On all continents, in the sand of the seashore, in fissures in the Alps—everywhere quartz is to be found, the most ubiquitous mineral on our earth. The reason for this is that silicon dioxide penetrated throughout the entire magmatic cycle and participated, as quartz, in all stages of rock and mineral formation. In gem quality, [...]
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As a token of gratitude for the assistance in arms and the victory won near Najera (i 367), he gave the precious stone to the Black Prince. After the Prince’s death the coveted gem was inherited by the tragic Richard II, and doubtless fell into Bolingbroke’s possession when he ascended the throne as Henry IV: [...]
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In her magic garden of crystal blossoms deep in the earth, the Earth Goddess cherished a treasure of choicest excellence, to which she gave an abundance of melting colors, as well as high refraction (1.72) and vivid fire (0.02 1), notable hardness (8) and complete absence of cleavage. From the sum of this generous endowment [...]
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Nevertheless, not all topazes grow from pegmatitic mineral formation, for fluorine-rich solutions also impregnated the country rock at an even later stage and, where hot enough, dissolved the existing minerals. Thus silica and alumina were freed so as to combine with the fluorine to form topaz. Such processes of replacement took place mainly in cracks [...]
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Ever since man became acquainted with topaz, this noble stone has been paying dearly for the melodiousness of its name, which was formerly bestowed on the whole range of all yellow to golden brown gemstones. At the heart of such misnomers is the citrine, a variety of quartz mostly obtained through the heating of amethyst. [...]
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Nature has conferred on zircon several quite outstanding optical properties which furnish brilliant-cut specimens with a particularly striking appearance. High adamantine luster and very vivid fire elevate zircon into the immediate proximity of diamond. Its specific gravity is unequalled by any other transparent gemstone. Its high refractive index of 1.95 and powerful color-dispersive ability of [...]
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Over and above the gemstones are still numerous minerals which make beautiful gemstomes in cut form as well as completely fulfilling the requirements of beauty, rarity, and durability. Their popularity and their market success are mostly determined by their great rarity; because of the latter they are all the more coveted by collectors. Contrary to [...]
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Agate—diversely beautiful, multicolored, and variously formed as it is, its endless abundance of abstract designs can only be hinted at by the descriptions “spotted, cloudy, marbled, banded, or dappled.” To the ancient Greeks and Romans it was already known in the form of colored pebbles collected from the Achates River in Sicily.
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Pure chance is often the best ally for discovering the secrets of Mother Earth. She surely still holds many surprises in store. Though relevant preliminary studies did effect positive results in this case, it was nevertheless a happy accident for the Finnish mineralogist Laitakari when, during the Russian-Finnish winter campaign of 1939/40 while inspecting fortification [...]
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In jade is sealed the alliance between man and gemstone through thousands of years. Its use was not confined only to man’s ornamental and protective needs in the form of jewelry and amulets, but also served him in the early Stone Age as one of the elementary implements of his culture—as tools for hammering, splitting, [...]
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