Complete List of All Precious Gemstone
Precious
stones are stones remarkable for their colour, brilliancy, or rarity. Such
stones have at all times been held in high esteem everywhere, particularly in
the East where their use and adornment have served ceremonial, ritualistic and
stylistic purposes.. Sacred Scripture illustrates that very early on the
Eastern civilizations appropriated them for diverse ornamental uses: rings,
bracelets, collars and necklaces. The crowns of kings, their garments and those
of their officers and of the priests were all set with precious stones, often
as engraved gems, a major art form throughout the ancient Near East.
A gemstone
or gem (also called a precious
or semi-precious stone, a fine gem, or jewel) is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is
used to make jewelry or other adornments. However certain rocks (such as lapis
lazuli), or organic materials that
are not minerals (such as amber or jet), 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 is another characteristic that lends value to a gemstone.
Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity until the 19th century engraved
gems and hardstone carvings such as cups were major luxury art forms; the carvings of Carl Fabergé were the last
significant works in this tradition.
Only
four gemstones in the world are classified as precious gemstones - emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds. The term originates from
ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt and Mesopotamia, where the gemstones held
ceremonial and historical importance. They were named "cardinal gemstones" for their use
by royalty and religious figures.
Historically,
precious gemstones were valued for their extreme rarity. Large gems with
fantastic color and few inclusions were uncommon and very expensive. In fact, amethyst was considered a cardinal
gemstone until the 19th century, when a large source in Brazil made the
gemstone more accessible.
It's
important to remember that the term "precious gemstone" is subjective
today and is used merely out of tradition. A precious gemstone can be less
expensive and more plentiful than certain semi-precious gemstones. Learn about
colored precious gemstones below or read the diamond
guide
for more information on the clear precious gemstone.
Synthetic and
Artificial Gemstones
Some
gemstones are manufactured to imitate other gemstones. For example, cubic zirconia is a synthetic diamond
simulant composed of zirconium oxide. Synthetic
moissanite is another example. The imitations copy the look and color of
the real stone but possess neither their chemical nor physical characteristics.
Moissanite actually has a higher
refractive index than diamond and when presented beside an equivalently
sized and cut diamond will have more "fire" than the diamond.
However,
lab created gemstones are not imitations.
For example, lab
created diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds have been manufactured in labs
to possess identical chemical and physical characteristics to the naturally
occurring variety. Synthetic (lab created) corundum, including ruby and
sapphire, are very common and they cost only a fraction of the natural stones.
Smaller synthetic diamonds have been manufactured in large quantities as
industrial abrasives, although larger gem-quality synthetic diamonds are
becoming available in multiple carats.
Whether
a gemstone is a natural stone or a lab-created (synthetic) stone, the
characteristics of each are the same. Lab-created stones tend to have a more
vivid color to them, as impurities are not present in a lab and do not modify
the clarity or color of the stone, unless added intentionally for a specific
purpose.
Read how to identify
gemstones at ....precious
stones list and pictures.
Characteristics and Classification
of Gems
The
traditional classification in the West, which goes back to the Ancient Greeks,
begins with a distinction between precious
and semi-precious; similar
distinctions are made in other cultures. In modern usage the precious stones
are diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald, with all other gemstones being
semi-precious. This distinction reflects the rarity of the respective stones in
ancient times, as well as their quality: all are translucent with fine color in
their purest forms, except for the colorless diamond, and very hard, with
hardness of 8 to 10 on the Mohs scale.
Other
stones are classified by their color, translucency and hardness. The
traditional distinction does not necessarily reflect modern values, for
example, while garnets are relatively inexpensive, a green garnet called Tsavorite, can be far more valuable
than a mid-quality emerald. Another unscientific term for semi-precious
gemstones used in art history and archaeology is hardstone. Use of the terms
'precious' and 'semi-precious' in a commercial context is, arguably, misleading
in that it deceptively implies certain stones are intrinsically more valuable
than others, which is not the case.
In
modern times gemstones are identified by gemologists, who describe gems and
their characteristics using technical terminology specific to the field of
gemology. The first characteristic a gemologist uses to identify a gemstone is
its chemical composition. For
example, diamonds are made of carbon (C) and rubies of aluminium oxide (Al2O3). Next, many gems are crystals which are classified by
their crystal system such as cubic or trigonal or monoclinic. Another term used
is habit, the form the gem is usually found in. For example diamonds, which
have a cubic crystal system, are often found as octahedrons.
