Geology is more than just studying rocks and minerals; it is also about learning everything you can about the past, studying the present, and finally predicting the future, making the most of your human edition ━ Metwally Hamza.

The Egyptian Geologist Metwally Hamza

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“I dedicate this guide and topic to my dear professor Dr. Zakaria Hamimi, who inspires me with his achievements.”

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Gemstones or jewels also take other names, such as fine, precious, or semi-precious. When they are cut and polished, they are used to make jewelry or other adornments. Other materials that are not minerally in nature, such as amber, jet, and pearl, have been considered gemstones and jewels and are also used in the jewelry and ornamental stone industry.

Most gemstones are hard in nature, but some other soft minerals are used as gemstones and jewels because of their physical properties and luster, in addition to their aesthetic value, such as that mentioned above “amber and jet.” Also, paucity and notoriety are the other characteristics that lend a remarkable value to the gemstones.

Humankind has been attracted to gemstones since ancient times. Gemstones have also long been used for jewelry. The main requisite to say that a stone is a gem in maturity is to be beautiful. There are many characteristic phenomena and properties of gemstones, such as play of color, fire, or variable colors. Many features may make a gemstone beautiful, such as Iridescence, opalescence, asterism, chatoyance, and luster.

A lot of ancient civilizations had considered the gemstones to be miraculous things, in addition to their mysterious powers that can save a person and protect him against ghosts and magic. In the Ancient Egyptian Civilization “Pharaonic Civilization,” the blue bead can save a person in their belief from envy.

What does the term gemstone mean?

Gemstones are defined as stones that are considered precious or semi-precious, particularly in their cutting and polish. Stones can be termed gems when they show unique beauty, remarkable colors, and patterns, in addition to clarity. Gemstones are also typically stones considered fine enough to use in jewelry. pink-rose quartz has been considered to be the gemstone of love, that can open your heart to be loved and draw romance into your life by putting you in the right state of mind to receive the love that comes back to you. Also, golden-hued citrine has been considered to be the gemstone of good luck, which can come to you by picking it up.

Terminology and Properties of Gemstones

The Fluorescence:

Gemstones undergo color changes when they have been exposed to various radiations or to sunlight. Ex.; rubies are the greatest gemstones that exhibit this property.

The Chatoyance:

It is also known as The Cat Eye Effect in gemstones, and it is the creation of straight light beams across the gemstone. Ex.; Moonstone is the greatest chatoyant gemstone.

The Asterism:

It is also known as The Star Effect or asterism occurs when a gemstone exhibits white rays that resemble stars. Ex.;  Garnets and Emeralds frequently exhibit the star effect.

The Aventurescence:

A gemstone is said to exhibit aventurescence when it exhibits glistening metallic glitter. Ex.; Sunstone has the greatest aventurescence and a lot of glitter and sparkle.

The Iridescence:

A prismatic display of color is called iridescence. Iridescent gemstones, like Mystic Topaz, exhibit rainbow-like colors.

The Mood Stones

Some gemstones may change hue “color,” depending on the wearer’s emotions. Mood stones, which were popular as mood rings in the early Victorian era, function by responding to body temperature in a variety of lighting conditions.

What are the most effective methods for extracting gemstones from their natural sources?

There are three ways to cut gemstones and extract them from their sources, except diamond because of its very great hardness.

1. The first way is to place the gemstones, such as opal, Agate, onyx, jasper, and chalcedony “all with a Mohs hardness of 7 or less,” in a cylinder, with abrasive grit and water, and this cylinder can be rotated about its long axis, so the desired stone become polished and irregular in their shapes, then we can separate them by mechanical methods.
2. The second way is to put these same kinds of gemstones to be cut in cabochon “with a rounded upper surface and a flat underside,” and polished on water, or motor-driven sandstone wheels, this second way is usually applied to opaque gems.
3. The third way is to use the carborundum saw for gemstones with a Mohs hardness of more than 7.

