gemstone
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.1|Group of precious and semiprecious stones—both uncut and faceted—including (clockwise from top left) diamond, uncut synthetic [[sapphire, ruby, uncut emerald, and amethyst crystal cluster.]]
AI overview
A gemstone is a mineral or crystal that is valued for its beauty and rarity, and can be either precious (like diamonds, sapphires, and rubies) or semiprecious (like emeralds and amethysts). Gemstones matter because they are prized for jewelry and decoration, and their value depends on qualities like their natural rarity and how they are cut and polished.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
31 sectionsContents
- Characteristics and classification
- Value
- Grading
- Cutting and polishing
- Colors
- Treatment
- Early history
- Heat
- Radiation
- Waxing/oiling
- Fracture filling
- Bleaching
- Socioeconomic issues in the gemstone industry
- Synthetic and artificial gemstones
- Types
- Synthetic corundum
- Synthetic beryls
- Synthetic quartz
- Synthetic spinel
- Creation process
- Verneuil flame fusion process (melt process)
- Czochralski process (melt process)
- Flux growth (solution process)
- Hydrothermal growth (solution process)
- Characteristics
- History
- List of rare gemstones
- In popular culture
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|upright=1.1|Group of precious and semiprecious stones—both uncut and faceted—including (clockwise from top left) diamond, uncut synthetic [[sapphire, ruby, uncut emerald, and amethyst crystal cluster.]]
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. Certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, and obsidian) and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber, jet, and pearl) may also be used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some softer minerals such as brazilianite may be used in jewelry because of their color or luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. However, generally speaking, soft minerals are not typically used as gemstones by virtue of their brittleness and lack of durability.