Today we are going to talk about one of the materials that come from the bowels of our planet and that belong to the most coveted group of materials in the world. It's about the precious stones. They are materials that have an extreme beauty and numerous meanings to which great physical and mental benefits are attributed due to the beliefs and legends that accompany these stones.
Therefore, we are going to dedicate this article to tell you all the characteristics, origin and comparison of gemstones.
What are gemstones
The first of all is to know what the concept of gemstones is attributed to. It's about that mineral, non-mineral and rock material that has been used to make various accessories in the jewelry industry, crafts and as an ornamental stone and whose origin is the earth's crust. Thanks to these stones you can make rings, bracelets, chains, pendants, necklaces, etc.
For a material to be considered a precious or semi-precious stone, it must meet certain characteristics and properties. In all these characteristics we will include the hardness, beauty, color, brightness, durability and rarity. It's no surprise that the rarer a gemstone is, the more money it's going to be worth on the market. Another of the names that these materials receive is that of gem, jewel and talisman.
They originate from rocks, minerals, glass or other natural products that can be polished or cut to create high-quality clothing. We are not looking to buy a high quality ring, we will be looking for one that has a good stone with good characteristics. Some of them are also used for the imitation of a few weeks since they have a similar appearance but do not have the same perfection and beauty.
In general, most of them tend to be hard and, although they may have soft minerals, they are given an aesthetic value for their beauty and rarity.
Gemstone classification
As expected, depending on the origin and characteristics, precious and semi-precious stones can be classified. Naturally, they are classified into mineral inorganic stones, organic stones and mineraloids. Let's see what are the characteristics of each of them:
- Inorganic mineral stones: are all those that are considered as inorganic minerals. They are mainly characterized by having a defined chemical formula and a specific crystalline structure. These inorganic mineral stones have been formed in nature. They are usually the most common and abundant in nature. It is one of the reasons why they usually have a somewhat lower price and are not so valued.
- Organic gemstones: are those that are not considered as minerals. The reason for this is that they have been formed by the biological action of a living being. For example, we have the amber stone that is formed by cooling over years of resin from ancient trees. As you might expect, this type of gemstone is much more valuable than those that are more common. And it is that thousands and thousands of years must pass for the resin to crystallize in this way. Pearl is another example of an organic gemstone. It has been formed thanks to the biological action of oysters.
- Mineraloid gemstones: They are all those materials that are not minerals since they do not have a crystalline structure or a well-defined chemical composition. Here we find the group of opals and obsidians.
Properties and characteristics
An excellent way to classify all gemstones is to do so by their colors, characteristics, and properties. We are going to see some of the characteristics that make these materials unique. For a material to be considered a precious stone it must meet certain characteristics and properties that make it something with distinctive qualities in a natural way. Let's see what these characteristics and properties are:
- Beauty: beauty is given by its shape and its color. It also has to do with transparency or brightness. To make a gemstone have high beauty, it is essential to include a chemical in them. It is quite important to be able to make it attractive to the list of buyers.
- Durability: Durability has to do with the ability to resist being scratched with another or against any blow or pressure. You can also appreciate the resistance of this material using various chemicals and the daily use that it usually faces.
- Color- could be considered as the most important feature you must have to have great value. Among the most sought-after gemstones we have those that have beautiful green, red and blue colors. The least coveted are white, transparent and black. I also have to take into account the personal tastes of each one.
- Brightness: refers to the ability to reflect light off their faces or surface. They are normally included in the reflection, refraction, scattering and faceting of light coming from the environment. If a gemstone is capable of allowing light to pass through the crystal, it is considered a stone with a higher quality. The more opaque it is, the lower it will cost and it will be sold at a lower price.
Rarity
For the rarity we are going to dedicate a paragraph or something more extensive since it has to do with the difficulty of the stone to be found when it is in demand over the years. It is useless for a stone to be high in all the characteristics mentioned above if it cannot be found. These gems are usually unique and it does not matter what the price is, You have to assess the process that is carried out to be able to turn these stones into jewels.
The rarer a stone is and the more difficult it is to find, it is usually more expensive and more coveted. The human being has always wanted to have the most difficult. It is one of the reasons why the rarest gemstones in the world are distributed among few people. Only those people are able to pay what it costs.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about gemstones and their characteristics.