A gemstone is a mineral, stone, or organic matter that is cut, shaped, and polished to make jewelry or other ornaments.
Gemstones are difficult to find in nature therefore their rarities made them very precious.
Considering their values, gemstones can be categorized as precious gemstones and semiprecious gemstones.
A precious gemstone has beauty, rarity, notoriety, and durability while a semiprecious gemstone has only one or two of these aspects.
Commonly known gemstones can be listed as diamond, corundum (ruby and sapphire), beryl (emerald and aquamarine), topaz, and opal, but there are hundreds more.
Not all gemstones are minerals. Organic matters such as amber, pearl, and certain types of stones like lapis lazuli and opal are also considered to be gemstones.
Let's explore some of the commonly known gemstones closely.
Diamond: It is a rare naturally occurring mineral composed of carbon atoms. Diamonds are known as the hardest natural substance on Earth.
In the Mohs Hardness Scale, which is a qualitative ordinal scale from 1 to 10 of mineral hardness, diamonds are ranked 10.
In addition to their hardness, diamonds have special optical properties such as a high index of refraction and adamantine luster.
These properties make diamonds the most preferred and popular gemstone in the world.
Diamond jewelry is often the first choice when it comes to engagements or weddings.
The crystalline, sparkling structure of the diamond makes it beautiful as well as unique when combined with other metals such as platinum, gold, or titanium.
Sapphire
Sapphires are a variety of corundum minerals. The name sapphire is derived from the Latin "saphirus" and the Greek "sapheiros", both of which mean blue.
Because of the meaning of its name, sapphires are commonly considered blue. However, sapphires can come in a variety of colors such as pink, yellow, orange, gray, black, or even colorless.
Sapphires are considered the stones of wisdom. They are believed to help learning, mental acuity, and spiritual healing. They are also believed to help calm nerves, and support in achieving mental clarity.
Sapphires can help in having a positive attitude towards life as well as give calm energy when the mind is busy.
Ruby
Also a variety of corundum minerals, Rubies come in red or sometimes pink colors. The word ruby comes from the Latin word “ruber,” which means red. Rubies are considered to represent good fortune and courage.
Moreover, its deep red color also has ties to love, passion, and emotion. It is believed that rubies protect you from bad and negative energy, and increase your self confidence.
Rubies are also believed to have healing powers on anxiety, stress, depression, and positive effects on concentration and productivity.
Emerald
Emeralds are a variety of beryls and are green. Emerald means green gem in Ancient Greek and is considered to be the figure of rebirth.
It is also believed to represent good fortune, youth, peace, and balance. It is believed that emerald provides good health, wisdom, prosperity, creative skills, and blissful marital life.
Today thanks to increasing interest in gemstones their uses and benefits are widely acknowledged and recognized.
It is believed that different gemstones have different powers on physical and psychological health.
