Does a Gemstone makes you precious?
The world of gemstones still remains a great mystery. Only a handful of people have knowledge about the properties of gemstones and are reluctant to share it.
At Tilsam, we have decided to share everything with our community. We want to spread awareness about gemstones and semi-precious stones because each of us has the right and duty to know what we are investing in.
So let’s get started.
The basic classification of gemstones is the division into precious gemstones and decorative stones (and this is what we are going to do today).
This is the division that is most important from the consumer’s point of view. The difference between precious gemstones and decorative stones is not only in their visual qualities, but more importantly in their price, and thus their investment value over time.
Decorative stones, occur in nature much more often than precious gemstones, therefore they are not so unique and therefore expensive.
They are also not transparent (often one-colored, milky), have the lower gloss and lower hardness.
In nature, they usually occur in lumps, so to preserve their visual effect, they require grinding treatments.
Decorative stones are:
Agate, Amazonite, Amethyst, Aventurine, Ametryn, Chalcedony, Chrysacol, Chrysoprase, Citrine, Fluorite, Garnet, Hematite, Howlite, Carnelian, LapizLazuli, Pyrit, Sodalite, Jade, Jasper, Mountain Crystal, Quartz, Labradorite, Obsidian, Onyx, Blue Opal Owyhee (although opals are counted among gemstones, the Owyhee variety is considered semi-precious Stones and much less valuable than its more noble counterparts), Desert Sand, Rhodonite, Turquoise, Tiger’s Eye.
These are the stones most often set in silver, due to their lower price and lack of collector value.
Precious gemstones (called jewelry gemstones) are transparent varieties of certain minerals and rocks. These stones are characterized by strong luster, spectacular color (or are completely colorless), and high durability (above 7 on the Mohs scale – with minor exceptions such as Opals).
Already in ancient times, people attributed great importance to gemstones. They were used to make jewelry, but initially their beautiful appearance was not as important as it is today. Much more important than their decorative value were their properties – gemstones were supposed to bring their owners wealth, love and health.
How to recognize precious gemstones?
Each type of gemstone has a number of properties and characteristics that distinguish it from artificially created stones or semi-precious stones.
Currently, there are more than 4 thousand different minerals and rocks in the world, but only a small part of them belong to the group with the most desirable properties. Jewelry rarely uses stones in their natural shape – most of them, before setting are subjected to careful processing and grinding, which brings out the high gloss and intense shade (some precious stones can be colorless, transparent).
The most important characteristics of minerals that are referred to as a precious gemstones include:
– high luster, which makes the gems reflect light;
– high hardness;
– high resistance to mechanical damage and atmospheric factors;
– purity of color;
– individual characteristics unique to particular types of gemstones.
Precious gemstones include:
Aquamarine, Alexandrite, Diamond, Morganite, Opal, Ruby, Scapolite, Spinel, Sapphire, Emerald, Tanzanite, Tourmaline, Topaz.
Does a gemstone make you precious?
The motto of our brand is: ” Unique is better than perfect “.
Therefore, we decided to depart from the tradition of aggressive grinding of precious stones and changing their natural shape – if the beauty of the gem does not require it. Their value, rarity and uniqueness do not allow us to drastically disturb their natural forms, created by nature. At Tilsam we believe that Nature is infallible, therefore her creation is respected by us, and a gemstone created by her, in most cases, is set in the form in which it occurs in nature.
Does a gemstone make you precious?
We don’t know, but the respect for Mother Nature and her creation certainly does.