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The gem museum
Famous gems, up close
Updated
The finest natural gems on earth sit in a handful of museums: the Smithsonian in Washington, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Green Vault in Dresden, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Natural History Museum in London, the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, the Penn Museum, the Met and the British Museum. These are real photographs of them. They show what nature makes at the very top of the scale, and why a big, clean mined stone costs more than a house while the same mineral grown in a lab costs about as much as dinner.
By culture
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The Hope Diamond45.52 carats, a deep blue diamond from India, coloured by traces of boron.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, WashingtonHarry Winston gave it to the Smithsonian in 1958 and sent it by ordinary registered mail.Photo: Smithsonian Institution, Public domain.
Same cut and the same blue-by-boron chemistry, grown in a lab. No natural blue diamond is sold on Amazon: they are among the rarest gems on earth and sell at auction for millions.
The Dresden Green DiamondAbout 41 carats, the largest natural green diamond known, set in an 18th-century hat ornament.Green Vault (Grünes Gewölbe), DresdenIts green colour comes from natural radiation the diamond absorbed underground over millions of years.Photo: ubahnverleih, CC0.
The same pear shape in lab diamond (colourless). Natural green diamonds are rarer still and not sold on Amazon.
The Napoleon Diamond NecklaceA necklace of old-mine-cut diamonds Napoleon gave to Empress Marie-Louise in 1811.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryCut by hand two centuries ago, long before the modern brilliant was worked out.Photo: Cliff, CC BY 2.0.
A riviera of graduated diamonds, like the necklace Napoleon gave. For about twice the money, the lab necklace carries six times the diamond.
The Star of IndiaAbout 563 carats, one of the largest star sapphires known, from Sri Lanka.American Museum of Natural History, New YorkStolen in a famous 1964 heist and recovered from a Miami bus-station locker.Photo: Vicpeters, CC BY 4.0.
The same six-rayed star, from the same island as the Star of India, or grown in a lab.
The Logan SapphireAbout 423 carats of blue sapphire from Sri Lanka, ringed with diamonds.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryOne of the largest faceted blue sapphires on public display.Photo: Chip Clark (Smithsonian), Public domain.
The same cushion cut. The natural stone is one fiftieth the weight of the Logan and still costs as much as a car.
The Romanov SapphireA cushion-shaped blue sapphire of 197.80 carats from Sri Lanka, reported to show no sign of heat treatment.Private collection. Offered at Sotheby’s Geneva on 11 November 2026, set in a 2015 Cartier platinum and diamond bracelet.Russian Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, mother of Nicholas II, wore it on the front of her gown. After the Revolution the Soviets listed it among stones to sell, and in 1927 Cartier sold it to the opera singer Ganna Walska. Pictured: the Empress around 1910, as no free photo of the stone itself exists.Photo: W. & D. Downey (Royal Collection RCIN 421085), Public domain.
The same cushion cut in blue sapphire, lab-grown or natural.
The Star of AsiaAbout 330 carats, a star sapphire from Myanmar with a crisp six-rayed star.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryThe star is the same effect lab star sapphires copy, made here by natural silk.Photo: thisisbossi, CC BY-SA 2.0.
A star sapphire of your own, natural or lab-grown.
The Bismarck Sapphire NecklaceA blue sapphire of about 98.6 carats from Myanmar, set by Cartier with diamonds.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryDonated by Countess Mona von Bismarck in 1967.Photo: Cliff, CC BY 2.0.
The cushion cut of the Bismarck sapphire, natural or lab-grown.
The Carmen Lúcia RubyAbout 23.1 carats, one of the largest fine faceted rubies from Myanmar on public display.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryA clean Burmese ruby this size is far rarer than a diamond of the same weight.Photo: thisisbossi, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The lab oval is nearly the Carmen Lucia size. The biggest fine natural ruby we could find for sale is a Burmese stone like the Carmen Lucia, but under a quarter of its weight, and it costs about 575 times as much as the lab stone.
The Rosser Reeves Star RubyAbout 138.7 carats, a star ruby from Sri Lanka.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryIts owner, an advertising executive, carried it as a lucky charm before giving it to the museum.Photo: thisisbossi, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The same six-rayed star in red, natural or lab-grown.
The Chalk EmeraldAbout 37.8 carats of Colombian emerald, ringed with diamonds.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryOnce set in an emerald and diamond necklace belonging to a maharani of Baroda.Photo: Cliff, CC BY 2.0.
The same emerald cut in real lab-grown . Fine natural Colombian emerald of this size is sold by specialist dealers with lab reports, not on Amazon.
The Hooker EmeraldAbout 75.5 carats of Colombian emerald, set as a brooch by Tiffany.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistorySaid to have once decorated the belt buckle of an Ottoman sultan.Photo: Cliff, CC BY 2.0.
The square-cornered emerald cut in lab-grown beryl.
Emperor Jahangir’s emerald wine cupA wine cup of Colombian emerald weighing 408.5 carats, carved in Mughal India between 1605 and 1627 with a wheel-cut pattern of chevrons and stripes.Museum of Islamic Art, Doha (Qatar Museums JE.180.2003)It is three emeralds, not one: a bowl, a knopped stem and a domed foot, joined by a gold rod through the centre. The Mughal emperor Jahangir kept hundreds of wine cups carved from jade, spinel and emerald, and the stones came from Colombia through European traders.Photo: Sailko (Francesco Bini), CC BY-SA 4.0.
The same green beryl, grown in a lab. A natural Colombian emerald big enough to carve a cup from almost never reaches the open market.
The Mackay Emerald NecklaceA Colombian emerald of about 168 carats, set by Cartier in 1931.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryA wedding gift from the Mackay family; the largest cut emerald in the national collection.Photo: Andrew Bossi, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The largest lab emerald in this cut we found on Amazon; the Mackay is more than ten times bigger.
Tutankhamun's scarab pectoralGold, inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian and other coloured stones and glass, about 3,300 years old.Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza (formerly Egyptian Museum, Cairo; photographed on tour in 2019)The blue scarab body is lapis lazuli carried thousands of miles from Afghanistan to the Nile.Photo: Claude Valette, CC BY 2.0.
Lapis is not grown in labs. A natural of the same deep blue, with gold pyrite.
Queen Puabi’s headdressGold leaves and rings hung on strings of lapis lazuli and carnelian beads, from about 2500 BCE.Penn Museum, PhiladelphiaFound in her tomb in the Royal Cemetery of Ur, in southern Iraq, in the 1920s. The lapis came about 2,500 km from the mines of Afghanistan.Photo: Mary Harrsch, CC BY 2.0.
The same Afghan lapis, in beads, 4,500 years later.
The Ram in a ThicketA goat rearing against a golden tree, in gold leaf, shell and lapis lazuli, about 2500 BCE.Penn Museum, Philadelphia (its twin is in the British Museum)The horns and the fleece on its shoulders are lapis lazuli. The excavator named it after the ram caught in a thicket in the Book of Genesis.Photo: Mary Harrsch, CC BY 2.0.
The bull-headed lyre of UrA harp-like instrument with a gold bull head and a beard of lapis lazuli, about 2500 BCE.Penn Museum, PhiladelphiaOne of the oldest stringed instruments ever found, from the Royal Cemetery of Ur.Photo: Mary Harrsch, CC BY 2.0.
A single natural lapis cabochon, the same deep blue as the beard.
The Standard of UrA box covered in mosaic of shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli set in bitumen, about 2600 to 2400 BCE.British Museum, LondonScenes of war on one side and a feast on the other, against a lapis blue sky. Nobody knows what it was for.Photo: Agricolae, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A lapis lazuli cylinder sealA small carved lapis cylinder, rolled across wet clay to print a signature scene, about 2500 BCE.Penn Museum, PhiladelphiaSeals like this were how people of rank signed documents. Lapis was the prestige material.Photo: Mary Harrsch, CC BY 2.0.
The pectoral of Princess SithathoryunetGold inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise and garnet, from about 1880 BCE.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkMade for a daughter of the pharaoh Senusret II and found in her tomb at Lahun in 1914. Each tiny stone was cut to fit its gold cell.Photo: Ismoon, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The princess wore drop beads of lapis, carnelian, turquoise and amethyst between gold. All but turquoise come as honest natural beads; cheap turquoise beads are almost always dyed howlite, so skip them or use a real turquoise piece.
An Egyptian lapis lazuli heart amuletA heart-shaped amulet carved from lapis lazuli.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkEgyptians believed the heart held a person, so heart amulets went with the dead to protect it.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
The Empress of UruguayAbout 3.3 metres tall and 2.5 tonnes, often called the largest amethyst geode on show anywhere.The Crystal Caves, Atherton, AustraliaA single gas bubble in an ancient lava flow in Uruguay, lined with amethyst, then cut open and shipped across the world.Photo: Curiousparrot532, CC0.
A geode from the same lava fields, small enough for a shelf.
An amethyst scarab on amethyst beadsAn amethyst scarab strung with amethyst ball beads, Egyptian Middle Kingdom, about 2000 to 1700 BCE.Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, LondonMiddle Kingdom Egypt mined amethyst in the desert at Wadi el-Hudi, and for a few centuries it was the fashionable stone.Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), CC BY-SA 4.0.
The biggest cut amethyst we could verify on Amazon.
An amethyst and gold pendantA carved amethyst head on a gold mount, about 700 BCE, Egypt, Dynasty 25.Cleveland Museum of ArtFrom the era when kings from Kush, in present-day Sudan, ruled Egypt.Photo: Daderot, CC0.
A Roman amethyst intaglioA portrait of a man carved into amethyst, Roman.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkAn intaglio is cut in reverse into the stone, so pressed into wax it prints the portrait. The Greek name amethystos means not drunk: the stone was thought to protect against drunkenness.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Natural amethyst, cut for sparkle instead of carving.
Emperor Constantius II in amethystAn amethyst intaglio portrait of the Roman emperor in a jewelled headband, about 360 CE, set in gold.British Museum, LondonImperial portraits in purple stone: purple was the colour of emperors.Photo: Vassil, CC0.
The Dom Pedro AquamarineAbout 10,363 carats, the largest cut aquamarine in the world, carved into an obelisk about 35 cm tall.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryAquamarine is beryl, the same mineral as emerald, blue from iron. The crystal was found in Brazil in the 1980s and carved by the German artist Bernd Munsteiner.Photo: 颐园居, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A lab-grown emerald: beryl, the same mineral family as the stones here.
The Gachala EmeraldAn uncut crystal of 858 carats from the Vega de San Juan mine at Gachala, Colombia, found in 1967.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryOne of the largest gem emerald crystals known, given to the Smithsonian by the jeweller Harry Winston.Photo: thisisbossi, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Real lab-grown emerald, the same green beryl, at the biggest size we could find.
