What precious stones are valued?

Designer jewelry with precious inserts are luxury items that are often chosen by famous and wealthy people. Their beauty is mesmerizing, and their strong energy attracts the eye. Wearing jewelry with precious stones is a real art. Only the right combination of an outfit with jewelry will create a sophisticated look. What are precious stones, what are they, what is the reason for their demand in jewelry? Many questions arise, and we will try to sort them out in this material.

Gems: types and features

• I – diamond, ruby, emerald, blue sapphire, alexandrite.
• II – black opal, noble spinel, demantoid, pink and yellow sapphire.
• III – aquamarine, beryl, white and fire opal, tanzanite, pink topaz, tourmaline, peridot, etc.
• IV – almadine, amethyst, smoky and rose quartz, morion, rock crystal, rhodolite, blue topaz, chrysoprase, citrine.

It is important to know: The order of stones is assigned to them according to a number of characteristics: hardness, transparency, color, shine, prevalence in nature. An important characteristic of the product and its market value.

The proposed list of precious stones is based on official sources. However, a different classification is common in jewelry. It is based on the cost and popularity of stones. The most expensive and in demand are diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, and pearl.

Precious and semi-precious stones: main differences

Minerals differ insignificantly in their physical and chemical properties. Stones can be divided into precious and semi-precious by their cost. It is determined taking into account the specific characteristics of minerals:

• Precious stones are specimens of natural origin. They are rarely found in nature and are attractive for their beauty, hardness and durability. Their weight is measured in carats.
• Semi-precious stones are more common minerals. Their wide range, as well as a lower degree of hardness, are the key reasons for the reduction in cost. Mass is measured in grams.

Sometimes semi-precious items are more expensive than diamonds and emeralds. This is possible due to the unique beauty, purity, original color of minerals or unusual inclusions.

How to distinguish a gemstone from a fake

The most reliable way to determine the authenticity of a gem is to order an examination by a gemologist. However, there are simpler methods. You need to carefully examine the crystal. Natural stone has an intense color, and light is refracted in it. Fakes easily allow light rays to pass through them. You can also use a manual tester. It is based on measuring the hardness of crystals.

Popular gemstones The names of gemstones that are especially in demand in jewelry are well known. These are diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, as well as pearls, coral, and amber. Let’s take a closer look at the characteristics and features of the most popular ones.

Diamond

The legendary gemstone is essentially a cut diamond. The classic crystal is colorless. Yellow, green, pink, and black diamonds are often mined. The rarest and most expensive are ruby ​​red, blue, emerald green.

For reference: Diamond is the hardest mineral on our planet. It consists of carbon and is widely used not only in jewelry, but also in industry (uncut specimens).

A diamond turns into a brilliant after cutting. The international 4C system is used to estimate its value. It is based on key criteria:

• Colour;
• purity;
• carat weight;
• cut.

To certify diamonds, an independent examination is carried out.

Emerald

The mineral gets its magnificent green tint thanks to the chromium in its composition. The price of a stone depends on the size and external characteristics: color, presence of defects, weight. The cost and cut of the crystal also affects it. The most popular is stepped. When evaluating emeralds, special attention is paid to their purity. Stones without inclusions are very rare.

Ruby

It is valued no less than diamonds and emeralds. Ruby is a variety of noble corundum. It got its name for its rich red hue. The ideal of these stones is Burmese minerals. The cost of rubies is determined taking into account the assessment of their defects and color intensity. In nature, shades range from red to dark purple.

Pearl

The organic gemstone is formed in the shells of oysters, mussels and other shellfish. Natural pearls can be either sea or freshwater. Today it is actively cultivated on special farms. The main indicators of pearl quality are shape, shine, shade, surface cleanliness, weight, size.

You can order designer jewelry with magnificent precious stones set in precious metals in our online store. The catalog has a large selection of models with original or minimalist designs. A variety of solutions is the best opportunity to get a piece of jewelry that you will definitely like.

Emerald “Governor” at the emerald extraction factory of the Mariinsky mine in the Sverdlovsk region.

The Urals and Siberia are real treasures of our country! A wide variety of minerals are mined here, which are then turned into masterpieces of jewelry.

Ural emeralds, Yakut diamonds – a huge amount of precious stones are mined in Russia, which are highly valued all over the world. In addition, in the Urals and Siberia there are deposits of semi-precious stones – less expensive stones, but no less revered by jewelers.

1. Diamond

Diamonds in the exhibition hall of the Alrosa Diamond Sorting Center.

Yakut diamonds are now known throughout the world, although until the mid-1930th century they were mined only in India, Brazil and Africa. Russian geologists knew that Yakutia, the coldest region of Russia, could contain diamond deposits: cases of precious finds were documented back in the 1954th century, and geological exploration began in the XNUMXs. As a result, in XNUMX, the first kimberlite pipe was discovered in Yakutia, then a second, a third. By the way, the discoveries of diamond deposits were made by women – Soviet geologists Larisa Popugaeva and Natalia Sarsadskikh.