Gemstones
are classified into different groups, species, and varieties.
For example, ruby is the red variety of the species corundum, while any other
color of corundum is considered sapphire. Other examples are the Emerald
(green), aquamarine (blue), red beryl (red), goshenite (colorless), heliodor
(yellow), and morganite (pink), which are all varieties of the mineral species
beryl.
Gems are
characterized in terms of refractive
index, dispersion, specific gravity, hardness, cleavage, fracture, and luster. They may exhibit pleochroism or double refraction. They may
have luminescence and a distinctive absorption spectrum. Material or flaws
within a stone may be present as inclusions.
Gemstones
may also be classified in terms of their "water". This is a recognized
grading of the gem's luster and/or transparency and/or "brilliance".
Very transparent gems are considered "first water", while
"second" or "third water" gems are those of a lesser
transparency.
Value of a Gemstone
There is
no universally accepted grading system for gemstones. Diamonds are graded using
a system developed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in the early
1950s. Historically, all gemstones were graded using the naked eye. The GIA
system included a major innovation: the introduction of 10x magnification as
the standard for grading clarity. Other gemstones are still graded using the
naked eye (assuming 20/20 vision).
A
mnemonic device, the "four Cs" (color,
cut, clarity and carats), has been introduced to help the consumer
understand the factors used to grade a diamond. With modification, these
categories can be useful in understanding the grading of all gemstones. The
four criteria carry different weight depending upon whether they are applied to
colored gemstones or to colorless diamonds. In diamonds, cut is the primary
determinant of value, followed by clarity and color. Diamonds are meant to
sparkle, to break down light into its constituent rainbow colors (dispersion),
chop it up into bright little pieces (scintillation), and deliver it to the eye
(brilliance). In its rough crystalline form, a diamond will do none of these
things; it requires proper fashioning and this is called "cut". In
gemstones that have color, including colored diamonds, it is the purity and
beauty of that color that is the primary determinant of quality.
Physical
characteristics that make a colored stone valuable are color, clarity to a
lesser extent (emeralds will always have a number of inclusions), cut, unusual
optical phenomena within the stone such as color zoning (the uneven
distribution of coloring within a gem) and asteria (star effects). The Greeks,
for example, greatly valued asteria in gemstones, which were regarded as
powerful love charms, and Helen of Troy was known to have worn star-corundum.
Aside
from the diamond, the ruby, sapphire, emerald, pearl (not, strictly speaking, a
gemstone) and opal have also been considered to be precious. Up to the
discoveries of bulk amethyst in Brazil in the 19th century, amethyst was
considered a precious stone as well, going back to ancient Greece. Even
in the last century certain stones such as aquamarine, peridot and cat's eye
(cymophane) have been popular and hence been regarded as precious.
Nowadays
such a distinction is no longer made by the gemstone trade. Many gemstones are
used in even the most expensive jewelry, depending on the
brand name of the designer, fashion trends, market supply, treatments, etc.
Nevertheless, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds still have a reputation
that exceeds those of other gemstones.
Rare or
unusual gemstones, generally meant to include those gemstones which occur so
infrequently in gem quality that they are scarcely known except to
connoisseurs, include andalusite, axinite, cassiterite, clinohumite and red
beryl.
Gem prices can
fluctuate heavily (such as those of tanzanite over the years) or can be quite
stable (such as those of diamonds). Watch FRONTLINE examines how the great myth about the scarcity of
diamonds (Why
You Are Spending Too Much Money On Diamond Engagement Rings?) and their inflated
value was created and maintained over the decades by the diamond cartel. This
report chronicles how one family, the Oppenheimers of South Africa, gained
control of the supply, marketing, and pricing of the world’s diamonds.
In general per carat
prices of larger stones are higher than those of smaller stones, but popularity
of certain sizes of stone can affect prices. Typically prices can range from
US$1/carat for a normal amethyst to US$20,000–50,000 for a collector's three
carat pigeon-blood almost "perfect" ruby.