The Hall Sapphire Necklace36 Sri Lankan sapphires, about 195 carats in all, set with 435 diamonds by Harry Winston.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryEvery sapphire was matched for the same cornflower blue, which is far harder than finding one big stone.Photo: Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution, Public domain.
A whole necklace of lab sapphires, the Hall look for a fraction; or one fine mined stone with a report.
The DeLong Star RubyAbout 100 carats, a Burmese star ruby with a sharp six-rayed star.American Museum of Natural History, New YorkTaken in the same 1964 museum burglary as the Star of India, and bought back for a ransom months later.Photo: Vicpeters, CC BY 4.0.
The Patricia EmeraldAn uncut, twelve-sided crystal of about 632 carats from the Chivor mine, Colombia, found in 1920.American Museum of Natural History, New York (shown here with other emeralds in its case)Left uncut because the whole crystal is worth more than any stone that could be cut from it. Named after the mine owner’s daughter.Photo: Vicpeters, CC BY 4.0.
The Devonshire EmeraldAn uncut crystal of about 1,384 carats from the Muzo mine, Colombia.Natural History Museum, LondonGiven to the 6th Duke of Devonshire by Emperor Pedro I of Brazil in 1831, and one of the largest uncut emeralds known.Photo: Thomas Quine, CC BY 2.0.
A lab emerald big enough to see the colour properly.
The Spanish Inquisition NecklaceColombian emeralds and old Indian-cut diamonds on a long necklace.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryDespite the dramatic name, no link to the Inquisition has ever been shown. The emeralds travelled from Colombia to India, where they were cut.Photo: dbking, CC BY 2.0.
Emerald and white stones on a necklace, lab-grown.
The Topkapi DaggerAn Ottoman dagger of 1746 with three large emeralds on the hilt and a small watch hidden in the end.Topkapi Palace Museum, IstanbulMade as a gift for Nader Shah of Persia, who was killed before it arrived. It became world famous from the 1964 heist film Topkapi.Photo: Joseolgon, CC BY 4.0.
Smooth domed emerald, the way the dagger’s stones are cut.
A carved Mughal emeraldA large Colombian emerald carved with flowers in India in the 17th century, later set in a European mount.Museum of Islamic Art, DohaSpanish ships carried Colombian emeralds around the world; the Mughal emperors of India prized them and had them carved.Photo: Francesco Bini, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Star of BombayAbout 182 carats, a violet-blue star sapphire from Sri Lanka.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryA gift from Douglas Fairbanks to the film star Mary Pickford, who left it to the Smithsonian.Photo: Smithsonian Institution, Public domain.
A star sapphire of your own, lab-grown or mined in Sri Lanka.
The Crown of the AndesA gold crown set with hundreds of Colombian emeralds, made in Popayan, Colombia, from about 1660, with arches added about 1770.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkMade for a statue of the Virgin Mary, it is one of the finest pieces of colonial Latin American goldwork known.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
The jade death mask of Pakal the GreatA mosaic of jadeite pieces with shell and obsidian eyes, made for Kinich Janaab Pakal, king of the Maya city of Palenque, who died in 683.National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico CityFound in 1952 on his face inside a sealed tomb deep under the Temple of the Inscriptions. To the Maya, green jade was the colour of maize, water and life itself.Photo: Gary Todd, CC0.
An Olmec jadeite maskJadeite, about the 10th to 6th century BCE, from the Gulf Coast of Mexico.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe Olmec carved jade more than a thousand years before the Maya, grinding it with sand and cord because no metal tool would cut it.Photo: Wikipedia Loves Art participant, CC BY-SA 2.5.
A Maya jade pendant of a seated lordJadeite carved with a seated ruler, Maya, Late Classic period.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkMaya nobles wore jade at the ears, neck, wrists and teeth. A bead of jade was placed in the mouth of the dead.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Own a natural piece
Guatemalan jadeite, set in silver.
A Liangzhu jade congA square tube with a round hole, carved from nephrite about 5,000 years ago.Shanghai MuseumNobody knows exactly what the cong was for, but the Liangzhu people of eastern China buried their elite with them, worked without any metal tools.Photo: Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D., CC0.
A solid nephrite bangle, cut from one block like a cong.
A Liangzhu jade bi discA flat nephrite disc with a hole in the centre, Neolithic China.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe bi became one of the oldest symbols in China, later linked with heaven. Donut-shaped jade pendants today descend from it.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
The jade burial suit of Prince Liu ShengAbout 2,500 small jade plates sewn together with gold wire, for a Han dynasty prince who died in 113 BCE.Hebei Museum, ShijiazhuangThe Han believed jade would keep the body from decay. It did not work: when the tomb was opened in 1968, only the suit was left.Photo: Gary Todd, CC0.
The Jadeite CabbageA piece of half-white, half-green jadeite carved as a bok choy with two insects hiding in the leaves, Qing dynasty.National Palace Museum, TaipeiJadeite only reached China from Burma in the 18th century; the carver used the natural colour split for the white stalk and green leaves. It is one of the most loved objects in the museum.Photo: National Palace Museum, Taipei, OGDL-Taiwan-1.0.
A knotted dragon pendantA dragon tied in a knot, carved in jade, ancient China.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkNephrite is so tough that carvers could cut thin, curling forms like this without them snapping.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
The wine cup of Shah JahanWhite nephrite carved as a gourd with an ibex-head handle, made in 1657 for the Mughal emperor who built the Taj Mahal.Victoria and Albert Museum, LondonCarved so thin that light passes through it. Its maker is unknown; its owner is not.Photo: Colindla, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A Maori hei-tiki in pounamuA hei-tiki, a human figure pendant, carved from New Zealand nephrite.Auckland War Memorial MuseumHei-tiki were treasured heirlooms, worn and passed down for generations. Under New Zealand law, the pounamu of the South Island belongs to the Ngai Tahu people.Photo: Szilas, Public domain.
A Neolithic jadeite axeheadA polished jadeite axe found in Cornwall, England, made about 6,000 years ago.Royal Institution of CornwallAxes like this were quarried high in the Italian Alps and carried across Europe. They were polished for months and almost never used: they were treasures, not tools.Photo: Royal Institution of Cornwall (Portable Antiquities Scheme), CC BY-SA 2.0.
The Koh-i-Noor (a replica)Today about 105.6 carats, recut in 1852 from a larger, older Indian cut. The real stone is in the British Crown Jewels.Replica: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, MumbaiMughal emperors, a Persian shah, Afghan rulers and a Sikh maharaja all owned it before it went to Britain in 1849. India and others still ask for it back.Photo: aiva., CC BY 2.0.
The Cullinan Diamond (a replica of the rough)About 3,106 carats, the largest gem-quality diamond ever found, from the Premier Mine, South Africa, in 1905.Replica: Denver Museum of Nature and ScienceIt was cut into nine major stones; the largest, Cullinan I of about 530 carats, sits in the British royal sceptre.Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0.
A real lab diamond crystal, as it comes out of the press.
The Oppenheimer DiamondAn uncut yellow diamond crystal of about 253.7 carats from South Africa.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryLeft uncut so visitors can see what a diamond looks like as it grows: an octahedron with rounded edges.Photo: Alkivar, Public domain.
Yellow from nitrogen, the same reason as the Oppenheimer.
The double-headed serpentCarved cedar covered in a mosaic of turquoise, with red shell mouths and white shell teeth, Aztec or Mixtec, 15th to 16th century.British Museum, LondonProbably worn on the chest in ceremonies. Turquoise was so precious to the Aztecs that conquered towns paid tribute in it.Photo: BabelStone, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Own a natural piece
Real Arizona turquoise, a long way from Aztec Mexico but the same mineral.
The mask of TezcatlipocaA human skull covered in bands of turquoise and black lignite mosaic, with eyes of pyrite and shell, Aztec or Mixtec, 15th to 16th century.British Museum, LondonTezcatlipoca, the smoking mirror, was a god of night and fate. The mask is one of the treasures of Mexican art outside Mexico.Photo: Andres Rueda, CC BY 2.0.
Own a natural piece
Genuine turquoise inlay, made the same way: small pieces set side by side.
A turquoise mosaic shieldA ceremonial shield covered in turquoise mosaic, Aztec or Mixtec, 15th to 16th century.British Museum, LondonMade for display, not battle: thousands of tiny turquoise tiles fitted by hand.Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A Roman carnelian seal of AnubisA carnelian intaglio carved with the Egyptian jackal god Anubis, Roman period.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkCarnelian was a favourite Roman seal stone: hard enough to hold a fine engraving, pressed into wax or clay to sign a letter.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Carnelian set in a ring, the way a Roman would wear a seal.
An Egyptian carnelian snake-head amuletA snake head carved in carnelian, ancient Egypt.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkSnake-head amulets were thought to protect the wearer, living or dead, from snakebite. Red carnelian was linked with blood and life.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Precious opal in its rockOpal with play of colour still in its host rock, from the Andamooka opal fields of South Australia.Photographed in a museum collectionOpal formed when silica-rich water seeped into cracks and slowly dried into stacks of tiny spheres. Their spacing splits light into colours.Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0.
A Lightning Ridge black opalA polished black opal from Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, the only major source of black opal.Cleveland Museum of Natural HistoryThe dark body makes the colours blaze; fine black opal is among the most valuable gems per carat.Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0.
The meteorite that gave us moissaniteA piece of the Canyon Diablo iron meteorite, which made Meteor Crater in Arizona.UCLA Meteorite Gallery, Los AngelesIn 1893 Henri Moissan found tiny glittering crystals in this meteorite; he first took them for diamond, and in 1904 identified them as . They were named moissanite after him. Natural moissanite is so rare that every moissanite gem is grown in a lab.Photo: Vahe Martirosyan, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Moissanite grown in a lab, the same silicon carbide.
The Regent DiamondAbout 140.6 carats, a cushion-cut diamond found in India around 1698.Louvre, Apollo Gallery, ParisNapoleon had it set in the hilt of his sword. It is thought to be one of the most perfectly cut old diamonds there is.Photo: Tangopaso, Public domain.
A big cushion-shaped stone of your own, in lab diamond.
The Sancy DiamondAbout 55 carats, a pale yellow pear-shaped diamond, probably from India.Louvre, Apollo Gallery, ParisIt passed through French and English royal hands for centuries and is one of the first big diamonds cut with symmetrical facets.Photo: Tangopaso, Public domain.
The Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman EmpireAn eight-sided gold crown set with sapphires, emeralds, amethysts and pearls, probably made in the late 10th century.Imperial Treasury (Kaiserliche Schatzkammer), Hofburg, ViennaGerman kings were crowned with it for centuries. The stones are cut as smooth domes, not facets: faceting came later.Photo: Bede735c, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A lab sapphire of the same blue, set and ready to wear or keep loose.
The Crown of Princess BlancheA gold crown set with sapphires, rubies, emeralds, diamonds and pearls, made around 1370 to 1380.Treasury of the Munich ResidenceIt is the oldest surviving crown from England. It left with Princess Blanche when she married into a German royal family in 1402.Photo: Allie Caulfield, CC BY 2.0.
The Sutton Hoo shoulder claspsGold shoulder clasps inlaid with hundreds of cut garnets and coloured glass, early 7th century.British Museum, LondonThey came from the ship burial at Sutton Hoo, likely of an Anglo-Saxon king. Each garnet was cut by hand to fit its gold cell, with gold foil behind it to make it sparkle.Photo: Aiwok, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
A garnet sword fitting from the Staffordshire HoardA gold fitting from a sword, with animals made of thin slices of garnet set in gold cells, 7th century.Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum, StokeA man with a metal detector found the hoard in a farm field in 2009. It is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found.Photo: Jon Callas from San Jose, USA, CC BY 2.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
The Great Cameo of FranceA five-layer sardonyx cameo about 31 cm tall, Roman, carved in the first half of the 1st century AD.Cabinet des Médailles, National Library of France, ParisIt is the largest cameo to survive from antiquity. The carver used each coloured layer of the stone for a different part of the scene.Photo: Jastrow, edited by Janmad, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Sard, the dark layer of this cameo, is a close cousin of carnelian. Real carnelian cabochons cost a few dollars.
The stone flowers of the Taj MahalWhite marble inlaid with cut stones such as jasper, jade, lapis and carnelian, a technique called pietra dura, 17th century.Taj Mahal, Agra, IndiaShah Jahan built it for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. The stones were brought from across Asia, and each petal is a separate piece cut to fit.Photo: Rajesnewdelhi, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Lapis is one of the stones in the Taj flowers. A polished lapis sphere shows off the same deep blue.
An Aztec turquoise mosaic discA round disc covered in small pieces of turquoise mosaic, Mexica (Aztec).Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico CityIt was found at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. Turquoise was so prized that the Aztecs collected it as tribute from distant towns.Photo: GiveMeMollusks, CC0.
Own a natural piece
Real turquoise inlay, done the same way: many small pieces fitted side by side.
A Roman emerald necklaceNatural emerald crystals strung between gold links, Roman Empire, 2nd or 3rd century AD.British Museum, LondonRomans did not facet emeralds. They drilled the natural six-sided crystals end to end and strung them like beads.Photo: Vassil, CC0.
Smooth lab emerald cabochons in the same green, a few dollars each.
Another Roman emerald necklaceNatural emerald crystals and gold, Roman.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkMost of the emeralds the Romans wore came from mines in the Egyptian desert, worked since the time of the pharaohs.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
A big lab emerald in the same green, about the size of the biggest Roman beads.
A Mughal dagger with a ram’s headA jewelled dagger whose hilt ends in a ram’s head, with a matching case, Mughal India.National Museum, New DelhiMughal workshops were famous for carved jade dagger hilts in the shape of animal heads, often set with rubies and emeralds.Photo: Saad Akhtar, CC BY 2.0.
A carved nephrite jade dragon, the same stone carvers loved for hilts.
The Marie Louise DiademA diadem of more than 1,000 old-cut diamonds set with Persian turquoise. Napoleon gave it to Empress Marie-Louise in 1810, set with emeralds.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, WashingtonIn the 1950s a jeweller took the emeralds out and sold them one by one, and put turquoise in their place.Photo: Cliff from Arlington, Virginia, USA, CC BY 2.0.
Own both sides of its story: a big lab emerald like the stones it began with, and real turquoise like the stones it wears now.
The Crown of Saint Wenceslas (replicas)The Bohemian royal crown, made in 1347 for Charles IV, gold set with sapphires, spinels, emeralds and pearls.Original: St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague (shown only on rare occasions). Replicas shown here.Its big red stones were long called rubies. Many are spinels, a different gem that was not told apart from ruby until modern times.Photo: Przemek Pietrak, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The votive crown of King RecceswinthA gold crown set with sapphires and pearls, with hanging gold letters spelling the king’s name, Visigothic Spain, 7th century.National Archaeological Museum, MadridIt was found with other crowns in 1858 near Toledo, in the Treasure of Guarrazar. Crowns like this were made to hang over an altar as a gift, not to wear.Photo: Ángel M. Felicísimo from Mérida, España, CC BY 2.0.
A lab sapphire of the same blue as the crown’s big stones.
The Holy Crown of Hungary (a reconstruction)A gold crown with enamel pictures, set with garnets, sapphires and pearls, made in the 11th to 12th century.Original: Hungarian Parliament Building, Budapest. This is a modern working reconstruction.It is the crown with the famous bent cross on top. Hungarian kings were crowned with it for centuries.Photo: Barabássy Miklós, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Blue sapphire: a lab-grown stone of the same mineral, or a natural one.
A Hunnic diadem with garnetsA diadem of silver and bronze set with cut garnets, late 4th to 5th century.State Hermitage Museum, St. PetersburgThe Huns and their neighbours loved red garnets set in metal cells. The style spread across Europe and reached the Anglo-Saxons at Sutton Hoo.Photo: Netelo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
A Bohemian garnet broochA brooch of ears of wheat and leaves covered in small Bohemian garnets, 1840 to 1860.National Museum, PragueBohemian garnets are a deep red pyrope from the north of today’s Czech Republic. In the 1800s all of Europe wore jewellery packed with them.Photo: Zde, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
The Cross of LothairA gold processional cross set with gems and pearls, made around 1000 AD, with an ancient Roman cameo of the emperor Augustus at its centre.Aachen Cathedral Treasury, GermanyThe makers reused a Roman sardonyx cameo that was already a thousand years old, and put it where the arms of the cross meet.Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Chalcedony, the family of onyx, agate and carnelian, in a carved signet ring.
A Sasanian chalcedony sealA stamp seal of milky chalcedony carved with a seated woman and a child, Persia, Sasanian period (224 to 651).Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, LeidenChalcedony is the same stone family as carnelian, agate and onyx. Pressed into clay or wax, a seal like this worked as a signature.Photo: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, CC0.
Chalcedony, the family of onyx, agate and carnelian, in a carved signet ring.
An Egyptian broad collarA wide collar of many rows of blue-green faience beads, ancient Egypt.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkFaience is a glazed ceramic made from crushed quartz. Egyptians used it as a cheaper stand-in for turquoise and lapis.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Real turquoise, the stone that faience was made to look like.
The crown of Queen TheodelindaA gold band set with rows of gems and mother-of-pearl, linked to Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards, around 600 AD.Treasury of Monza Cathedral, ItalyTheodelinda gave her treasures to the church she founded at Monza. The same treasury holds the Iron Crown of Lombardy.Photo: Carlo Dell'Orto, CC BY-SA 4.0.The crown of Constance of AragonA gold cap crown set with gems and pearls, with hanging strings of jewels, early 13th century.Treasury of Palermo Cathedral, SicilyIt was found in the tomb of Queen Constance, wife of the emperor Frederick II.Photo: José Luiz, CC BY-SA 4.0.The Malia bee pendantA gold pendant of two bees around a drop of honey, Minoan Crete, about 1800 to 1700 BC.Heraklion Archaeological Museum, CreteIt is made with granulation: tiny gold balls fused onto gold, a skill the Minoans mastered nearly 4,000 years ago.Photo: Cayambe, CC BY-SA 4.0.The Tara Brooch (back)An Irish brooch of gilt silver with gold filigree, amber and glass, around 700 AD.National Museum of Ireland, DublinIt was found on a beach in 1850. Even the back, shown here, is covered in fine work the wearer would never see.Photo: Ceoil, CC BY-SA 4.0.Tutankhamun’s scarab necklaceA gold pectoral and necklace of scarabs, inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise and feldspar.Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza (formerly Egyptian Museum, Cairo; photographed on tour in 2019)The lapis in Tutankhamun’s treasures was carried thousands of kilometres from the mountains of Afghanistan.Photo: Claude Valette, CC BY 2.0.
Real Afghan lapis beads, the same blue the pharaoh wore.
A hawk-headed scarab in lapisA scarab beetle with a falcon’s head, carved from one piece of lapis lazuli, ancient Egypt.Museo Egizio, TurinThe scarab rolled the sun across the sky; the falcon was Horus. One small carving joins two gods.Photo: Marco Chemello (WMIT), CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The god Ptah, in lapisA small cult statue of Ptah, the creator god of Memphis, carved from lapis lazuli.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkEgyptians said the gods had hair of lapis lazuli. A statue of a god carved from the stone itself was the finest thing a temple could hold.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The face of HathorA face of the cow-eared goddess Hathor in lapis lazuli with gold and alabaster, only 1.2 cm tall, about 1100 to 664 BC.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkHathor was the goddess of love, music and joy. Her worshippers called her the Lady of Turquoise, but her face here is the colour of lapis.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The Eye of Horus, in lapisA wedjat-eye amulet carved from lapis lazuli, ancient Egypt.Museo Egizio, TurinIn the myth, Seth tore out Horus’s eye and it was healed. The wedjat became the most popular protective amulet in Egypt.Photo: Marco Chemello (WMIT), CC0.
A natural lapis cabochon, flecked with the same gold pyrite.
A necklace from the royal cemetery of UrGold, lapis lazuli and carnelian beads, about 2550 to 2450 BC.Penn Museum, PhiladelphiaBlue from Afghanistan, red from the Indus valley, gold from Anatolia or Iran: one necklace shows the trade routes of the Bronze Age.Photo: Mary Harrsch, CC BY 2.0.
Lapis beads with pyrite, the same stone as the Ur necklaces.
A spouted bowl carved from lapisA small bowl with a pouring spout, carved from a single block of lapis lazuli, royal cemetery of Ur.Penn Museum, PhiladelphiaCarving a whole vessel from lapis, rather than inlaying it, used a huge amount of a stone that had crossed half of Asia.Photo: Mary Harrsch from Springfield, Oregon, USA, CC BY 2.0.
A polished lapis sphere, carved from one block like the bowl.