Cutting and Polishing of Gemstones

Several gemstones are utilized as jewels in the crystals or other forms in which they are found. The majority, however, are cut and polished for use as jewelry. The two primary categories are as follows:

1. Cabochon:
   Stones are carved as smooth, dome-shaped stones known as cabochons or just abbreviated as cabs. These shapes have been used since ancient times and are more durable than faceted stones.
2. Facet:
   Stones are carved with a faceting machine by polishing little flat windows known as facets at regular intervals and at precise angles.

Cabochon-based Examples (Opaque Gemstones):
Opals, turquoise, variscite, and other opaque or semi-opaque stones are typically cut into cabochons. These gems are intended to highlight the stone’s color, luster, and other surface characteristics rather than internal reflection features like brilliance. Grinding wheels and polishing chemicals are used to shape and polish the stones’ smooth dome form.

Facet-based Examples (Transparent Gemstones):
Transparent gems are typically faceted, which highlights the optical qualities of the stone’s interior by maximizing reflected light, which the observer perceives as glitter. There are several widely used forms for faceted stones. The facets must be cut at the appropriate angles, which vary according to the gem’s optical qualities. If the angles are too steep or too shallow, light will flow through without being reflected back to the spectator. The faceting machine is used to support the stone on a level lap while cutting and polishing the flat facets. Some cutters, however, employ specific curved laps to cut and polish curved facets.

Treatment of Gemstones

While the traditional method of cutting and polishing can be used to transform natural gemstones, other treatment options allow the stone’s appearance to be enhanced; the type and extent of treatment can affect the stone’s value. Some treatments are widely used because the resulting gem is stable, while others are not accepted most often because the color of the gem is unstable and may return to its original tone. Gemstones are frequently treated to improve their color or clarity, and in some cases, the treatment can also increase their durability.

Do you ask about the durability of gemstones? ━ It’s key to know how long gemstones last? Gemstone durability is more than just how hard they are. It also includes their toughness and stability. ━ Hardness is how hard the gemstone is? ━  Toughness may be described as the resistance a gemstone gives to breakage. practically, this is believed to encompass resistance to chipping and cracking as well as actual breakage.

1. Heat:
   Heat may either enhance or degrade gemstone color or clarity. Gem miners and cutters have been familiar with the heating process for years, and it is typical practice in many stone kinds as well. The majority of citrine is produced by heating amethyst, and partial heating with a strong gradient produces “ametrine,” a stone that contains both amethyst and citrine. Aquamarine is frequently heated to eliminate yellow tones, convert green hues to a more acceptable blue, or deepen the current blue color.

2. Irradiation:
   The irradiation method is frequently used in the jewelry business, allowing the fabrication of gemstone hues that do not exist or are exceedingly uncommon in nature. However, when done in a nuclear reactor, the procedures can render gemstones radioactive. Health concerns about the residual radioactivity in treated gemstones have prompted government legislation in some nations.
   Almost all blue topaz, including lighter and deeper blue, has been irradiated to change its color from white to blue. Most green quartz is also irradiated to produce the yellow-green hue. Diamonds are often irradiated to turn blue-green or almost green, although other hues are conceivable. Gamma rays may turn light-to-medium-yellow diamonds green, whereas a high-energy electron beam can turn them blue.
3. Waxing or Oiling:
   Emeralds with natural cracks are occasionally treated with wax or oil to conceal them. This wax or oil is also tinted to enhance the emerald’s color and clarity. Turquoise is often handled in the same fashion.
4. Fractures Filling:
   Fracture filling has been used with a variety of gemstones including diamonds, emeralds, and sapphire. The glass-filled rubies gained attention. Rubies above 2 gm with major cracks were treated with lead glass, significantly enhancing their look.
5. Bleaching:
   Bleaching is another regularly used treatment procedure for gemstones. This approach employs a chemical to diminish the color of the diamond. After bleaching, the gemstone can be dyed to eliminate any undesired colors. Hydrogen peroxide is the most often used substance for altering gemstones, particularly jade and pearls. Bleaching can also be used with impregnation to boost the durability of the gemstone.

