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This is a list of gemstones, organized by species and types. Minerals. There are over 300 types of minerals that have been used as gemstones. Such as: A–B
While jade has been since earliest times the most prized semi-precious stone for carving in East Asia and Pre-Columbian America, in Europe and the Middle East the different varieties of quartz were the most commonly used for the various types of jewelry and hardstone carving, including engraved gems and cameo gems, rock crystal vases, and ...
Chalcedony (/ k æ l ˈ s ɛ d ə n i / kal-SED-ə-nee or / ˈ k æ l s ə ˌ d oʊ n i / KAL-sə-doh-nee) [2] is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of quartz and moganite. [3]
In modern use, the precious stones are emerald, ruby, sapphire and diamond, with all other gemstones being semi-precious. [9] This distinction reflects the rarity of the respective stones in ancient times, as well as their quality: all are translucent , with fine color in their purest forms (except for the colorless diamond), and very hard with ...
Lapis lazuli (UK: / ˌ l æ p ɪ s ˈ l æ z (j) ʊ l i, ˈ l æ ʒ ʊ-,-ˌ l i /; US: / ˈ l æ z (j) ə l i, ˈ l æ ʒ ə-,-ˌ l i /), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color.
Cubic zirconia is relatively hard, 8–8.5 on the Mohs scale—slightly harder than most semi-precious natural gems. [1] Its refractive index is high at 2.15–2.18 (compared to 2.42 for diamonds) and its luster is Adamantine lustre. Its dispersion is very high at 0.058–0.066, exceeding that of diamond (0.044).
Polished slab of bowenite serpentine, a variety of antigorite.. Bowenite is a hard, compact variety of the serpentinite species antigorite (Mg 3 (OH)O 4 Si 2 O 5). [1] Classed as a semi-precious gemstone, [2] it has been used for tools, weapons and jewellery by the Māori in New Zealand, [3] [4] and for jewellery by Fabergé. [5]
A number of individual gemstones are famous in their own right, ... with a weight of 1,404.49 carats (280.898 g), it is the largest star sapphire in the world.