A lapis seal: a king and the sun godA lapis lazuli cylinder seal showing a king pouring an offering before the sun god Shamash, from a tomb at Ur, about 1900 BC. It belonged to a man named Bur-Dagan.British Museum, LondonRolled across wet clay, a cylinder seal printed its scene again and again. Lapis seals belonged to the powerful.Photo: Zunkir, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Bronze Age lapis bowlA fluted bowl carved from lapis lazuli, Bactria or Iran, about 2000 BC.Louvre, ParisIran sat on the road from the Afghan mines to Mesopotamia, and its workshops took a share of the stone as it passed.Photo: SiefkinDR, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Roman lapis intaglio of SerapisAn oval of lapis lazuli engraved with the god Serapis on his throne, Roman.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkRomans wore engraved gems in rings as seals and charms. Lapis was a favourite for gods, its gold flecks read as stars.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
A lapis cabochon of the kind Roman gem cutters engraved.
A Mughal hookah base of jade, lapis and rubiesA jade huqqa (hookah) base inlaid with lapis lazuli and rubies set in gold, Mughal India, about 1700, later mounted in Paris in 1798.British Museum, LondonMughal workshops set gold, lapis and rubies flush into pale jade. A French jeweller later gave it a gilt stand, so it is half India and half Paris.Photo: Daderot, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Chinese lapis snuff bottleA carved snuff bottle of lapis lazuli with a jadeite stopper, China, late 18th to early 19th century.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkSnuff bottles were the pocket treasures of Qing-dynasty China, and collectors prized ones carved from hard, expensive stones.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Medici serving dish in lapisA three-lobed dish carved from lapis lazuli and mounted in gold, from the treasury of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.Museo degli Argenti, Pitti Palace, FlorenceThe Medici collected hardstone vessels like modern billionaires collect paintings. Lapis, from the end of the known world, sat at the top.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Louis XIV’s lapis shipA nef (ship-shaped vessel) carved from lapis lazuli with silver-gilt and enamelled gold mounts, 1670.Louvre, Apollo Gallery, ParisIt belonged to the Sun King himself. A nef was a royal table ornament, and a lapis one showed that the king could buy the rarest blue on earth.Photo: Tangopaso, Public domain.
A polished lapis sphere: the same stone, without the king’s price.
A lapis vase in the Winter PalaceA tall vase faced with lapis lazuli and mounted in gilt bronze.St George Hall, Winter Palace (State Hermitage), St PetersburgRussian craftsmen covered vases and tables with thin slices of lapis fitted together so tightly the joins vanish, a technique called Russian mosaic.Photo: Andrey Korzun, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The lapis columns of St Isaac’sColumns faced with lapis lazuli and malachite around the iconostasis of St Isaac’s Cathedral, finished in 1858.St Isaac’s Cathedral, St PetersburgTwo of the columns are faced with lapis lazuli and eight with green malachite, in thin veneers fitted like a mosaic over a solid core.Photo: GraceKelly, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A shrine of crystal, gold and lapisA shrine presented to Pope Pius XI by the city of Milan in 1929, of crystal, gold plate, lapis lazuli, pearls, jade and precious stones.Vatican MuseumsEven in the twentieth century, a gift fit for a pope was still built in lapis.Photo: Daderot, Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Girl with a Pearl Earring: a turban of lapisJohannes Vermeer, about 1665. The blue of the turban is natural ultramarine, a pigment ground from lapis lazuli.Mauritshuis, The HagueUltramarine means from beyond the sea. It was at times priced like gold, the costliest blue a painter could buy, and Vermeer used it lavishly.Photo: Mauritshuis (public domain reproduction), Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The Wilton Diptych: angels in lapis blueA painted altarpiece made for Richard II of England, about 1395 to 1399, its angels robed in ultramarine from lapis.National Gallery, LondonPatrons of the time often wrote into contracts how much ultramarine a painter had to use, because they knew exactly what it cost.Photo: National Gallery (public domain reproduction), Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne: a lapis skyTitian, 1520 to 1523. The deep blue sky and Ariadne’s robe are natural ultramarine, ground from lapis lazuli.National Gallery, LondonTo make the pigment, painters ground lapis, kneaded it in wax and oil, and washed out the blue. The best first wash was worth a fortune.Photo: National Gallery (public domain reproduction), Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Lady with a Lapis Lazuli BowlA portrait of a woman holding a bowl carved from lapis lazuli, attributed to Guido Reni, 17th century.Birmingham Museums Trust, UKA lapis bowl in a portrait was a quiet boast: the sitter could afford the bluest thing in the world, twice over in the paint.Photo: Birmingham Museums Trust, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The Imperial State Crown and the Black Prince’s RubyThe British crown made in 1937 and altered in 1953. At the front sits the Black Prince’s Ruby, a red spinel of about 170 carats, above the Cullinan II diamond.Jewel House, Tower of LondonThe stone has been called a ruby for over 600 years. According to tradition it was given to Edward the Black Prince in 1367. Only in modern times was it identified as spinel.Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
Spinel to own: a cut lab stone, or small natural rough.
The spinel on Catherine the Great’s crownA red spinel of about 398 carats, set on top of the Great Imperial Crown made for Catherine the Great’s coronation in 1762. Drawing from the 1925 Fersman catalogue.Diamond Fund, Moscow KremlinEvery Russian emperor after Catherine was crowned under this spinel. It came to Russia from China in the 1600s.Photo: Fersman catalogue, 1925, Public domain.
Own a natural piece
Small natural spinel rough: the same mineral as the crown stone, at the other end of the price scale.
The Timur Ruby (a spinel)A spinel of about 352 carats, engraved with the names of earlier owners, here worn by Maharaja Sher Singh of the Sikh Empire in a painting by August Schoefft.Royal Collection, United Kingdom (since the 1800s)It passed between Persian, Mughal, Afghan and Sikh rulers, several of whom had their names cut into it. Like the Black Prince’s Ruby, it was a spinel all along.Photo: August Schoefft (painting), Public domain.
Own a natural piece
Small natural spinel rough: the same mineral as the crown stone, at the other end of the price scale.
The Maharani Cat’s EyeA chrysoberyl cat’s eye of 58.2 carats from Sri Lanka: the same mineral as alexandrite, with a silky band of light across it.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, WashingtonChrysoberyl has two famous forms: alexandrite, which changes colour, and cat’s eye, whose fine needles make a sliding line of light.Photo: thisisbossi from Washington, DC, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Lab alexandrite: the same colour-changing mineral, grown in a lab.
An amethyst scarab necklaceAn uninscribed amethyst scarab at the centre of a string of amethyst ball beads, Middle Kingdom Egypt (about 2000 to 1700 BC).Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, LondonEgypt’s Middle Kingdom loved amethyst: it was mined in the desert at Wadi el-Hudi, far to the south.Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), CC BY-SA 4.0.
A Roman amethyst cameo of a womanA head of a woman carved in relief from amethyst, Roman, about the 1st century AD.Cleveland Museum of ArtCameo carvers used the stone’s own colour bands: the lighter purple of the face stands out from the darker ground.Photo: Madreiling, CC0.
Natural amethyst, the purple quartz in this piece.
A bishop’s amethyst ringA pastoral ring of gilt bronze set with a large amethyst, 15th century.Musée de Cluny, ParisAmethyst became the stone of bishops in medieval Europe. Its name comes from the Greek for "not drunk", and it stood for sobriety.Photo: Jastrow, Public domain.
Natural amethyst, the purple quartz in this piece.
Lalique’s cockerel diademA diadem of gold, enamel, horn and amethyst made by René Lalique in 1897 to 1898.Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, LisbonLalique made jewellery look like nature caught in motion. Here a cockerel’s head holds a large amethyst in its beak.Photo: Antonio, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Natural amethyst, the purple quartz in this piece.
An amethyst ball pendantA pendant set with a polished ball of amethyst in a gold mount.Smithsonian American Art Museum, WashingtonA polished sphere shows amethyst’s colour zoning: the purple often deepens toward one side of the crystal.Photo: Sonoet2, CC0.
Natural amethyst, the purple quartz in this piece.
A revival bracelet with an amethyst bossA gold bracelet in an ancient revival style, centred on a large amethyst, France, about 1865.Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New YorkIn the 1860s, new finds from Etruscan and Roman tombs set off a fashion for jewellery in the ancient style.Photo: Fæ, Public domain.
Natural amethyst, the purple quartz in this piece.
A giant amethyst geodeA geode from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, taller than a person, lined with amethyst and a few calcite crystals.Natural History Museum, Schleusingen, GermanyIt formed inside a gas bubble in an ancient lava flow. Water seeped in over a very long time and left the crystals behind.Photo: FerdiBf at de.wikipedia, Public domain.
A small piece of an amethyst geode from Uruguay, to hold the same thing in your hand.
The Qianlong Emperor’s jade bookA poem in the emperor’s calligraphy, engraved and gilded on ten leaves of nephrite jade, China, dated 1745.Museum collection (Commons photograph)The Qianlong Emperor was obsessed with jade and wrote hundreds of poems about it. Here one of his poems is itself made of jade.Photo: Wikimedia Commons (public domain), Public domain.
A Han jade bi discA flat jade disc with a hole in the centre, carved with rows of raised spirals, Western Han dynasty (206 BC to AD 9).Henan Provincial Museum, ZhengzhouThe bi is one of the oldest Chinese jade shapes. It was placed with the dead and may stand for heaven.Photo: Gary Todd, CC0.
A jade pendant to own; the bi shape is still carved today.
A Qing jade sealA jade seal carved with a beast on top, Qing dynasty.Shanxi Provincial Museum, TaiyuanIn China a seal was a signature. The emperor’s own seals were carved from jade, and the imperial seal itself was called a jade seal.Photo: Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D., CC0.
A Han jade pig with gold foilA small jade pig wrapped in gold foil, placed in the hand of the dead, Han dynasty.National Palace Museum, TaipeiThe dead held jade pigs, symbols of wealth, so they would not leave the world empty-handed.Photo: Gary Todd, CC0.
A Shang jade deerA flat jade deer with tall antlers, Shang dynasty (about 1600 to 1046 BC).Museum collection (Commons photograph)More than three thousand years old: Shang carvers cut jade with abrasive sand, since jade is too hard to carve with metal.Photo: User:Mountain, CC BY-SA 3.0.
An Olmec jadeite figureA standing figure carved from blue-green jadeite, Olmec culture, Mexico, about 900 to 400 BC.Kimbell Art Museum, Fort WorthThe Olmec were the first great jade carvers of the Americas, a thousand years before the Maya.Photo: User:FA2010, Public domain.
