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 Mohs scale
of hardness put the start to division of stones for precious and semi-precious
and in ancient times various stones ere appreciated for various cases. So, the Egyptians
preferred jewelry from emeralds, turquoise, amethysts and rock crystal while
the Romans loved diamonds and sapphires. During the Renaissance and baroque epochs
wealthy people preferred rubies, sapphires and topazes while the rococo period
dictated diamonds to glitter on clothing. So, stones were selected to match the
clothing, the mood and personal preferences.
Ensembles of
people of the romanticism period were mostly decorated with precious gems giving
beauty to the world around and the heart of people. That was the time when stones
were attributed the special symbol, when every single semiprecious stone had the
particular meaning. Jewelers of that time acted as designers and healers when
they helped to select the stones of particular meaning for particular person to
match their emotional and physical needs.
The impact of
the precious and semi-precious stones on the human organism, the physiology, feelings
and emotions are known from old times, though with every year the scientists
and researchers looked for more evidences of interaction between stones and
humans, stones and planets, connecting macrocosmos and microcosm. And even today,
use of semi-precious stones as talismans and healing elements is not absurd and
influence of minerals on humans is proved through centuries, yet, the symbolism
in jewelry is back again.
This is required
especially when many of us can afford precious stones to own, and rare diamonds
and emeralds are still mined hardly ever. Unlike them, rare and unique stones
can be acquired for the reasonable price due to huge amount of semi-precious
gems. Some semi-precious stones appear more expensive than precious stones,
though, due to sizes and unique features. It is worth stating that whatever demanded
is the market of fake precious gems, semi-precious stones are also imitated. Alexandrite
lost its positions among semi-precious gems which was the elite stone in the
high society in Russia
in old times when the great number of fake stones without unique features and
beauty cut use of alexandrite as the jewelry stone for clothing and decoration.
Onyx, nephritis
or jade and turquoise are often faked, though the real beauty of natural stones
allows finding the difference between the fake gem and semi-precious stone.
Lately the number of fake gems decreased since semi-precious stones somewhat
outdated, and the jewelers gave their fundamental concentration to precious
stones. However, today semi-precious stones are in again in the niche of elite
jewelry as additional crystals to highlight the glimpse of real jewels or
individual jewelry items. A wide range of colors, matte texture, translucency
and other features, semi-precious stones win the market of jewelry gradually
allowing creation of unique and exclusive jewelry items with exceptional and
rare minerals.
It is known
that most semi-precious stones cannot boast with long and prominent history though
most of them bear the particular symbolic meaning to serve as talismans to
protect particular Zodiac sign persons or persons of particular profession or
particular social group members. So, superstitious sailors keep emerald while sailing,
artistic people prefer tourmaline or amethyst, and small children are advised
that they wear moonstone.
According to
superstitions, the moonstone is the mineral that helps kids grow intelligent
since the mineral is believed to stimulate mental activity and increase skills
to sciences. The garnet is considered the stone for those who are in love, for
friends and who believe in friendship and loyalty. The mineral sparkles and glitters
in blood-red glares when a person obsession with passion wears it. And every
Zodiac sign has particular stones and minerals especially assigned to protect, to
highlight individual features and help control negative emotions.
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