SELL YOUR JEWELRY
Magazine 58F
Precious stones: a dive into the heart of the earth
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At a time when the “Precious Stones” exhibition at the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution in Paris opens its doors, let's go and discover these stones and their chromatic palette which allows jewelers-creators to 58 Facettes to express all their talents.
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Precious stones: the great classics
These gems are the best known to the general public: diamond, sapphire, ruby And emerald. They were the stones that constituted the treasures of kings and queens throughout history and today remain a sure value for collectors around the world.
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The most famous and imposing diamonds are the Koh-I-Noor of 105.6 carats from the ancient Indian mine of Golconda which adorns the crown of England and the Cullinan of 530.2 carats from a diamond rough from South Africa weighing 3106 carats, set on the scepter of the British crown. The diamond is not necessarily white... But on the contrary, the rarest diamonds are Australian reds, green or even blue like the blue moon, reaching the record of $48.46 million for 12.03 carats.
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In the corundum family, the most sought-after sapphires are those from Kashmir of an incomparable intense blue. They reach record prices in auction rooms like the Jewel of Kashmir sold at $243,000 per carat. Sapphires from Ceylon (today Sri Lanka) are also particularly prized for their color and Sri Lanka remains the largest current producer of sapphires and the only country which produces the pink-orange Padparadja sapphire.
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Another corundum, the most sought-after ruby comes from the Mogok valley of Burma with its mines which produce rubies with an intense color, called “pigeon blood”. With the sanctions linked to Burma's policy, new deposits have been found such as in Mozambique, a subject which we will detail later.
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Emerald, from the beryl family, is fascinating with its multiple inclusions that we also poetically call gardens. The oldest mine is that of Muzo in Colombia, exploited in the 16th century by the Spanish conquistadors. The Muzo mine and the various mines in Colombia remain the reference for the most beautiful emeralds which so fascinated Elizabeth Taylor.
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Fine stones: infinite chromatic diversity
These stones are particularly prized by jewelers-designers because they allow numerous combinations and more affordable budgets.
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Of course, some fine stones are also very rare like the Tanzanite sourced only from Tanzania and offering a particularly captivating electric blue-violet.
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In the beryl family (the same as emerald), stones likeaquamarine and morganite bring their soft shades of blue and pastel pink. Heliodor has an incomparable solar color and black and red beryl offers mysterious dark colors.
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THE tourmalines come in wonderful shades ranging from pink (also called rubellite when the color is dense) to green to black. Paraiba tourmaline from Brazil is extremely rare and highly sought after for its electric blue hue, although deposits in Africa offer new deposits.
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THE garnets are best known to the general public for their deep red color, but they can have bright colors like green spessartite garnet or almost neon orange mandarin garnet.
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THE opals from Australia or Ethiopia are fascinating with their chromatic effects, notably harlequin opal formed from iridescent diamond-shaped flakes.
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The family of quartz is particularly rich with rock crystal offering a beautiful transparency allowing the creation of decorative objects. There citrine is attractive with its shades of lemon yellow to orange yellow. Rose quartz is fascinating with its opaque, almost milky parts. In the quartz family, many stones are opaque which we will discover in the next chapter.
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Hard or ornamental stones
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Certain fine stones are considered ornamental stones because these gems were mainly used for ornamentation in the form of marquetry on wood or marble. Coming from the Italian term Pietra Dura, these hard stones are generally opaque, notably coming from the quartz family: agate, onyx, tiger's eye, jasper, chalcedony.
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At the heart of the Precious Stones exhibition at the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution, you can admire the Grande Table Orsini offered to Cardinal Mazarin in 1659, inlaid with lapis lazuli, jasper, agate...
During the period Art Deco, these stones were used frequently and associated with lapis lazuli, turquoise or diamond. Today, these stones are particularly fashionable, cut in the shape of clovers, hearts or squares, used on long necklaces or in the form of small rings playing on color combinations. The jewelers-creators of 58 Facettes also have their personal interpretations that we invite you to discover in images.
During the period Art Deco, these stones were used frequently and associated with lapis lazuli, turquoise or diamond. Today, these stones are particularly fashionable, cut in the shape of clovers, hearts or squares, used on long necklaces or in the form of small rings playing on color combinations. The jewelers-creators of 58 Facettes also have their personal interpretations that we invite you to discover in images.
Article by Kyra Brenzinger - Editor-in-Chief.
Photo 1: “Precious Stones” exhibition poster at the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution in Paris
Photo 2: Emerald cut diamond
Photo 3: Padparadscha sapphires - Avani Paris
Photo 4: Ring A Love Like Blood - Laurent Barateau
Photo 5: Solitaire Anjar - Manal Paris
Photo 6: Triangle stud earrings - Lucky One Jewelry
Photo 7: Roma Mela Verde ring - Manal Paris
Photo 8: White gold ring, tourmaline - Atelier-Christely
Photo 9: “Las Vegas” pendant - Anne Bourat
Photo 10: Anew bracelet - Kalathea
Photo 11: Pendant silver black, quartz with inclusions, citrine - Atelier-Christely
Photo 12: Favorite Ring 1 - England