A Maya jade plaque of a kingA jade plaque carved with a seated Maya king, Classic period, found far from home at Teotihuacan.British Museum, LondonFound in central Mexico, hundreds of kilometres from the Maya world: jade like this was traded and given as a royal gift.Photo: Ooligan, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A Maori mere of pounamuA short club of New Zealand greenstone (nephrite jade), a weapon and a treasure handed down through generations.Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand, WellingtonA mere was shaped by months of grinding with sandstone. The finest had names and histories of their own.Photo: Rudolph89, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Shah Jahan’s jade thumb ringAn archer’s thumb ring of white nephrite jade inscribed in gold, Mughal, dated 1632.Victoria and Albert Museum, LondonMade for the emperor who built the Taj Mahal. Archers wore thumb rings to draw a bowstring; by this time they had also become royal jewellery.Photo: SpeakingArch, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A necklace from UrukA necklace of carnelian and lapis lazuli beads from the late Uruk period, Mesopotamia, before 3000 BC.Louvre, ParisUruk was one of the first cities on earth. Even then its people traded across thousands of kilometres for blue lapis and red carnelian.Photo: Francesco Bini, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A Chinese lapis mountain carvingA carved block of lapis lazuli showing a landscape, China.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkChinese carvers made small mountains from jade and lapis, with paths, trees and figures, for scholars to contemplate on their desks.Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Russian lapis bowl on tripod feetA bowl of lapis lazuli on gilded bronze legs, St Petersburg, early 19th century.Walters Art Museum, BaltimoreRussian workshops in St Petersburg were famous for lapis and malachite work, using stone from Siberia and Afghanistan.Photo: File Upload Bot (Kaldari), Public domain.
A polished lapis sphere: the same blue in one solid piece.
An emerald pendant from JaipurA pendant of gold, emeralds, diamonds, enamel and a pearl, made in Jaipur, Rajasthan, in the 1700s.Cleveland Museum of ArtMost emeralds in Mughal and Rajput jewellery came from Colombia, carried by Spanish and Portuguese traders across the world.Photo: Tim Evanson from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The Indian Emerald Necklace by CartierAn Art Deco necklace in platinum with 24 graduated emerald drops and hundreds of small diamonds, made by Cartier in 1928 to 1929.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, WashingtonThe emeralds are Colombian, cut and set in an Indian style. Cartier’s Indian-inspired pieces were the height of fashion in the 1920s.Photo: thisisbossi from Washington, DC, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0.
A spinet set with 1,928 gemsA small keyboard instrument of boxwood, ebony and ivory set with 1,928 precious and semi-precious stones, signed by Annibale dei Rossi, Milan, 1577.Victoria and Albert Museum, LondonA musical instrument covered in gems: a Milanese writer described it in a book of 1595.Photo: art_traveller, CC BY-SA 2.0 uk.The Cap of MonomakhA cap of gold filigree trimmed with sable fur and set with gems and pearls, used to crown Russian rulers.Kremlin Armoury, MoscowLegend said it came from the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomachos. It is probably Central Asian work of around 1300.Photo: Ramón from Llanera, España, CC BY-SA 2.0.St Edward’s CrownThe crown used at the moment of coronation in Britain, made in 1661 of solid gold and set with sapphires, rubies, amethysts, garnets and other gems.Jewel House, Tower of LondonIt replaced a medieval crown melted down after the English Civil War. It weighs over 2 kg and is worn only for a few minutes, at the crowning itself.Photo: Firebrace, Public domain.
Blue sapphire: a lab-grown stone of the same mineral, or a natural one.
The Daria-i-NoorThe Sea of Light, a pale pink diamond of about 182 carats, one of the largest pink diamonds known.Iranian National Jewels, Central Bank of Iran, TehranIt came from the same Indian mines as the Koh-i-Noor and was taken to Persia by Nader Shah in 1739.Photo: Alborzagros, Public domain.
Diamond: a lab-grown stone, or a natural one with a GIA report.
The Iranian imperial beltA coronation belt with a huge emerald at its buckle, from the Iranian crown jewels.Iranian National Jewels, Central Bank of Iran, TehranThe Iranian treasury holds one of the largest collections of emeralds in the world, much of it gathered by the Safavid and Qajar shahs.Photo: Siroos777, Public domain.
The Napoleonic Fabergé eggA jewelled Easter egg of gold, enamel and diamonds, made in 1912 for Tsar Nicholas II as a gift to his mother.Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation collectionIt honours the regiments that fought Napoleon in 1812. Fabergé made 50 imperial eggs; this one hides a folding screen of miniature paintings.Photo: James Petts, CC BY-SA 2.0.The Pala d’OroThe gold altarpiece of St Mark’s in Venice, set with Byzantine enamels and nearly 2,000 gems: emeralds, sapphires, garnets, amethysts, pearls and more.Basilica di San Marco, VeniceMany of its enamels were made in Constantinople, and some were taken from the city when crusaders sacked it in 1204.Photo: Gérard, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Blue sapphire: a lab-grown stone of the same mineral, or a natural one.
Byzantine-style gold earringsGold basket earrings and a necklace from graves at the late Roman fortress of Keszthely-Fenékpuszta, Hungary, 6th to 7th century.Museum collection, Hungary (Commons photograph)Jewellery like this copied the fashions of Constantinople, the richest city in Europe at the time.Photo: James Steakley, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
The Cross of DesideriusA processional cross covered in gems, cameos and gold-glass portraits, 9th century, named after the last Lombard king.Museo di Santa Giulia, BresciaIts makers reused ancient Roman cameos and gems alongside new ones, a treasure chest of a thousand years of jewellery in one cross.Photo: PrincipeRoby, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chalcedony, the family of onyx, agate and carnelian, in a carved signet ring.
The Snettisham torcsGold and silver neck rings twisted from solid wire, Iron Age Britain, about 75 BC.British Museum, London (found at Snettisham, Norfolk)A torc was a sign of rank among the Celts. These were worn for years, then buried in pits, perhaps as offerings.Photo: Portable Antiquities Scheme, CC BY 2.0.The Muisca golden raftA small gold raft carrying a chief and his attendants, made by the Muisca of Colombia, found in a cave at Pasca in 1969.Museo del Oro, BogotáIt shows the ceremony behind the legend of El Dorado: a new ruler, covered in gold dust, sailing onto Lake Guatavita to make offerings.Photo: Andrew Bertram, CC BY-SA 1.0.A giant tiger’s eye specimenA mushroom-shaped mass of tiger’s eye with riebeckite and hematite, about 12 cm across, from Atikokan, Ontario.Private collection (Robert M. Lavinsky)Tiger’s eye is quartz that replaced blue asbestos-like fibres of riebeckite. The fibres were turned gold by iron, which is what makes the light ripple.Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Tiger’s eye, rough and polishedA rough piece beside a polished one, showing how the dull, fibrous rock turns to rolling gold light when it is cut smooth.Commons photographMost tiger’s eye comes from the Northern Cape of South Africa, near Griquatown.Photo: Marek Novotnak, CC BY-SA 4.0.
An Isis amulet in lapisA small figure of the goddess Isis carved from lapis lazuli, ancient Egypt.Museo Egizio, TurinIsis was the great mother goddess who brought her husband Osiris back to life. Her amulets were among the most popular in Egypt.Photo: Marco Chemello (WMIT), CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Maat, the goddess of truth, in lapisA tiny seated figure of Maat, who wears an ostrich feather, ancient Egypt.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkMaat stood for truth and cosmic order. In the afterlife the heart of the dead was weighed against her feather.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A lapis frogA frog amulet carved from lapis lazuli, ancient Egypt.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkFrogs appeared in their thousands after the Nile flood, so Egyptians made them a symbol of fertility and new life.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Princess Sithathoryunet’s lapis scarabAn uninscribed scarab of deep blue lapis lazuli from the tomb treasure of Princess Sithathoryunet, Middle Kingdom Egypt, about 1850 BC.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkFrom the same tomb as her famous gold pectoral: the princess was buried with the finest blue stone Egypt could get.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A lapis heart scarabA large scarab placed over the heart of a mummy, ancient Egypt.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkHeart scarabs were inscribed with a spell asking the heart not to testify against its owner when it was weighed in the afterlife.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A lapis flowerA small flower carved from lapis lazuli, Egypt, New Kingdom (about 1539 to 1292 BC).Brooklyn Museum, New YorkInlays like this were set into jewellery and furniture, petal by petal, alongside carnelian and turquoise.Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CC BY 2.5.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A necklace of lapis barrel beadsA long strand of small barrel-shaped lapis beads, ancient Egypt.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkEvery bead was drilled by hand with a bow drill and sand, one of the slowest jobs in an Egyptian workshop.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
A lapis scarab ringA gold wire finger ring holding a lapis scarab that could swivel to show its base, ancient Egypt.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe base of a scarab often carried a name or a charm, so a swivelling ring worked as both a seal and an amulet.Photo: Tillman, CC0.
A lion and a ram in lapis and shellA cosmetic box lid inlaid with lapis lazuli and shell, showing a lion bringing down a ram, royal cemetery of Ur, about 2500 BC.Penn Museum, PhiladelphiaBlue lapis for the background, white shell for the animals: the same inlay style as the Standard of Ur.Photo: Mary Harrsch, CC BY 2.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Sumerian ring of gold, carnelian and lapisA gold ring inlaid with carnelian and lapis lazuli, from ancient Girsu (Tello), Iraq, mid 3rd millennium BC.Excavated at Girsu (Tello), IraqGirsu was one of the oldest Sumerian cities. Its rulers wore the same blue and red stones as the royals of Ur.Photo: ALFGRN, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Sumerian head with lapis eyesA head of a woman from a temple, made of alabaster with eyes and brows inlaid in lapis lazuli, limestone and bitumen.Louvre, ParisSumerian statues stared wide-eyed at their gods. Lapis was the colour of the heavens, so it was used for eyes and brows.Photo: Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Sumerian eye inlayAn eye for a statue, made of white stone with a pupil of lapis lazuli, Sumer.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe statue it belonged to is lost. Only the eye survives, still looking out after more than four thousand years.Photo: Shakko, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Necklaces from the temple of Ishtar at MariBead necklaces of lapis lazuli, carnelian and other stones from the temple of Ishtar at Mari, Syria, about 2500 to 2340 BC.Louvre, ParisMari sat on the Euphrates, on the road the lapis took from Afghanistan to Mesopotamia and Egypt.Photo: Zunkir, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A lapis cameo of Cosimo I de’ MediciA portrait of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, carved in lapis lazuli by the grand-ducal workshops of Florence, 16th century.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe Medici ran their own hardstone workshops. A portrait carved in lapis was a gift for kings.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Hercules and Omphale, carved in lapisAn Italian cameo of Hercules and Queen Omphale carved in lapis lazuli, later mounted as a gold ring.Walters Art Museum, BaltimoreThe myth: Hercules served Omphale for a year, and the two swapped clothes. Renaissance carvers loved the story.Photo: Walters Art Museum, Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A lapis ewer from PragueA ewer carved from a single block of lapis lazuli and wrapped in gold, probably made in Prague around 1600, the mounts perhaps by Paulus van Vianen.Museum collection (Commons photograph)The court of Emperor Rudolf II in Prague collected rare stones and natural wonders, and paid the best carvers in Europe to work them.Photo: Eissink, Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Fabergé’s lapis lazuli eggAn Easter egg carved from lapis lazuli, opening to a gold yolk with a tiny crown and a ruby inside, by Fabergé.Cleveland Museum of ArtFabergé loved hardstones. The surprise inside follows the tradition of the very first imperial egg, a hen within a yolk within an egg.Photo: Public domain reproduction, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A table veneered in lapisA small table covered in thin slices of lapis lazuli, with Chinese famille rose vases.Villa Necchi Campiglio, MilanThin lapis veneer fitted like tiles let craftsmen cover a whole table in a stone too precious to use solid.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A polished lapis sphere, the same blue in one piece.
