When Did Gemstones First Appear in Western Countries?
The term "precious stones"
was not introduced until much later in the Western world.
Easy
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4 min
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Science
Gem-related Field
Precious stones
The First Mines In The World
Legends could not have been as factual as
we thought. Hera, the queen of the gods, was not wearing gems, as legend mentions it, but
rather artistically worked pebbles enriched with gold and a few grains of Baltic amber. The
Neolithic populations of Gaul had been more favoured a few thousand years earlier: they knew
at least turquoise, a pretty stone which is still found from time to time in the province of
Salamanca, and which surely came from mines that have now disappeared or been exhausted.
But, even though precious stones did not appear in Greece until at least five
or six centuries before our era, thanks to the Phoenicians and Egyptians, the ancient
oriental books reveals that long before Homeric times, the inhabitants of Asia already knew
them and knew how to appreciate them. They must have been the subject of a large trade soon
enough, because those identified in Egypt almost certainly came from India or Insulindia,
despite the fact that North Africa was capable of supplying it in reasonably large
quantities and of varying quality at the time.
Details of this stone:
Weight (cts): 2.44 cts Origin: Brazil Shape & Cut: Oval Single/pair: Set Stone type: Alexandrite Color: Color Change Greenish-blue to Violetish-pink
Certified: SSEF
THE QUESTION
Who Were The First Men To Use
Them?
Since historical times, three countries
have competed in terms of both the scale of their deposits and the quality of the material
extracted: the Far East, Brazil, and South Africa. The mining of diamonds, with their
prodigious toughness, perfect inalterability, and sparkling flames, must have astonished all
cultures. The diamond seems to have been discovered for the first time in the Far East,
specifically in India: about 3000 years before our era. The kings of Anga must have
possessed some huge diamonds (it is said that the English troops took them during the
conquest of the Punjab).
The Egyptians were also conscious of diamonds: some
experts believe that trade routes to Ethiopia allowed them to transport diamonds not only
from there, but also from India. The precious mineral was not identified in the West until
very late: Theophrastus admits to having missed it, and Pliny is the only one who talks
about it in much details; despite the fact that he confuses it with sapphire and corundum
(white sapphire).
Set
Brazilian Alexandrite 2.44 cts
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Benjamin Poudevigne
Social Media Manager at
BespokeGems
With over ten years of marketing
experience, I finally decided to settle down in Bangkok to work in an area that I have
always been interested in: the gemstones industry. I'm still learning how the market works
on a daily basis, and I enjoy sharing my experience with those who are interested in
learning more about gems in general.