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Saturday, August 29, 2009

Gemstones used to enhance the beauty of jewelry

Diamonds:Diamonds are the most used gem stone which can enhance the beauty of any jewelry and the person who is wearing that jewel. They were first mined in India.
Many other precious and semiprecious stones are used for jewellery. Among them are:

Amber: Amber, an ancient organic gemstone, is composed of tree resin that has hardened over time. The stone must be at least 1 million years old to be classified as amber, and some amber can be up to 120 million years old.

Amethyst: Amethyst has historically been the most prized gemstone in the quartz family. It is treasured for its purple hue, which can range in tone from light to dark.

Emerald: Emeralds are one of the three main precious gemstones (along with rubies and sapphires) and are known for their fine green to bluish green colour. They have been treasured throughout history, and some historians report that the Egyptians mined emerald as early as 3500 BC.

Jade: Jade is most commonly associated with the colour green, but can come in a number of other colours as well. Jade is closely linked to Asian culture, history, and tradition, and is sometimes referred to as the “stone of heaven.”

Jasper: Jasper is a gemstone of the chalcedony family that comes in a variety of colours. Often, jasper will feature unique and interesting patterns within the coloured stone. Picture jasper is a type of jasper known for the colours (often beiges and browns) and swirls in the stone’s pattern.

Quartz: Quartz refers to a family of crystalline gemstones of various colours and sizes. Among the well-known types of quartz are rose quartz (which has a delicate pink colour), and smoky quartz (which comes in a variety of shades of translucent brown). A number of other gemstones — like Amethyst and Citrine — are also part of the quartz family. Rutilated quartz is a popular type of quartz containing needle-like inclusions.

Ruby: Rubies are known for their intense red colour, and are among the most highly valued precious gemstones. Rubies have been treasured for millennia. In Sanskrit, the word for ruby is “ratnaraj”, meaning “king of precious stones.”

Sapphire: The most popular form of sapphire is blue sapphire, which is known for its medium to deep blue colour and strong saturation. Fancy coloured sapphires in various colours are also available. In the United States, blue sapphire tends to be the most popular and most affordable of the three major precious gemstones (emerald, ruby, and sapphire).

Turquoise: Turquoise is found in only a few places on earth, and the world’s largest turquoise producing region is the southwest United States. Turquoise is prized for its attractive colour — most often an intense medium blue or a greenish blue — and its ancient heritage. Turquoise is used in a great variety of jewellery styles. It is perhaps most closely associated with southwest and Native American jewellery, but it is also used in many sleek, modern styles. Some turquoise contains a matrix of dark brown markings, which provides an interesting contrast to the gemstone’s bright blue colour.

Some gemstones (like pearls, coral, and amber) are classified as organic, meaning that they are produced by living organisms. Others are inorganic, meaning that they are generally composed of and arise from minerals.

Conversely, the jewellery industry in the early 20th century launched a campaign to popularize wedding rings for men — which caught on — as well as engagement rings for men - which did not, going so far as to create a false history and claim that the practice had Medieval roots. By the mid 1940s, 85% of weddings in the U.S. featured a double-ring ceremony, up from 15% in the 1920s. Religion has also played a role: Islam, for instance, considers the wearing of gold by men as a social taboo, and many religions have edicts against excessive display.


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