The Virgin in Prayer: a robe of lapisSassoferrato, about 1640 to 1650. The deep blue of the Virgin’s robe is natural ultramarine, ground from lapis lazuli.National Gallery, LondonPerhaps the most famous ultramarine blue in any painting. Painters saved the costly pigment for the Virgin’s robe, so the colour itself honoured her.Photo: Public domain reproduction, Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Michelangelo’s unfinished EntombmentMichelangelo, about 1500 to 1501. The kneeling Virgin at the bottom right was never painted: the space is still bare.National Gallery, LondonExperts think Michelangelo was waiting for ultramarine for the Virgin’s robe. It may never have arrived, and he left the painting unfinished.Photo: Public domain reproduction, Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Natural ultramarine: lapis turned to paintGround lapis lazuli pigment, the blue of the painters above.Pigment sample (Commons photograph)Lapis was ground, kneaded with wax, resin and oil, then washed in lye to draw out the pure blue. The first wash gave the finest colour.Photo: PolBr, Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Norse bishop’s ring from GreenlandA gold episcopal ring and the head of a walrus-ivory crozier, found together in a bishop’s grave at Garðar (Igaliku), Greenland. The skeleton dates to about 1223 to 1290, probably Bishop Óláfr, who held the see from 1246 to 1280.National Museum of Denmark, CopenhagenThe edge of the medieval world: a Viking-descended church at the far end of the North Atlantic, its bishop buried with his ring and a staff carved from walrus tusk.Photo: Lennart Larsen, CC BY-SA 2.0.A bishop’s amethyst ringA pastoral ring of gilt bronze set with an amethyst, 15th century.Musée de Cluny, ParisAmethyst was the bishop’s stone: its name means "not drunk" in Greek, a fitting sign for a sober shepherd of souls. Bishops still wear amethyst rings today.Photo: Musée de Cluny, Public domain.
A bishop’s ring with a "toadstone"An English gold bishop’s ring with openwork eagles, animal heads and flowers, set with a large green malachite dome.Walters Art Museum, BaltimoreThe green stone was meant to look like toadstone, said to grow in a toad’s head and to heal. Bishops wore these rings over their gloves, which is why they are so big.Photo: Walters Art Museum, Public domain.The ring of Archbishop Albero of TrierA gold bishop’s ring with a large rectangular blue stone, from Albero de Montreuil, Archbishop of Trier from 1131 to 1152.Trier Cathedral Treasury, GermanyA bishop received his ring when he was consecrated, as a sign that he was married to his church. Many were buried with their owners and found again centuries later.Photo: Chris 73, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Blue sapphire: a lab-grown stone of the same mineral, or a natural one.
A slab of golden tiger’s eyeA cut and polished slab of tiger’s eye from a geology teaching collection, the golden bands running side by side like silk.Geology teaching collection (GeoDIL)Almost all tiger’s eye comes from Griqualand West in South Africa, where quartz grew threaded with fibres of blue crocidolite. Where the iron in the fibres rusted, the blue turned gold.Photo: Darla Sondrol, CC0.
A tiger’s eye cabochonA polished dome of tiger’s eye with the bright band that moves as you tilt it.Estonian Museum of Natural History, TallinnCut as a dome, the fibres throw a single line of light across the stone, the cat’s eye effect jewellers call chatoyancy.Photo: Tiit Hunt, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Natural tiger’s eye with the same moving band of light.
Hawk’s eye, the blue formA polished slab of blue-grey hawk’s eye from South Africa, labelled in the collection as blue tiger eye.Estonian Museum of Natural History, TallinnHawk’s eye is tiger’s eye before the iron rusted: the original blue fibres are still blue.Photo: Tõnis Saadre, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Natural tiger’s eye with the same moving band of light.
Tiger iron from the Hamersley RangeFolded bands of red jasper, black iron and golden tiger’s eye, about 11 cm top to bottom, from Western Australia.Hamersley Range, Western AustraliaThese bands were laid down on an ancient sea floor more than two billion years ago, when the first oxygen in the oceans rusted the iron out of the water. Then the rock was folded like ribbon.Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0.
Natural tiger’s eye with the same moving band of light.
An amethyst parure from ParisA matching set of necklace, earrings and brooch in gold set with amethysts, made in France between 1820 and 1830.Paris Musées collectionA parure is a full matching set. Rich women of the 1820s wore amethyst parures to balls, and the stone was as fashionable as diamonds.Photo: Public domain reproduction, CC0.
A Roman amethyst cameoThe head of a woman carved in relief from amethyst, Roman, 1st century AD.Cleveland Museum of ArtCarving a cameo meant grinding the stone away with drills and abrasive powder, a millimetre at a time, for months.Photo: Madreiling, CC0.
Natural amethyst, the purple quartz in this piece.
An ancient amethyst reused as a sealAn amethyst intaglio carved in the 1st century BC, later set in a ring as the seal of Iohannes Pignatelli.Guy Ladrière Collection, shown at the Paris School of Jewelry ArtsAncient engraved gems were treasured in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Nobles reused them as personal seals, pressing a 1,500-year-old carving into their wax.Photo: TimeTravelRome, CC BY 2.0.
Natural amethyst, the purple quartz in this piece.
Twin amethyst geodes, 9 and 12 feet tallA 9 ft, 11,000 lb amethyst geode, shown back to back with a second geode 12 ft tall, both from the Bolsa mine in Uruguay.Museum of Natural History, New YorkEach one was a single gas bubble in a lava flow about 130 million years ago, lined slowly with purple crystals. Visitors can walk right up to them.Photo: Jan Schaumann, CC BY 4.0.
A Uruguay amethyst geode small enough for a shelf.
A Fabergé amethyst cane handleA cane handle of polished amethyst by Fabergé, with white enamel, rose and yellow gold and a string of pearls, about 1890 to 1898.Antiques collection (Commons photograph)Fabergé made everyday objects for the Russian court, from cane handles to cigarette cases, out of hardstones and gold.Photo: Rauantiques, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Natural amethyst, the purple quartz in this piece.
A Russian amethyst brooch and earringsA gold and amethyst brooch by A. Holmström, St Petersburg, 1857 to 1864, with amethyst and diamond earrings made between 1908 and 1917.Peterhof State Museum and the Moscow Kremlin MuseumsDeep purple Siberian amethyst from the Urals was the most prized amethyst in the world in the 1800s, and Russia’s jewellers used it lavishly.Photo: shakko, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Natural amethyst, the purple quartz in this piece.
A pietre dure tabletop from FlorenceA tabletop of inlaid hardstones with lapis lazuli, made in the Florentine pietre dure tradition.Florence, ItalyPietre dure means hard stones. Craftsmen cut lapis, agate and jasper into pieces as thin as card and fitted them so tightly the joins disappear, painting with stone.Photo: Artinpl, CC0.
A lapis lazuli vase in the Catherine PalaceA vase of lapis lazuli and gilded bronze on a stand, designed by I. A. Monighetti and made at the Peterhof lapidary factory.Catherine Palace, Tsarskoye Selo, RussiaRussia had its own lapis from Lake Baikal, and the tsars filled their palaces with it, from vases to whole wall panels.Photo: Andrey Korzun, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Gold, lapis and carnelian necklaces from UrThree necklaces: two of carnelian beads imported from the Indus Valley, and one of gold-covered beads alternating with lapis from Afghanistan, Old Babylonian Ur, about 2000 to 1600 BC.Excavated at Ur, IraqOne necklace, three countries: lapis from Afghanistan, carnelian from India and gold, all strung together in Mesopotamia four thousand years ago.Photo: Zunkir, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Dauphin’s lapis goblet with dragonsA goblet of lapis lazuli with enamelled gold dragons for handles, made around 1630.Museo del Prado, Madrid (the Dauphin’s Treasure)It belonged to the Grand Dauphin, son of Louis XIV. His son became King Philip V of Spain and brought the collection to Madrid.Photo: Carlos Reusser, CC BY 2.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A vase of agate, lapis and cameosA vase made of chalcedony, moss agate, lapis lazuli, carnelian and jasper, mounted in enamelled gold and set with cameos.Museo del Prado, Madrid (the Dauphin’s Treasure)The Dauphin collected hardstone vessels the way others collected paintings: more than a hundred pieces survive in the Prado.Photo: Carlos Reusser, CC BY 2.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Cartier lapis lazuli clock, 1925A table clock by Cartier New York, 1925, of gold, silver and lapis lazuli, shown in the exhibition Lapislazzuli: Magia del blu.Exhibition Lapislazzuli: Magia del blu, 2015Art Deco loved bold blocks of colour, and Cartier paired lapis with jade, coral and onyx.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A lapis lazuli snuffboxA snuffbox with panels of lapis lazuli mounted in gold.Louvre, ParisSnuff was the fashion of the 1700s, and a jewelled box to carry it in was a gentleman’s status symbol, opened in company to be admired.Photo: Shonagon, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Tutankhamun’s gold maskThe funeral mask of Tutankhamun, solid gold inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian, quartz and coloured glass, about 1323 BC, in an early hand-coloured postcard.Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza (formerly Egyptian Museum, Cairo)The blue stripes of the headdress are glass; the eyebrows and the lines around the eyes are inlaid lapis lazuli. The lapis came 4,000 km from the mountains of Afghanistan.Photo: Leo Wehrli, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The Dauphin’s TreasureCups, goblets and vases of rock crystal, agate, jasper and lapis, mounted in gold and enamel, collected by the son of Louis XIV.Museo del Prado, MadridIt came to Spain as the inheritance of Philip V. Carried off to Paris during the Napoleonic wars, it came back with pieces missing.Photo: Carlos Reusser Monsalvez from Santiago, Chile, CC BY 2.0.A Cartier diamond bandeauA diamond headband by Cartier from the Jazz Age, worn low across the forehead.Cleveland Museum of Art (Jazz Age exhibition)In the 1920s the tall tiara gave way to the bandeau, worn over short bobbed hair.Photo: Tim Evanson from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Diamond: a lab-grown stone, or a natural one with a GIA report.
