Who in your life did not dream of jewelry? Especially about real gems. What is the most expensive stone in the world? What are gemstones? How to understand if this is real stone or fake? There are answers to all these questions. This will be discussed.
The most expensive stone in the world
Diamonds are the subject of adoration for almost all significant monarchs and aristocrats. The possession of these very jewels emphasized the historical importance and significance of the person. The most successful among them was the British king Edward VII, who in 1905 was presented with the largest and most expensive diamond in history - Cullinan.
The jewel has come a long way from the mine in Transvaal (the territory of the present South African Republic) to the workshop of the best European jeweler - Joseph Asher. Since the gemstone initially had cracks, in fact, being a piece of some unknown diamond, Cullinan could not be cut whole. Asher decided to do exactly that procedure, thanks to which he became famous: to thoroughly study the structure of the stone, select a certain point and hit it, splitting into many small diamonds.
For several weeks he managed to do this, which subsequently allowed to produce diamonds weighing 530 and 317 carats, as well as many smaller gems. How many carats was the most expensive stone in the world? The initial weight of Cullinan was 3100 carats. Its approximate cost was about $ 8 billion. So the most expensive stone in the world was found. Now, perhaps, there are more of them, but he was the first and went down in history.
About gems
Gemstones are minerals of natural origin, which are not very common in nature and, when properly processed, have a good appearance. These include diamonds, rubies and sapphires known to everyone, as well as many other minerals. Often, the special properties of precious stones are used in various types of technical activities, such as, for example, diamonds and sapphires.
They also include well-known stones of organic origin. Among them are amber, mother of pearl, pearls and many others. There are many ways to classify gemstones. For example, stones can be assigned to a particular group according to their physical properties, color or price.
Gemstones acquired undoubted value not earlier than the heyday of the Roman Empire, when money transactions and, later, bank deposits were carried out using stones, and excavations revealed the first attempts to fake them.
Jewelry stones
Jewelry stones are called rare minerals that are processed in a certain way and have a high cost. These stones are of great importance in the history of mankind, being an attribute of financial viability and the undoubted influence of their owner.
It is worth mentioning here that among professionals, jewelry stones are conventionally divided into 3 categories: precious, semi-precious and ornamental. The most hard and rare minerals, mainly transparent: diamonds, rubies and sapphires, are considered to be precious. Jewelers often include pearls in the same category, although pearls do not fit all the criteria described above. Semi-precious stones have exactly the same criteria, but are less valuable because of their greater prevalence. These include turquoise, topaz, amber and corals. It is also worth mentioning that their weight is already measured in grams, it is not accepted to evaluate such stones in carats (0.2 g).
The third category includes semi-precious stones, which cannot boast of transparency, but have good texture and patterns. It was their aesthetic qualities that made them no less popular in the jewelry industry. The reader will probably be aware of such minerals as malachite, cat's eye, and onyx. Naturally, they are not used directly as jewelry, but various items made from these stones are very highly appreciated by lovers of antiques.
Types of stones
What types of jewelry stones are there? They can be divided into precious, semi-precious and ornamental. Ornamental stones are, in most cases, artificially derived jewelry. Such stones are very often used for decorating design elements: chandeliers, lamps, souvenirs. Ornamental stones differ in price, nevertheless they give different things sophistication and aristocracy.
Gems
Gemstones are divided into mineral and organic. Organic is a natural pearl. Mineral origin stones are, of course, a diamond. A true diamond is solid and transparent, like, in fact, other precious stones: sapphire, ruby, emerald. The weight of the stones is measured in karate, which corresponds to 0.2 grams. But this is only for precious stones, semi-precious and ornamental stones are measured in grams.
Semiprecious
Semi-precious stones can be either transparent or muddy, colored. The most popular stone is alexandrite. The color of alexandrite depends on the lighting: under artificial lighting, it is pinkish, in natural light it reaches a dark green hue. The stone is very interesting, its beliefs are associated with it. Since ancient times, alexandrite has been considered a widow's stone; its owner will never have a happy marriage.
Semi-precious stones also include such famous stones as amber, turquoise, coral. Most semi-precious stones are of natural origin. They are hard-to-reach, rare minerals and decorate any product with their sophistication and rarity.
Craft
And finally, ornamental stones. Such stones are opaque and poorly enlightened. They are soft, but at the same time fascinate with beautiful patterns and colors. Often used in the jewelry industry.
Ornamental stones include stones such as: jasper, cat's eye, malachite, cubic zirconia and synthetic emerald. Some semi-precious stones can be of natural origin, but they are mainly artificially produced and quite common both in the jewelry industry and in the construction, decoration and decoration of various products.
Jewelry with stones
The history of the creation of jewelry, the elements of which are precious stones, dates back several thousand years. And despite the fact that the technological process has undergone many improvements, their value has not fallen at all. Even in our time, quality jewelry with stones is the result of tremendous work and craftsmanship.
The complexity of manufacturing jewelry can be divided into several components. To begin with, it is worth mentioning the product design, where it is worth choosing the optimal balance between a pleasant appearance and solidity. Quite a difficult, but crucial task is to determine the emphasis on the gemstone without losing in other visual components. The challenge is also to select a stone for the product. An eloquent fact is that among jewelers there is still no single universal classification for them. It is important for the manufacturer to evaluate the stone with maximum accuracy by such indicators as size, shade, as well as the method and quality of the cut. Well, of course, the manufacturing of the precious metal product itself will not be easy work: accuracy must be the highest, and if there are visible defects, the cost of the work will be an order of magnitude lower.
The cost of gemstones
How much do jewelry stones cost? The price of a diamond will depend on a combination of many factors, the main of which are the type of stone, its weight, the conditional “purity”, as well as the type and quality of the cut. As for the type of stone, the axiom that affects its cost is quite prosaic - the less common it is, the more expensive. A vivid example can be red and blue diamonds, which are inferior to many stones in other parameters, but are the most expensive gemstones in the world.
The weight of the stone also directly affects its final cost. The unit of weight for gems is considered to be a carat, which is equal to one fifth of a gram. With an increase in the weight of a stone, its price increases asymptotically. The purity of the stone is another parameter that significantly affects the cost of the stone. The presence of foreign bodies in it greatly reduces the final cost, while the so-called pure water diamonds can cost five or six figures.
Gem cutting
Cutting is another criterion, here not only its type, but also the proximity of the work to the ideal will influence the price - that is, how well the stone refracts light and, accordingly, how it looks in the light. The centuries-old experience of cutting jewels has given rise to many different ways to make a stone even more spectacular and expensive. There is no point in reminding that the creation of planes on the surface of a stone must have a strict geometric character, moreover, the complexity of this process also changes greatly. If, with a simple cut, a stone receives about 30 faces, then in more elaborate and expensive diamonds, their number can exceed one or even two hundred. The most sophisticated faceting methods for today suggest that the stone has about 250 planes.
