The meaning of gems in history

As gemstones became ornaments, attempts were immediately made to categorize them. best and worst stonesВ more valuable and less valuable. This is confirmed by various historical records. We know, for example, that the Babylonians and Assyrians divided the stones known to them into three groups of unequal value. The first, most valuable, were the stones associated with the planets. These include diamonds associated with Mercury, sapphires associated with Uranus, turquoise with Saturn, opals with Jupiter, and amethysts with Earth. The second group - star-shaped, consisted of garnets, agates, topazes, heliodor, hyacinth and others. The third group - terrestrial, consisted of pearls, amber and corals.

How were gemstones treated in the past?

The situation was different in India, where basically two types of stones have been classified - diamonds and corundum (rubies and sapphires). Already at the turn of the XNUMXth and XNUMXnd centuries BC, the great Indian philosopher and connoisseur of Kautilya stones in his work entitled “The Science of Use (Benefits)” distinguished four groups of diamonds. The most valuable were clear and colorless diamonds “like rock crystal”, the second were brownish-yellow diamonds “like the eyes of a hare”, the third were “pale green”, and the fourth were “Chinese-colored” diamonds. Rose". Similar attempts to classify stones were made by the great thinkers of antiquity, in Greece by Theocritus of Sirac, Plato, Aristotle, Theophrastus, in Rome and others. Solinius and Pliny the Elder. The latter considered the most precious stones "shining with great brilliance" or "showing their divine color." He called them "male" stones as opposed to "female" stones, which were usually "pale and of mediocre brilliance". Similar attempts to classify stones can be found in many medieval writers.

At that time, there was a well-known belief in antiquity that precious stones have exceptionally useful properties, which can positively influence the fate of a person, especially when used in the form of amulets and talismans. It was this view of the magical power of stones that was especially emphasized by medieval writers in all attempts at categorization. Therefore, stones began to be distinguished, the causal power of which was small. And this was a step towards dividing the stones into stones accessible to demons and stones resistant to the action of evil spirits.

Unusual Powers Attributed to Gems

Against the backdrop of all these mystical or magical preferences, the work of Al-Biruni (Abu Reykhan Biruni, 973-1048) deserves special attention. he proposed a completely different attempt to classify stones. The most valuable were red stones (rubies, spinels, garnets), the second group of less valuable were diamonds (mainly because of their hardness!), the third group were pearls, corals and mother-of-pearl, the fourth group were green and blue-green (emeralds , malachite, jade and lapis lazuli). A separate group included substances of organic origin, including amber and jet, which should be considered a phenomenon that deserves attention, as well as the selection of glass and porcelain as artificial stones.

Gemstones in the Middle Ages

W dIn the early Middle Ages, attempts to classify stones were mainly related to their aesthetic features or current preferences.. Historical records provide examples of such preferences as a basis for categorization. For example, in the early Middle Ages, blue sapphires and dark purple amethysts were most valued. During the Renaissance and beyond - rubies, sapphires, diamonds and emeralds. There were also periods when diamonds and pearls were among the most valuable stones. The first modern attempt to classify rocks was presented in 1860 by the German mineralogist C. Kluge. He divided the stones known to him into two groups: precious stones and semi-precious stones. In both groups, he identified 5 classes of values. The most valuable (I class) stones include diamonds, corundum, chrysoberyl and spinels, the least valuable (V class) include: jet, jade, serpentine, alabaster, malachite, rhodochrosite.

Gemstones in Modern History

A somewhat different and significantly expanded concept of categorization was introduced in 1920 by the Russian mineralogist and gemologist A. Fersman, and in the 70s. and other Russian scientists (B. Marenkov, V. Sobolev, E. Kevlenko, A. Churup) various criteria, including a value criterion expressed by rarity, trends and preferences observed over the years, as well as some physical and chemical properties such as hardness, coherence, transparency, color and others. The most far-reaching consequence of this approach was the classification proposed by A. Churup. He divided the stones into 3 classes: jewelry (precious), jewelry-decorative and decorative. Jewelry (precious) stones in the first place well formed crystals (single crystals) and very rarely aggregates with varying degrees of automorphism. Stones of this class were divided by the author into several groups, based on technological criteria, including hardness. Thanks to this, diamond was in the first place, just below the varieties of corundum, beryllium, chrysoberyl, tourmaline, spinel, garnet and others.

They were placed in a separate, as if a separate class stones with optical effectssuch as the play of colors (shine), opalescence, brilliance (glow) - precious opals, moonstone, labrador, and in the lower class turquoise, precious corals and pearls. The second group, intermediate between precious and decorative stones, includes stones of medium or low hardness, but high cohesion, as well as stones of intense or patterned color (jade, agate, falcon's and tiger's eyes, lapis lazuli, streamers, etc.). The proposal of this group, as it were, between jewelry and ornamental, was a tribute to the centuries-old decorative tradition by the author. The third group includes decorative stones, the author rated all other stones with decorative qualities much worse than those mentioned, as well as stones of low hardness, below and slightly above 3 on the Mohs scale. The adoption of technological criteria as the basis for the classification of stones could not give good results. The proposed system was too out of touch with the realities of jewelry, for which classification criteria are as important as the preciousness of the gemstone, rarity or macroscopic properties such as optical effects, and sometimes also the microphysical and chemical properties of the stones. Due to the fact that these categories were not included in the classification, A. Churupa's proposal, although modern and theoretically correct in its general composition, was not applied in practice. So it was one of the many - so widely publicized in Poland - unsuccessful attempts to classify stones.

Currently, due to its absence, gemologists mostly use very general and imprecise definitions. And so to the group of stones:

1) precious - these include mainly minerals that are formed in nature under natural conditions, which are characterized by constant physical properties and high resistance to chemical factors. These stones, correctly cut, are distinguished by high aesthetic and decorative qualities (color, brilliance, brilliance and other optical effects). 2) decorative - includes rocks, usually monomineral rocks, minerals and substances formed in nature under natural conditions (organic origin) and having fairly constant physical characteristics. After polishing, they have decorative properties. In accordance with this classification, a specially distinguished group of decorative stones includes natural pearls, cultured pearls, and more recently also amber. This distinction has no substantive justification and is primarily for commercial purposes. Quite often in the professional literature you can find the term "jewelry stones". This term does not refer to any group of stones, but indicates their possible use. This means that jewelry stones can be both natural precious and decorative stones, and synthetic stones or artificial products that have no analogues in nature, as well as various kinds of imitations and imitations.

Correct and well-defined gemological concepts, names and terms, as well as their respective categorization, are of great importance for the jewelry trade. This is because they facilitate communication and prevent various types of abuse, both intentional and accidental.

Both serious gemological organizations and the governments of many countries are aware of this, trying to counteract these unfavorable phenomena by issuing various kinds of legal acts that protect the consumer market. But the problem of unifying names and terms on a global scale is a difficult problemtherefore, it should not be expected that it will be resolved quickly. Whether it will be undertaken and strengthened, and what its scale will be, is difficult to predict today.

Compendium of Knowledge - learn about all the gems

Check out our collection of knowledge about all gems used in jewelry

• Diamond / Diamond
• Ruby
• amethyst
• Aquamarine
• Agate
• ametrine
• Sapphire
• Emerald
• Topaz
• Tsimofan
• Jade
• morganite
• howlite
• Peridot
• Alexandrite
• Heliodor