The Crown of BavariaThe crown of the Kings of Bavaria, made in Paris in 1806 and 1807 by the jeweller Marie-Étienne Nitot with the goldsmiths Leblond and Biennais.Treasury of the Residenz, MunichBavaria became a kingdom in 1806 with Napoleon’s backing, so the new king ordered his crown from Napoleon’s own jewellers.Photo: Jebulon, CC0.
Diamond: a lab-grown stone, or a natural one with a GIA report.
The Bedale Viking hoardSilver neck rings, arm rings and ingots with a gold-foiled sword pommel, buried around 850 to 950 and found in North Yorkshire in 2012.Yorkshire Museum, YorkVikings paid by weight, so silver jewellery was money. Arm rings were cut into pieces to make change.Photo: Portable Antiquities Scheme, CC BY 2.0.A necklace from the Cheapside HoardA gold and white enamel necklace of linked lovers’ knots, England, 1590 to 1620.Victoria and Albert Museum, LondonThe Cheapside Hoard was a jeweller’s whole stock, buried under a London shop and found by workmen in 1912: almost 500 pieces.Photo: Vassil, CC0.The Great Dish of the Mildenhall TreasureDetail of a huge Roman silver dish, 4th century AD, with dancing satyrs and maenads around the god Bacchus.British Museum, LondonFound by a farmer ploughing in Suffolk in 1942. The finders kept it at home for four years before anyone reported it.Photo: Public domain reproduction, CC BY-SA 3.0.The gold crown of Tillya TepeA gold crown of trees and birds hung with small gold discs, from a nomad princess’s grave at Tillya Tepe, Afghanistan, 1st century AD. It folds flat for travel.National Museum of Afghanistan, KabulThe Bactrian gold was hidden in a bank vault through decades of war and only revealed to be safe in 2003.Photo: H Sinica, CC BY-SA 2.0.The Panagyurishte TreasureNine Thracian gold vessels, an amphora, a dish and seven rhyta, over 6 kg of gold, 4th to 3rd century BC.National Archaeological Museum, SofiaThree brothers digging clay at a tile works in Bulgaria found it in 1949.Photo: Ann Wuyts, CC BY 2.0.The Wittelsbach-Graff diamondA deep blue diamond of 31.06 carats, once in the Bavarian crown jewels, recut by Laurence Graff after he bought it in 2008.Shown at the Smithsonian, WashingtonRecutting it removed chips and made it brighter but cost more than four carats, which angered many historians.Photo: 350z33 (talk)., CC BY-SA 3.0.
Diamond: a lab-grown stone, or a natural one with a GIA report.
A lapis cup with a Paris gold mountA cup carved from lapis lazuli in Florence or Milan in the late 1500s, later fitted with an enamelled gold mount by the Paris goldsmith Pierre Delabarre. It belongs to the Dauphin’s Treasure, the collection of hardstone vessels that Philip V of Spain inherited from his father, the Grand Dauphin.Museo del Prado, MadridTwo cities made one cup: Italian carvers cut the blue stone, and a Paris goldsmith dressed it in gold decades later.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
Two lapis saucers from MilanA pair of shallow lapis lazuli saucers cut in Milan around 1600 and mounted in French silver-gilt, attributed to Jean Royel. They are part of the Dauphin’s Treasure at the Prado.Museo del Prado, MadridMilan was Europe’s great hardstone-cutting city around 1600, and its lapis work ended up on royal tables in Paris and Madrid.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
Miseroni’s lapis shell cupA cup carved from a single block of lapis lazuli in the shape of a shell, made around 1563 by the Milanese carver Gasparo Miseroni for the Medici. It is kept in the Medici hardstone collection at Florence’s natural history museum.Museo di Storia Naturale (mineralogy section), FlorenceThe Medici bought lapis vessels from Milan before Florence had its own grand-ducal workshops.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
The lapis cup Vasari praisedA lapis lazuli cup by Gasparo Miseroni of Milan, bought by Cosimo I de’ Medici around 1567. Giorgio Vasari mentioned it in the 1568 edition of his Lives of the Artists.Museo di Storia Naturale (mineralogy section), FlorenceFew cups get a review from the man who invented art history; this one did, within a year of its purchase.Photo: Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
A covered lapis vase from ModenaA lidded vase of lapis lazuli with silver and enamel mounts, attributed to Gasparo Miseroni, from the collection of the Este dukes.Galleria Estense, ModenaThe Este dukes of Ferrara and Modena collected Milanese lapis just as eagerly as their Medici rivals.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
A Miseroni lapis cup in StuttgartA lapis lazuli cup carved by Gasparo Miseroni in the 1560s, whose metal mount was completed around 1810.Landesmuseum Württemberg, StuttgartThe stone outlived its first setting; a goldsmith 250 years later finished the job.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
A Medici lapis ewer in the Green VaultA tall lapis lazuli ewer attributed to the Medici court workshops in Florence, now in the treasure chamber of the Saxon electors in Dresden.Green Vault (Grünes Gewölbe), DresdenFlorentine lapis travelled north as diplomatic gifts and purchases, and Dresden’s Green Vault kept the best of it.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
A lidded lapis cup in the LouvreA covered cup of lapis lazuli with gilded mounts, attributed to Giovanni Ambrogio Miseroni, from the French royal collection of hardstone vessels.Musée du Louvre, ParisLouis XIV collected hardstone vessels by the hundred; this lidded cup is one of the lapis pieces from that crown collection.Photo: Tangopaso, Public domain.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
Miseroni’s dragon bowlA bowl of lapis lazuli shaped as a dragon, made by Gasparo Miseroni in Milan around 1570, with gold, enamel, pearls and precious stones. It belongs to the Habsburg Kunstkammer.Kunsthistorisches Museum (Kunstkammer), ViennaThe whole bowl is the dragon: its head rears up at one end and its tail curls at the other.Photo: Vassil, CC0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
The Waddesdon lapis vaseA lapis lazuli vase with enamelled gold mounts, part of the Waddesdon Bequest, the treasure collection left to the British Museum by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in 1898.British Museum, London (Waddesdon Bequest)Rothschild left his treasure room to the nation on condition it be shown together, so this vase still sits in its own dedicated gallery.Photo: Jonathan Cardy, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
A Florentine lapis niche cupAn oval lapis lazuli cup carved in the Medici grand-ducal workshops (the Galleria dei Lavori) in Florence around 1600.Museo di Storia Naturale, FlorenceBy 1600 Florence no longer needed Milan: the Medici had built their own hardstone workshop in the Uffizi.Photo: Francesco Bini, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
Ferdinando de’ Medici’s lapis cupA lapis lazuli cup carved with the monogram FM, for Grand Duke Ferdinando I de’ Medici, around 1600.Museo di Storia Naturale (mineralogy section), FlorenceThe grand duke put his initials on the stone itself, not just on the mount.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
A Medici lapis and gold casketA small casket of lapis lazuli and gold made in Florence around 1600 and kept in the Medici hardstone collection.Museo di Storia Naturale (mineralogy section), FlorenceEven the Medici’s smallest boxes were cut from the most expensive blue stone in Europe.Photo: Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A lapis lazuli jewellery box cut from Afghan lapis, the same stone as the Medici caskets.
A grand-ducal lapis casketA casket of lapis lazuli with gold and brass fittings from the Medici grand-ducal workshops.Museo di Storia Naturale (mineralogy section), FlorenceA lapis jewellery box fit for a grand duke: the same idea as a modern lapis trinket box, four centuries earlier.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A lapis lazuli jewellery box cut from Afghan lapis, the same stone as the Medici caskets.
A fluted lapis cup set with cabochonsA fluted lapis lazuli cup with silver mounts set with cabochon stones.Ashmolean Museum, OxfordThe fluting was cut into the stone itself, so each ridge of blue had to be ground by hand.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
A Florentine lapis cup in a Paris museumA lapis lazuli cup carved in Florence in the 16th century and given a bronze mount in Paris in the 18th century, shown in the mineral gallery of the French natural history museum.Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (Grande Galerie de minéralogie), ParisIt sits among raw mineral specimens, a reminder that lapis was collected as both art and science.Photo: Hypsibius, CC BY 4.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
Buontalenti’s lapis flaskA flask carved from lapis lazuli to a design by Bernardo Buontalenti for Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici, with an enamelled gold mount by the goldsmith Jacques Bylivelt.Museo degli Argenti (Treasury of the Grand Dukes), Palazzo Pitti, FlorenceIt is the most famous lapis vessel of the Renaissance: one block of blue stone hollowed into a flask, with a gold harpy and chain on top.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
A Qing lapis tripod with a dragonA small tripod vessel carved from lapis lazuli with a dragon, in the shape of an ancient bronze ding, made in Qing dynasty China.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkQing carvers copied the shapes of 3,000-year-old ritual bronzes in stone the colour of the sky.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
A lapis lion and cubA Qing dynasty carving of a lion with its cub in lapis lazuli.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkIn China lapis was called qingjinshi, the blue-gold stone, for the golden pyrite flecks you can see in pieces like this.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
A luohan in a lapis grottoA lapis lazuli boulder carved as a mountain grotto with a seated luohan, a Buddhist holy man.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe carver let the boulder keep its rough shape and cut a whole hermit’s cave into it.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Fabergé’s lapis elephantsElephant figures carved from lapis lazuli with silver, gold, enamel, ivory and diamond details, from the workshop of Carl Fabergé.American Museum of Natural History, New YorkFabergé’s hardstone animals were small enough to hold, and Russian high society collected them like trading cards.Photo: Hiart, CC0.
The altar of Saint Ignatius and its lapis globeThe altar over the tomb of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, designed by Andrea Pozzo, rich in coloured marbles, gilt bronze and lapis lazuli. A globe faced with lapis lazuli is held above the statue of the saint.Church of the Gesù, RomeThe blue globe at the top stands for the world the Jesuits set out to reach.Photo: Jastrow, Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The tomb of Saint Aloysius GonzagaThe altar of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga in the church of Sant’Ignazio, where the saint’s remains rest in an urn of lapis lazuli beneath a marble relief.Sant’Ignazio, RomePilgrims come for a young saint, and find him in a casket of the same blue as the sky painted on the ceiling above.Photo: Jastrow, Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A lapis ciborium in San MarcelloA ciborium (a small altar shrine) faced with lapis lazuli, designed by Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri in 1691.San Marcello al Corso, RomeBaroque Rome dressed its holiest objects in the costliest blue on earth.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A silver chalice set with lapis stones, made in Italy today.
