Gemstone

A Gemstone is a naturally occurring material that is used for adornment due to its beauty, durability, and rarity.

• Context:
  • It can range from being a Mineral Gemstone, Rock Gemstone or Organic Material Gemstone.
  • It can be cut, polished, and sometimes treated to enhance their appearance.
  • It can (often) be used in jewelry and may hold cultural or historical significance.
  • It can be composed of a single mineral, such as diamond or sapphire, or a combination of minerals, like lapis lazuli.
  • It can vary in hardness, luster, color, and other properties.
  • It can (often) have Economic Value.
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• Example(s):
  • Mineral Gemstones:
    • Diamond - composed of carbon, known for its hardness and brilliance.
    • Sapphire - typically blue, made of corundum; red corundum is known as ruby.
    • Emerald - green in color, composed of beryl.
    • Tanzanite.
    • …
  • Organic Material Gemstones:
    • Amber - made from fossilized tree resin.
    • Pearl - produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk.
    • …
  • Rock Gemstones:
    • Lapis Lazuli - a rock composed of multiple minerals, known for its intense blue color.
    • Obsidian - a naturally occurring volcanic glass, often used for ornamental purposes.
    • …
  • Opal - a gemstone known for its play of colors, made of hydrated silica.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Granite - a common rock that is not typically used as a gemstone due to lack of brilliance or rarity.
  • Quartz - while it can be used in some jewelry, it is often not considered as valuable as other gemstones.
• See: Jewelry, Mineral, Crystal, Hardness, Carat (Mass), Lapidary, Birthstone, Adornment, Diamantaire, Mineral, Crystal, Jewellery, Random House, Rock (Geology), Lapis Lazuli, Opal, Obsidian, Organic Chemistry, Amber.

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References

2023

• (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemstone Retrieved:2023-6-8.
  • A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, and obsidian) and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber, jet, and pearl) are also used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity and notoriety are other characteristics that lend value to gemstones.

    Found all over the world, the industry of coloured gemstones (this meaning anything other than diamonds) is currently estimated to be around 10–12 billion US dollars.

    Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity engraved gems and hardstone carvings, such as cups, were major luxury art forms. A gem expert is a gemologist, a gem maker is called a lapidarist or gemcutter; a diamond cutter is called a diamantaire.

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