Other lists of “precious” gems included a few more stones, including topaz, garnet, zircon, and tourmaline. He considered all others to be semi-precious. His list of gems deemed “precious” included only the universally accepted emerald, diamond, ruby, and sapphire with his own addition being pearl. In the 1909 book “A Book of Precious Stones” by Julius Wodiska, the author included which stones were classified as “precious” by some of the most well known gemologists of his time, as well as his own list. “Precious” and “Semi-Precious” were classifications that came from writings of these early scholars, separating the “best” stones from the “not as good” by a variety of factors- rarity, hardness, transparency, popularity, market value or other values could all be considered. As an example, for a long time all red gemstones were classified as “Rubies” including garnets and red spinel. Before humans had the tools to understand the chemical makeup and properties of each stone, they were organized into different categories by logical but archaic methods. Gemstones have been valued by human civilization for thousands of years and so the study of gemstones by science, religion, and people of other scholarly pursuits have been commonplace since ancient times. History and Meaning of Precious and Semi-Precious Today at Ocala’s best jewelry store we answer “what do these terms mean?”, “where did they come from?”, and “should they still be used today?” These terms have been used since ancient times and are still commonly used today by experienced and educated jewelers. Tourmaline, a classically “semi-precious” gemstone.Įveryone has heard the terms “Precious” and “Semi-Precious” to describe gemstones.
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