Meanings and Effects of Gemstones

There is a term which is widely used in the world of gemstones and their effects, this term is “Chakra.” It is an energy center in the body that play a crucial role in physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. And, your body has 7 chakras. One of these 7 chakras is Heart Chakra which deals with heart making you feel love, compassion, hating, and so on.

Amazonite:
Amazonite helps to reconcile and/or harmonize seemingly disparate motivations and interests by revealing the truth without emotion. It also can allow the individual to see another point of view. It aids this process both between people and within the individual psyche. As a result, meditation and inner work are beneficial in resolving internal conflicts and confusion, as well as integrating the self, all the previously mentioned could be done via this gemstone.

Amber:
Amber carries solar energy, warmth, and well-being. It is nurturing and beneficial to people who are recovering from illness or seeking comfort. It has the ability to transform negative or stagnant energies into positive energy, much like a sunny day lifts one’s spirits.

Agate:
It helps you feel balanced and it can bring stability in times of change. Additionally, it helps you feel happy.

Amethyst:
It can protect you from negative energy and enhance your psychic abilities, in addition to breaking bad habits you go in.

Aragonite:
It affects the emotional system, promoting balance and releasing painful stuck emotions.

Sapphire:
It helps in mental focus, and self-discipline, and promotes an orderly mindset. Receiving and communicating wisdom giver.

Jade:
Green jade embodies the spirit of the Earth and nature, delivering a healthy, caring energy that elevates and calms the heart. It brings the bounty of nature into your life, assisting you in achieving physical prosperity and wellness.

Azurite:
It stimulates the third-eye chakra, which improves inner vision, dreams, and psychic abilities. Wearing azurite can assist you in discovering concepts and ideas about insight, the mind, comprehending, creating connections, and recognizing possibilities. It is ideal for students; wear it when studying and taking tests to aid focus and retain what you learn, allowing you to recall it later. Azurite is an excellent stone for those whose work is based on intuitive leaps and mental research. It aids in the perception of possibilities and the formation of novel connections.

Fluorite:
It removes and clarifies brain clutter. If you are confused and distracted by too many ideas or anxieties about the future, fluorite will help you organize your thoughts and focus on what is most important.

Black Tourmaline:
Black tourmaline can help clear our minds and auras of negative ideas and worry, making it beneficial for persons who have overactive minds. It is a strong grounding stone that helps you get out of your head and into your body. It allows people to feel more connected to the Earth and at ease in their own bodies and on the planet.

Blue Chalcedony:
It helps you kill your fears and anxieties, and then keeps you so calm and balanced. In addition to supporting you to communicate clearly and conscientiously.

Calcite:
It is so gentle and rejuvenating. It also helps to eliminate energy blockages in the body’s energy systems.

Pearl:
They do contain the vitality of their constituent minerals, as well as the nurturing medicine of the sea. This is only because they have been extracted from the shells of the sea creatures such as Oysters.

Carnelian:
It represents action. It can widely activate the first three chakras, giving you a significant boost and strength in willpower as well as physical vitality and drive. If your heart desires something, it can offer you the courage and strength to make it.

Garnet:
It helps you turn your visions and dreams as well into a physical reality. Also, this gemstone is well-known as a prosperity and pleasure maker, supporting you to live the good life.

Diamond:
It helps in enhancing dreams and visioning abilities. Also, it can enhance the mediation action.

Lapis lazuli:
It is a royal energy stone. It helps you discover and access your inner noble mode and essence. It stimulates psychic talents and intuition and then connects you to spiritual direction and visionary consciousness. It assists you in discerning and communicating the truth, as well as discovering your actual inner Self.

Malachite:
It is a traditional protective stone. It can help you stay attentive and avoid danger, as well as reinforce your boundaries to protect yourself from harmful energy. It also generates a type of protective luck, enhancing the probability of avoiding being in the wrong location at the wrong moment.

Hematite:
It can help you overcome misunderstandings and focus on actual action in the real world. It channels the energy of higher awareness down via the chakras and into your root, assisting you in transforming that energy into physical reality.