There are over 130 types of minerals that have been used as
gemstones. List of precious gems include:
1)
Agate
2)
Alexandrite and other varieties of chrysoberyl
3)
Andalusite
4)
Axinite
5)
Benitoite
6)
Aquamarine and other varieties of beryl
7)
Bixbite
8) Cassiterite
9)
Chrysocolla
10)
Chrysoprase
11)
Clinohumite
12)
Iolite
13)
Danburite
14) Diamond
15)
Diopside
16)
Dioptase
17)
Dumortierite
18)
Emerald
19)
Feldspar
a. Amazonite
b. Labradorite
c. Moonstone
d. Sunstone
20)
Garnet
a. Hessonite
21)
Hambergite
22)
Hematite
24)
Jasper
25)
Kornerupine
26)
Kunzite
27)
Lapis lazuli
28)
Malachite
29)
Opal
30)
Peridot
31)
rehnite
32)
Pyrite
33)
Quartz and its varieties
a. Agate
b. Amethyst
c. Aventurine
d. Citrine
e. Chalcedony
f. Onyx
g. Tiger's-eye
34)
Rhodocrosite
35)
Ruby
36)
Sapphire
37)
Spinel
38)
Sugilite
39)
Tanzanite and other varieties of zoisite
40)
Topaz
41)
Turquoise
42)
Tourmaline
43)
Variscite
44) Vesuvianite
45)
Zeolite (Thomsonite)
46)
Zircon
Artificial or synthetic materials used as gems include:
1) High-lead
glass
2) Synthetic
corundum
3) Synthetic
cubic zirconia
4) Synthetic
spinel
5) Synthetic
moissanite
6) Synthetic
alexandrite
7) Synthetic
opal
8) Synthetic
turquoise
9) Synthetic
diamond
10) Synthetic
quartz
11) Synthetic
beryl
12) Yttrium
aluminum garnet
Organic
Gemstones
There are a number of organic materials used as gems, including:
1) Amber
2) Black
amber - aka Oltu stone, actually a type of jet (lignite) found in eastern
Turkey.
3)
Baltic amber - the most common amber variety, found along the shores of a large
part of the Baltic Sea.
4) Blue
amber - a rare coloration, most commonly is found in the Dominican Republic and
highly valued by collectors.
5) Copal
- resinous substance in an intermediate stage of polymerization and hardening
between "gummier" resins and amber.
6)
Delatynite - a variety of amber found in Delatyn, Ukraine.
7)
Dominican amber - nearly always transparent, and having a higher number of
fossil inclusions than Baltic amber.
8)
Ammolite
9) Bone
10)
Coral
11)
Ivory
12) Jet
13)
Nacre (Mother of pearl)
14) Pearl
Rocks Gemstones
1) Obsidian
2) Unakite
List of
Most Expensive Gemstones on Earth
(list of precious gems in order of value)
Since
early times, gems and jewels have been used as a reflection of one’s wealth and
status in life. Cleopatra had her famous jewels, all of which were encrusted
with expensive gemstones. What seem like merely different stones that emit a
sparkle and different hue have turned out to be some of the rarest and most
sought after gems in the world.
Here is
a list of the most expensive precious stones. So rare that their prices have
become so exorbitant, making them the top
ten most expensive gemstones in the world.
1) Red Diamond
Cost: $1
million per carat
This
gemstone is very rare. Most of it are actually purplish red, and not crimson or
pure red. A mining company located in Australia gets to find only a small
number of red diamonds every year. These are then sold at an auction once every
couple of years, and you can just imagine the interest, demand and price that
the red diamonds command.
As the
rarest diamond colour, it’s no surprise this vivid red jewel fetches such a
high price. Only 20 to 30 of these crimsons stones are known to exist, and most
of those are much smaller than a carat. In 2007, Sotheby’s auctioned off a
2.26-carat red diamond for an astounding $2.27 million.
2) Jadeite
Cost:
$20,000 per carat
This
gemstone is actually a pyroxene mineral,
usually of apple green, emerald green, bluish green or leek green in color.
There have also been some that are either greenish white or white with some
green spots. Jadeites are colorless in the thin section of the stone. The more
intense the green, the more expensive the stone will get.
Also
known as the jade gemstones, jadeite is found mostly in Guatemala’s Motagua
Valley. The two most valuable varieties are the intense green shades and the
white is valued in Chinese culture. The price for even a small sample of
jadeite is quite high, both because of its popularity and rarity. A deep
blue-green jadeite that emits a translucent hue has also been discovered in
recent times in Guatemala. While it is considered valuable because of
historical reasons as the Mesoamerican Olmec used it, the rarity of this
specific kind of jadeite has yet to be established. Once the Guatemalans start
actively mining for it and confirms its rarity, the value may increase even
more.
