The Facts You Must Know About Gemstones

A passionate lover for things and ideas is always hungry to know more. Many people around the world claim that they love gemstones to such an extent that they like to collect them. However, being a gemstone lover is not a big thing, if you do not crave to know more about it. According to many qualified gemologists including Peter Wilson Cleveland, there are many facts about gemstones that most people don’t even know.

So, let’s explore a few unknown facts about gemstones with the expert gemologist Peter Wilson Cleveland.

1. The discovery of gemstones is too old than you’d think

Do you know who the first to carve minerals into jewelers were? Maybe, according to some of you, the answer would be – The Babylonians or The Egyptians. Well, your guess is wrong as a skilfully carved bracelet of green-hued chlorite discovered in Siberia. And according to experts including Peter Wilson Cleveland, it is around 70,000 years old and. Even they believe that it has been made by an early extinct human species with the name- the Denisovans.

2. The different beliefs of our ancestors about gemstones

For instance, if you take about amber, Vikings used to believe that the tears of goddess Freya became amber after they fell down to the ground. Whereas if you consider the thought of the ancient Greeks, the amber was solidified sunlight.  In fact, in ancient China, the thought was that amber is the earthly form of a tiger’s soul.

3. Some gemstones really were once alive

Opal forms in corners and holes from the amount of material left behind by silica-rich water.  In some cases, this process happens within putrefying material such as wood and bones.  In the year 1987, in South Australia, the opalized skeleton of a pliosaur was dug. At present, ‘Eric’ is displayed in the Australia Museum, together with the opalized fishbone found in his stomach!

4. Few gems have special properties

You may find few gemstones that display stunning and unusual optical effects, they are popular as phenomenal gemstones.  Most gemologists including Peter Wilson Cleveland, love the stone Alexandrite that contains the property of changing the color. It usually appears red under luminous light and green in daylight.  Besides, in gems displaying asterism, you may find star floating across the surface. And in those with chatoyancy, if you focus on the ‘floating’ image, you may find it like a cat’s eye.

5. Some gems are hard to find

You may or may not know that there are around 4,000 or so minerals were identified. However, only a small percentage are categorized as gemstones.  The rarest form of gemstone of all is painite, which is a deep brownish red gemstone available particularly only in Myanmar (Burma). The gemstone painite is named after Arthur Pain, the first gemologist who discovered it.  The most important fact about the painite is that since its discovery, it is unsuitable for cutting. Therefore, only a few of facted painite gemstones exist worldwide.  Maybe this is the reason why Painite can raise up to 60,000 dollars per carat.

6. Diamond still rank on the top

No doubt Painite is one of the rarest, but the most expensive and desirable gemstone ever sold is the Pink Star Diamond. The weight of this internally flawless pink diamond is approximately around 59.60 carats and was excavated in South Africa by De Beers.

Final Words

So, these few main facts about top best gemstones that most people may not know and must be curious to know. Therefore, the famous gemologist Peter Wilson Cleveland has shared these untold facts about your favorite – our favorite gemstones.