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^ Florida's state gem, moonstone, was adopted to highlight Florida's role in the United States' Lunar program, which landed the first astronauts on the Moon. [81] ^ Since 1983, Massachusetts has had 3 other official state rocks: State Historical Rock (Plymouth Rock), State Explorer Rock (Dighton Rock), and State Building and Monument Stone . In ...
Gemstone. 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 ...
Several ruby-set pieces were included in the sale, notably a ring set with an 8.24 ct gem that broke the 'price-per-carat' record for rubies (US$512,925 per carat – i.e., over US$4.2 million in total), [37] and a necklace [38] that sold for over US$3.7 million. The Liberty Bell Ruby is the largest mined ruby in the world. It was stolen in a ...
Diamond[ a] is a gemstone formed by cutting a raw diamond. Diamonds are one of the best-known and most sought-after gems, and they have been used as decorative items since ancient times. The hardness of diamond and its high dispersion of light —giving the diamond its characteristic "fire"—make it useful for industrial applications and ...
The term first appears in Roman references around 250 BC, at a time when the opal was valued above all other gems. The opals were supplied by traders from the Bosporus, who claimed the gems were being supplied from India. Before this, the stone was referred to by a variety of names, but these fell from use after 250 BC.
The George F. Kunz Collection is a significant special collection on gems and minerals including rare books on gemology, the folklore of gemstones through history, lapidary arts and archival gem trade records important to the provenance of named stones such as the "Hope Diamond." Kunz was a former USGS employee.
The Gemological Institute of America ( GIA) is a nonprofit institute based in Carlsbad, California. It is dedicated to research and education in the field of gemology and the jewelry arts. [ 1] Founded in 1931, GIA's mission is to protect buyers and sellers of gemstones by setting and maintaining the standards used to evaluate gemstone quality.
The first theme is using legendary luminous gems to illuminate buildings, for navigation lights on ships, or sometimes as guiding lights for lost persons (Ball 1938: 498–500). In India, the earliest country in which fine gemstones were known, belief in luminous gems dates back some twenty-five centuries.