Quartz:
Clear quartz is the most practical and adaptable gemstone for metaphysical work. It has the unusual quality to infuse with your purposes and then magnify it on your behalf, manifesting it in the world. Quartz is also considered to serve to increase the energies of any other stone you’re dealing with.

Morganite:
It is a heart chakra stone that embodies love and compassion. It is a wonderful stone for dealing with emotional trauma.

Citrine:
It activates your imagination and your will, visualizing what you desire and then giving you the determination to see it through.

Opal:
It contains spiritual energy that can heighten your emotions, bringing semi-conscious habits to the forefront of your awareness to be addressed.

Orange Calcite:
It can widely strengthen the second chakra, which is the core of our creativity and sexuality. It can also assist you in gaining confidence.

Diopside:
It helps you feel more connected to Planet Earth and harmonize your personal energy field with the Earth’s energy field. This promotes a balanced sensation of relaxation and tranquility by dissipating tensions and trapped energy in your aura into the planet’s broader field. If you have a strong connection to nature or desire to strengthen it, Diopside can help you ground yourself in.

Obsidian:
It is extremely effective for clearing obstacles caused by guilt, rejection, or feelings of unworthiness as a result of abuse or humiliation. These events can become ingrained in our emotional bodies, preventing us from unleashing our full potential and creativity.

Jasper:
It can connect the wearer to Earth energy while also providing grounding and stabilizing properties.

Ruby:
Ruby promotes passion, confidence, determination, and adventure. It helps you gain bravery and face your anxieties, overcoming them and feeling a newfound life on the other side. Ruby is a powerful source of life-force energy, stimulating excitement, a willingness to attempt new things, and the perseverance to see them through.

Turquoise:
It stimulates and balances the throat chakra. This is the hub of communication and self-expression. It helps us express our wisdom and truth plainly.

Nature of Gemstones

All discovered minerals are considered to be 2000 ones in their number. But only 100 are used as gemstones. Also, only 16 are believed to be more usable and remarkable, such as; diamond, chrysoberyl, corundum, garnet, jade, beryl, opal, feldspar, lazurite, quartz, topaz, tourmaline, zircon, turquoise, spinel, olivine. Some of these previously mentioned minerals can provide us with more than one gemstone, such as emeralds and aquamarines can be provided to us by the beryl ore. In addition to corundum which can provide us with rubies and sapphires.

Types of Gemstones

Clusters and Geodes:

A lot of gemstones, such as amethyst or quartz-citrine have sparkling and beautiful clusters, and any one of these gemstones of this type “that show a sparkling cluster,” are considered to be termed “cluster or geode gemstones.”

Points or Towers:

These types of gemstones are considered to be stones, used for healing, believing that this pointed wand-shaped is excellent for transmitting remarkable energy.

Slices:

They are defined as stones that have beautiful marbled patterns, like agate, and will often be sold in polished slices.

Raw or Rough:

They are gemstones in their natural form. There is a belief that when you pick up the gemstones in their nature or ore form, you will get their energy from a deeper level.

Polished or Cut:

To display the clarity or the brilliance of the gemstones, they will typically be cut into facets that allow them to reflect the light and show variable colors. This is the most usable form of gemstones in jewelry.

Gemstones in the Egyptian History  

By 4000 BC, the Ancient Egyptians were already using amethyst, lapis lazuli, carnelian, and chalcedony to make gemstone jewelry and steatite beads.

In addition, gods were contacted through jewelry made of gemstones like lapis lazuli and ivory. In other words, they have contacted to Gods via these lapis lazuli and/or ivory.

Southern Egypt imported gemstone obsidian for jewelry and weaponry during the same period.

Myths of Gemstones

All astrologists believe that every gemstone has a unique structure. Each gemstone represents a sign of power in the body of the human, and this is only obtained from God.

A lot of people consider the gemstone Diamond to be the most-hardest stone ever discovered on the Earth, this is only because it has a score of 10 on the Mohs’s scale of stones’ hardness.