3) Orange Sapphire
Cost:
$4,000-$6,000 per carat
While
we’re all pretty familiar with the deep blue variety of sapphire, this stone
can come in several different and exceedingly rare colors. Popularized as the
original stone for engagement rings, the rarer colors include Padparascha
(orange) and black/blue. These are the ones that fetch the price tags closer to
$6,000 for a single carat.
4) Benitoite
Cost:
$3,000-$4,000 per carat
Benitoite
is another rare stone that can be found practically in our backyard. The stone
exists mostly in California, where it was first discovered in 1907. Because the
stones are so rare (they come from a single mine in the state), prices for even
small stones are sky high.
5) Poudretteite
Cost: $3,000
per carat
This
baby pink stone was discovered less than 30 years ago. Found in Quebec in 1987,
poudretteite comes mostly in pink and purple varieties and is extremely rare. Most gemologists have never seen a
poudretteite, and samples have mostly been found in Quebec and Myanmar.
6) Demantoid Garnet
Cost: $2,000
per carat
There
are many kinds of garnet in the market. You can find it in a variety of colors,
from black, brown, green, orange, pink, purple, red and yellow. There have even
been some that do not have any color.
This
vivid green garnet has skyrocketed in demand in the last few years. That’s also
the primary reason the price has spiked. Discovered in 1868 in Russia,
demantoids are found primarily in the Eastern Hemisphere in Iran, Russia,
Madagascar and Namibia.
7) Black Opal
Cost: $2,000
per carat
Opal is
the national gemstone of Australia, which produces 97 percent of the world’s
supply. The southern portion of the country alone produces 80 percent of all
opals. Opal is not a mineral, as it is actually an amorphous form of silica that is related to quartz. Up to 20 percent of the stone’s weight is
made up of water. The internal structure of this gemstone makes it
diffract light, and it may come in a variety of colors ranging from blue,
brown, gray, green, magenta, olive, orange, pink, red, rose, slate, white and
yellow.
The
multi-colored black opal is the rarest and most expensive of all the opal
varieties. The unusual thing about black opals is that they aren’t actually
mineral stones — rather, they're made of silica. And these dark beauties are
found almost exclusively in Australia.
8) Taaffeite
Cost: $2,000
per carat
This
costly stone was discovered less than a century ago in 1945 by Count Edward
Taaffe. The reddish purple stone is rare — there’s likely only a few thousand
around the globe — but it is far from the priciest stone on our list. The stone
is actually made of three other minerals and can be found mostly in Sri Lanka.
9) Blue Garnet
Cost: $1,500
per carat
The blue
garnet is not actually a true blue, despite its name. The extremely rare
gemstone is actually more a greyish or greenish blue and the blue tint is only
part of the colour-changing pattern of the stone. A high-quality
colour-changing blue garnet currently sells for around $1,500 per carat. This
gemstone was discovered in Madagascar in the 1990s, though it has since been
mined in Russia, the United States and Turkey as well. While it has a blue
green shade, the generous amount of vanadium in the stone makes it emit a
purplish hue when it is held against incandescent lighting.
10) Jeremejevite
Cost: $1,500
per carat
This
gemstone is actually made of aluminum borate mineral with fluoride and
hydroxide ions. In 1883 Pavel Vladimirovich Eremeev discovered it in
Siberia. Jeremejevite was first discovered by a Russian mineralogist back. And
this blue crystal was originally thought to be just another aquamarine when it
was first discovered. Since then, several varieties have been found, including
light blue, light yellow and even colorless stones. Most of this stone are
colored blue or yellow. White and colorless versions of this gem have also been
discovered. Jeremejevite has since been unearthed in other areas as well,
notably in Namibia, the Eifel District in Germany and the Pamir Mountain area
in Tajikistan.
References:
O'Donoghue,
M. (1997). Synthetic, Imitation and Treated Gemstones. Gulf Professional
Publishing. ISBN 0-7506-3173-2.
Read, P.
G. (2005). Gemology. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0-7506-6449-5.
Webster,
R.; Read, P.G. (2000). Gems: Their sources, descriptions and identification
(5th ed.). Great Britain: Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0-7506-1674-1.
Wise, R.
W., 2006, Secrets Of The Gem Trade, The Connoisseur's Guide To Precious
Gemstones, Brunswick House Pr. ISBN 0-9728223-8-0
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