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This shared word is part of a large family of similar terms found throughout the Mediterranean and Asia. The ultimate source of these word may lie in a now lost Indo-Iranian form. [5] In Pliny’s Natural History, iaspis is a generic term that encompasses fourteen types of gemstones. This makes it difficult to determine the identity of the ...
The black fire opal is the official gemstone of Nevada. Most of the precious opal is partial wood replacement. The precious opal is hosted and found in situ within a subsurface horizon or zone of bentonite, which is considered a "lode" deposit. Opals which have weathered out of the in situ deposits are alluvial and considered placer deposits.
Peridot (gem-quality olivine) Perlite (volcanic glass) Phengite (variety of muscovite) Phosphorite (name given to impure, massive apatite.) Pimelite; Pitchblende (a massive impure form of uraninite) Plessite (mixture of kamacite and taenite) Potassium alum or potash alum (as a mineral, is called alum-(K))
Before buying any old gem, though, keep reading to uncover the 25 most popular gemstones—and their meanings. Agate “Agate is earthy, warm and rich,” Salzer says, noting that it exists in ...
the magical or astrological lapidary that sets the relationship between the Signs of the Zodiac and a particular gemstone, and; the Christian lapidary, which describes the symbolism of gems mentioned in the bible, although contemporary readers would have regarded both the first two categories as representing scientific treatments. [4]
Andamooka Opal, presented to Queen Elizabeth II, also known as the Queen's Opal; Flame Queen Opal; Galaxy Opal; Halley's Comet Opal, the world's largest uncut black opal; Olympic Australis Opal, reported to be the largest and most valuable gem opal ever found
The name opal is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word upala , which means 'jewel', and later the Greek derivative opállios (ὀπάλλιος). There are two broad classes of opal: precious and common. Precious opal displays play-of-color (iridescence); common opal does not. Play-of-color is defined as "a pseudo chromatic optical ...
The powdered gem mineral is then melted (or a metallic mixture directly burned in an oxygen flame) the residue of which then drips through a furnace onto a boule. The boule where the corundum or spinel cools down and crystallizes, spins and thus causes the curved striations, which are diagnostic for a lab-created gem: Natural corundum does not ...