The Mohs’s scale of the hardness, is a scale to put the minerals in an order according to its ability to resist the scrarching by other tools like pocketknife and so on.

According to the Old Testament in the Bible shows that God gave the Ten Commandments to the prophet Moses, written on the Blue Sapphire.

The Ancient Egyptians were the clever ones to use Turquoise gemstone to make the blue eyeshadow.

Michael Gienger’s and Katrina Rafaell’s books “The Late 2nd Century“, in the gemstones are the most popular and well-known publications about the popularity of gemstones.

Ores and Gemstones under Microscope

Rarest Gemstones on the Earth

1. Painite:
   Discovered in 1956, in Myanmar.
   This mineral was named in honor of the British gemologist Arthur Pain.
   It was considered the rarest mineral on Earth.
2. Tanzanite:
   Discovered in 1967, in Northern Tanzania.
   It is considered to be more rare than a diamond.
   By heating, it takes the vibrant blue color.
3. Hibonite:
   Discovered in 1956, in Madagascar.
   It was named after the discoverer, French geologist Paul Hibon.
4. Red Beryl (Bixbite):
   Discovered in 1904, in Beaver, Utah.
   It was named after the American mineralogist Maynard Bixby.
5. Jeremejevite:
   It was discovered in 1883, in Russia.
   It was named after its discoverer, Pawel W. Jeremejew.
6. Chambersite:
   It was discovered in 1957, in Chambers County, Texas, US.
   It takes its name from the location where it was found.
7. Musgravite:
   It was discovered in 1967, in the Musgrave Mountains in South Australia.
   It takes its name from the location where it was found.
8. Black Opal:
   It is directly mined in New South Wales, Australia.
   It has a dense dark color.
9. Serendibite:
   It was discovered in Sri Lanka, in 1902.
   It was discovered by Sunil P. Gunaseker.
   It takes its name from Serendib, the old Arabic name for Sri Lanka.

Colors of Gemstones

1. Pink Gemstones:
   Such as; rose-colored-quartz, morganite, pink-colored-sapphire, garnet, tourmaline, kunzite, topaz, and pink-colored-diamond.
   

   Rose-colored Quartz. ©The Arkenstone

    

2. White Gemstones:
   The most usable and remarkable gemstone used in jewelry as a white gemstone is the diamond, in addition to; moonstone, opal, and pearl.
   

   Raw Diamond. ©Something Borrowed Pdx

3. Yellow Gemstones:
   Such as; citrine, yellow-colored-garnet, yellow-colored-topaz, sapphire, and amber.
   

   Amber. ©Polish In Stitute

4. Purple Gemstones:
   Such as; amethyst.
   

   Amethyst. ©The Crystal Council

5. Blue Gemstones:
   Such as; sapphire, aquamarine, and blue-colored-topaz.
   

   Blue-colored Topaz. ©We In Rich Minerals

6. Green Gemstones:
   Such as; emerald, jade, and peridot, malachite.
   

   Malachite in Pegmatite. ©Metwally Hamza

7. Red Gemstones: 
   Such as; ruby, garnet, rubellite, and red-colored-tourmaline.
   

   Garnet Crystals. ©Carol Tulpar

8. Orange Gemstones: 
   Such as; amber, orange-colored-sapphire, and sunstone.
   

   Amber Stones. ©Polish In Stitute

9. Brown Gemstones:
   Such as; jade, amber, and brown-colored-tourmaline.
   

   Brown Jade. ©Etsy

10. Black Gemstones:
    Such as; obsidian, onyx, and black-colored opal.
    

    Obsidian. ©Geopedia (Metwally Hamza)

11. Peach Gemstones: 
    Such as; morganite, peach-sapphire, and peach-diamond.
    

    Morganite. ©The Crystal Council
12. Gray Gemstones: 
    Such as; gray-colored-tourmaline, Tahitian-pearl, and sapphire.
    

    Pearls. ©The Pearl Experts

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