubtedly, precious stones were discovered no earlier than the heyday of the Roman Empire, when monetary transactions were made with the help of stones, and then bank deposits, and excavations revealed the first attempts to fake them.
jewelry stones
Jewelry is minerals that are not widely used, processed in a certain way and have a high cost. These stones are of great importance in the history of mankind, as an attribute of financial viability and the undeniable influence of their owner.
Here it is worth noting that among professionals, jewelry stones are conditionally divided into 3 categories: precious, semi-precious and decorative. The most complex and rare minerals, especially transparent ones, include: diamonds, rubies and sapphires.
Jewelers often include pearls in this category, although they do not meet all the criteria described above. Semi-precious stones have exactly the same criteria, but are less valuable due to their greater abundance. These include turquoise, topaz, amber and coral. It should also be noted that their weight is measured in grams, it is not customary to evaluate such stones in carats (0.2 g).
The third category includes decorative stones that cannot boast of transparency, but have a good structure and pattern. It is their aesthetic qualities that make them no less popular in jewelry. The reader probably knows such minerals as: malachite, cat’s eye, onyx. Of course, they are not used directly as precious stones, but various products made from these stones are highly valued by lovers of antiquity.
Types of stones
What are gems? They can be divided into precious, semi-precious and decorative.
Decorative stones in most cases are artificial decorations. Such stones are often used to decorate design elements: chandeliers, lamps, souvenirs. Decorative stones have a low price, but still give the image sophistication and aristocracy.
Gems
Gemstones are divided into mineral and organic. Organic are natural pearls. Stones of mineral origin are, of course, diamonds. This diamond is hard and transparent, like other gemstones: sapphire, ruby, emerald. The weight of stones is measured in carats, which corresponds to 0.2 g. But this is only for precious stones, semi-precious and decorative stones are measured in grams.
Semiprecious stones
Agate ring Agate ring
Semi-precious stones can be transparent or cloudy. The most popular stone is alexandrite. The color of alexandrite depends on the lighting: in artificial light it is pink, in natural light it reaches a dark green hue. The stone is very interesting, numerous beliefs are associated with it. Since alexandrite is considered a widow’s stone, it is believed that its owner will never have a happy marriage.
Also, semi-precious stones include such well-known stones as: turquoise and coral. Most semi-precious stones are of natural origin. They are difficult to access, are rare minerals and will decorate any product with their sophistication.
decorative stones
Such stones are opaque and dimly lit. They are soft, but at the same time captivate with beautiful patterns and colors. It is often used in the jewelry industry.
Decorative stones include stones such as: jasper, cat, malachite, cubic zirconia and synthetic emerald. Some semi-precious stones may be of natural origin, but most of them appear artificially and are quite common in jewelry production, decoration and finishing of various products.
Jewelry with stones
The history of the creation of jewelry, the elements of which are precious stones, has several thousand years. And despite the fact that the technological process has undergone many improvements, their cost has not fallen at all. Even in our time, high-quality jewelry with stones is the result of a lot of work and skills.
The complexity of making jewelry can be divided into several components. To begin with, it is important to mention the design of the product, where it is worth choosing the optimal balance between pleasant appearance and durability. A very difficult but responsible task is to determine the focus on the gemstone without losing other visual components. Choosing a stone for a product is also not an easy task. The final fact is that even among jewelers there is still no universal classification for them, it is important for the manufacturer to accurately evaluate the stone in terms of such parameters as size, shade, method and quality of cutting. And, of course, the very manufacture of a product from a precious metal will be laborious: the accuracy must be high, and in the presence of visible defects, the cost of labor will be an order of magnitude lower.
Price of gems
How much do jewelry stones cost? The price of a stone will depend on many factors, the main of which are the type of stone, its weight, the conditional “purity”, the type and quality of the cut. As for the type of stone, the axiom that affects its value is quite prosaic – the less common the stone, the more expensive it is. A striking example is red and blue diamonds, which are inferior to many stones in other parameters, but are the most expensive gems in the world.
The weight of the stone also directly affects its final cost. The unit of weight for gemstones is the carat. As the weight of the stone increases, its price increases, and the purity of the stone is another parameter that significantly affects the price of the stone. The presence of foreign bodies in it significantly reduces the final price, and the cost of so-called pure water diamonds can reach five or six figures.
Stone cutting
Cut is another criterion, here the price will be influenced not only by its type, but also by the proximity of the work to the ideal — i.e. how well the stone reflects light and how it looks in the light. The centuries-old experience of cutting jewelry has created many different ways to make the stone even more spectacular and expensive. There is no point in reminding that the creation of facets on the surface of the stone must have a strict geometric character, and the complexity of this process also varies greatly. If on a regular obverse a stone has about 30 facets, then in more skillful and expensive diamonds their number can exceed one or even two hundred. The most sophisticated cutting methods today suggest that the stone has about 250 facets.
Well, this is the basic information about gemstones that is important for anyone who buys or plans to buy gemstone jewelry. What stones do you prefer in jewelry?