Diamonds in the exhibition hall of the Alrosa Diamond Sorting Center.

Diamonds were also found at different times in the Perm region (Urals) and in the Arkhangelsk region (Russian North), but industrial diamond mining is carried out today in Yakutia. There is also the concept of “Russian cut” – Russian cut, which appeared in the late 1970s due to strict Soviet standards for stone processing. This is the name given not only to stones from Russia, but also to stones with the highest quality cuts in general. They cost 10% more than others.

2. Emerald

Emerald mining at the Malyshevskoye deposit in the Sverdlovsk region.

The largest emerald deposit in Europe and the only emerald deposit in Russia – the Mariinsky mine (also sometimes called the Malyshevsky deposit, as in Soviet times) – is located in the Sverdlovsk region in the Urals. Emerald mines were discovered here in the 1830s, and full-fledged mining began in the 1920s. In addition to emerald, geologists were also interested in the accompanying mineral beryl, but not as a jewelry stone, but to obtain beryllium oxide from it, which was used in the military industry. Today, about 150 kg of emeralds are mined in the Urals per year, and they are all of excellent quality and have a yellowish color. From time to time, very large stones are found here – for example, in 2019, an emerald weighing 1,6 kg was extracted from the mine, and a year earlier – 1,54 kg.

3. Alexandrite

Alexandrite with backlight/

Alexander Rudny (CC BY 4.0)

In addition to emeralds and beryls, about 5 kg of alexandrites are mined at the Mariinsky mine per year. This stone was discovered during the search for emeralds in the Urals, and initially geologists mistook it for a low-quality emerald. However, after studying they realized that this was a completely new gemstone.

Alexandrite weighing 84 grams, found at the Malyshevsky emerald-beryllium deposit near the village named after Malyshev.

Just imagine that it sparkles like an emerald, but at the same time changes its color depending on the lighting: sometimes green, sometimes red, sometimes purple. It was named after Russian Emperor Alexander II in 1834 and quickly gained popularity among the court elite. In addition to the Urals, alexandrite is mined today in Tanzania and Madagascar.

4. Garnet

The work of the chief artist of the Russian Crafts factory, Sergei Chiryev.

This incredibly beautiful semi-precious stone has been known in Russia since at least the 16th century – it was brought from Bohemia (Czech Republic). And in the middle of the 19th century, several types of pomegranates (including rare green ones) were discovered in the Urals, on the shores of Lake Ladoga and on the Kola Peninsula. Today, garnet in Russia is mined from deposits in Eastern and Southern Siberia, as well as in Karelia.

Making souvenir swords in Zlatoust.

Garnets are one of the most popular and at the same time inexpensive jewelry stones.

5. Amethyst

Amethyst geode in the GEOS Museum of Geology of Central Siberia in Krasnoyarsk.

Amethysts of rich dark purple color are called Deep Siberian and are considered extremely rare natural semi-precious stones, and therefore are highly valued in jewelry.

Gold pendant-brooch with amethyst and diamonds at the exhibition “Jewels of Lyudmila Zykina”.

They are found in the Urals, Siberia, Karelia. Amethysts with a pink undertone are called Rose de France and are much more common in nature.

On the Kola Peninsula there is one of the oldest amethyst deposits in the world, known since the 300th century – “Cape Ship” (about XNUMX km south of Murmansk), where this crystal is visible right in the cracks of the rocky shore of the White Sea. Beautiful, isn’t it?

Ivtorov (CC BY-SA 4.0)

6. Spinel

Large imperial crown with spinel.

The Slavs called red gemstones the word “lal”, which means “red”. This concept included both rubies and corundums, but most often it meant spinel. This stone was preserved on the imperial regalia of the Romanovs: it adorns the crown of the Russian Empire, silver earrings, and a bow clasp. True, these are all stones of foreign origin, and until the 18th century, spinel was not distinguished from ruby ​​at all, because to the eye they are incredibly similar.

Slavage bow and pendants from the Diamond Fund.

During the Soviet years, spinel deposits were found in Yakutia, the Urals and the Baikal region. By the way, they are often found next to precious rubies and sapphires (there is no industrial mining of these stones in Russia).

7. Topaz

The color range of topaz is varied: from brown and wine-yellow to blue, pink, golden, orange and reddish-orange.

Semi-precious Ural topazes come in soft blue, with a translucent haze, and rich brown. They are most often found in the Ilmensky Nature Reserve in the southern part of this region, and among the finds there are real “heavyweights” – up to 30 kg! Russian topazes have always been incredibly popular jewelry stones both in the country and abroad, gaining fame back in the early XNUMXth century.

Ural, faceted smoky topazes.

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