The blue tabernacle of PalermoA tabernacle covered in lapis lazuli in the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament of Palermo Cathedral, made to a design by Cosimo Fanzago.Palermo Cathedral, SicilyFanzago was a Neapolitan master of coloured stone, and here he let lapis do almost all the talking.Photo: José Luiz, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A silver chalice set with lapis stones, made in Italy today.
Valadier’s lapis altar cardAn altar card frame (cartagloria) of silver, bronze and lapis lazuli made by the Roman goldsmith Luigi Valadier in 1762 for the Borghese Chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore.Treasury of Santa Maria Maggiore, RomeAltar cards held the Latin prayers the priest read at Mass; Valadier turned a reading aid into a lapis jewel.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A silver chalice set with lapis stones, made in Italy today.
A Cartier cigarette case in lapis and turquoiseA cigarette case of gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, sapphires and diamonds made by Cartier in Paris in 1930.Cartier Collection, GenevaArt Deco loved strong colour pairs, and lapis against turquoise is one of the boldest.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A lapis lazuli jewellery box cut from Afghan lapis, the same stone as the Medici caskets.
A Boucheron Art Deco corsage ornamentA corsage ornament of palladium gold, lapis lazuli, coral, jade, onyx and turquoise made by Boucheron in 1925, the year of the Paris exhibition that gave Art Deco its name.Boucheron Collection, ParisFive coloured stones in one jewel: Art Deco treated gems like paint.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The lapis head of an Achaemenid princeA small head of a young man wearing a crenellated crown, found at Persepolis and usually described as lapis lazuli. It is one of the best-known pieces in the National Museum of Iran.National Museum of Iran, TehranNobody knows exactly who he was, but the crown suggests royalty.Photo: DanielTheGreat, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Ebih-Il and his lapis eyesAn alabaster statue of Ebih-Il, a high official of the city of Mari, seated with his hands clasped. His eyes are inlaid with shell and lapis lazuli.Musée du Louvre, ParisMore than 4,000 years later, the lapis pupils still give him a startled, wide-awake stare.Photo: Jastrow, Public domain.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Taweret in gilded lapisA small figure of Taweret, the hippopotamus goddess who protected mothers and childbirth, carved in lapis lazuli and gilded.Egyptian Museum (Ägyptisches Museum), BerlinTaweret looks fierce on purpose: she was a bodyguard for women in labour.Photo: SpeakingArch, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A lapis beaker of bulls and a lionA small beaker carved from lapis lazuli with domesticated bulls and a lion in relief, from about 3000 BC.Bible Lands Museum, JerusalemIt is among the oldest carved lapis vessels anywhere, made 5,000 years ago.Photo: DaringDonna, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A bowl carved from a single block of Afghan lapis, 6 inches across.
A painting on touchstone and lapisA bacchanal of putti by Giovanni Campi, set on black touchstone over lapis lazuli.Galleria Borghese, RomeIn the 1600s rich collectors liked paintings on stone, where the gem itself became part of the picture.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Yeats’s lapis lazuli mountainA Chinese carving of a mountain in lapis lazuli, given to the poet W. B. Yeats by Harry Clifton in 1935. It inspired his poem Lapis Lazuli.National Library of Ireland, DublinYeats looked at two little carved figures climbing this stone mountain and wrote one of his greatest late poems about them.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A malachite and lapis altar in the LateranThe altar of the Torlonia Chapel in Saint John Lateran, designed by Quintiliano Raimondi, faced with green malachite and blue lapis lazuli.Torlonia Chapel, Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, RomeGreen malachite and blue lapis came mostly from Russia and Afghanistan; only the richest Roman families could afford both.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A lapis ciborium in Viterbo CathedralAn altar of coloured marbles in the canons’ choir of Viterbo Cathedral, topped by a ciborium of lapis lazuli and malachite.Viterbo Cathedral, ItalyA small church treasure in a small city, built from the same blue stone as papal Rome.Photo: Sailko, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A silver chalice set with lapis stones, made in Italy today.
A Neapolitan gold and lapis crucifixA crucifix of gold and lapis lazuli made in Naples, from the treasury of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.Terra Sancta Museum collection (shown at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon)Catholic kings sent treasures like this to the shrines of Jerusalem for centuries.Photo: Jules Verne Times Two, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The Master of Dragons pendantsA pair of gold pendants showing a figure holding two dragons, inlaid with turquoise, garnet, lapis lazuli and carnelian and hung with pearls, from Tomb II at Tillya Tepe.National Museum of Afghanistan, KabulHidden from looters through decades of war, the Bactrian gold resurfaced intact in 2003.Photo: World Imaging, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The Emerald UnguentariumA small vessel hollowed out of a single 2,680-carat Colombian emerald crystal by Dionysio Miseroni in Prague in 1641, with an enamelled gold lid.Imperial Treasury (Kaiserliche Schatzkammer), ViennaInstead of cutting the crystal into gems, Miseroni hollowed it out, keeping almost the whole stone as one vessel.Photo: MyName (Gryffindor), Public domain.
A lab-grown emerald: beryl, the same mineral family as the stones here.
Sultan Abdulhamid I’s emerald turban pendantA turban ornament of Sultan Abdulhamid I, built around three large emeralds, in the treasury of Topkapı Palace.Topkapı Palace Museum, IstanbulOttoman sultans pinned jewels like this to the front of the turban, so the emeralds sat right at the centre of attention.Photo: Daniel Villafruela, CC BY 3.0.
A lab-grown emerald: beryl, the same mineral family as the stones here.
The Rubens VaseA vase carved in high relief from a single piece of agate, probably in an imperial workshop in Constantinople. It is named after the painter Peter Paul Rubens, who once owned it.Walters Art Museum, BaltimoreRubens owned it in the early 1600s and drew it, which is how it got his name.Photo: Walters Art Museum, Public domain.
Chalcedony, the family of onyx, agate and carnelian, in a carved signet ring.
The Holy Chalice of ValenciaA cup of dark red agate set in a medieval gold mount with handles, pearls and gems, venerated in Valencia Cathedral as the Holy Grail.Valencia Cathedral, SpainPopes John Paul II and Benedict XVI both celebrated Mass with it.Photo: Zarateman, CC0.
Chalcedony, the family of onyx, agate and carnelian, in a carved signet ring.
The Chalice of Doña UrracaA chalice made from two Roman onyx cups joined by a gold mount set with gems, given by Infanta Urraca of Zamora, daughter of King Ferdinand I of León.Basilica of San Isidoro, LeónA princess turned two pagan Roman drinking cups into one Christian chalice.Photo: Locutus Borg (José-Manuel Benito Álvarez), CC BY-SA 3.0.
Chalcedony, the family of onyx, agate and carnelian, in a carved signet ring.
The Cup of the PtolemiesA two-handled cup carved from a single block of sardonyx with Dionysian scenes. It was used as a chalice in the treasury of Saint-Denis and is now in the French national library’s museum.Cabinet des Médailles (BnF Museum), ParisThieves stole it in 1804 and pried off its gold medieval mount; the stone cup survived, the mount did not.Photo: Unknown photographer, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Chalcedony, the family of onyx, agate and carnelian, in a carved signet ring.
The Chalice of Abbot SugerAn ancient sardonyx cup that Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis set in gilded silver with gems and pearls in the 12th century to serve as a chalice.National Gallery of Art, WashingtonSuger believed gleaming gems could lift the mind toward God, and he built Gothic architecture on the same idea.Photo: National Gallery of Art, CC0.
Chalcedony, the family of onyx, agate and carnelian, in a carved signet ring.
The Domagnano eagle broochAn eagle-shaped gold brooch inlaid with garnets in cloisonné, from the Domagnano Treasure found in San Marino.Germanisches Nationalmuseum, NurembergGothic goldsmiths cut thin slices of garnet to fit each little gold cell, like stained glass.Photo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
The Pietroasele eagle broochesGold eagle-shaped brooches set with garnets and other stones from the Pietroasele Treasure, a Gothic hoard found by quarrymen in Romania in 1837.National History Museum of Romania, BucharestThe treasure was sent to Moscow for safekeeping in 1916 and only came back to Romania in 1956.Photo: Dorieo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
Childeric’s golden beesSmall gold bees with wings inlaid with garnets, from the tomb of the Frankish king Childeric I, found at Tournai in 1653.Cabinet des Médailles (BnF Museum), ParisNapoleon chose bees as his emblem because of Childeric’s; most of the originals were stolen in 1831.Photo: Unknown author, Public domain.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
A Portuguese choker of topazesAn 18th-century Portuguese choker set with topazes.National Museum of Ancient Art (Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga), LisbonGold and gems from Brazil poured into Lisbon in the 1700s, and Brazilian topaz became a Portuguese favourite.Photo: Manederequesens, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A topaz necklace from 1868A necklace of topazes made by the Stockholm jeweller Gustaf Möllenborg in 1868, from the collection of Countess Wilhelmina von Hallwyl.Hallwyl Museum, StockholmThe countess catalogued everything she owned, down to the spoons, and left her whole house to the Swedish state as a museum.Photo: Erik Lernestål, Public domain.
A Tiffany topaz and diamond necklaceA necklace of topazes and diamonds in gold and platinum, designed by Tiffany & Co., in the gem gallery of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.Cleveland Museum of Natural HistoryGolden topaz and white diamond is a classic pairing that jewellers still use today.Photo: Tim Evanson, CC BY-SA 2.0.
A labradorite snuffbox for Catherine’s courtA gold snuffbox set with panels of labradorite, made in Saint Petersburg in 1792 by the goldsmith I. Kayser.State Hermitage Museum, Saint PetersburgLabradorite was new to European collectors in the 1770s and 1780s, so this flashing blue stone was a fresh luxury.Photo: shakko, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
A labradorite dish for Nicholas IIA labradorite dish and saltcellar with silver mounts, presented to Emperor Nicholas II by the nobility of Kyiv in 1896, the year of his coronation.State Hermitage Museum, Saint PetersburgBread and salt is the traditional Slavic welcome, so a dish and saltcellar was a fitting coronation gift.Photo: shakko, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
A Tiffany pendant with a blue zirconA pendant necklace by Tiffany & Co. with a large blue zircon in the centre, surrounded by canary and coloured diamonds, demantoid garnets and amethysts, on platinum chains with coloured pearls.Walters Art Museum, BaltimoreIt was bought as a wedding present, at a time when Louis Comfort Tiffany was pushing the firm toward bold coloured stones.Photo: Walters Art Museum, Public domain.
Lalique’s peacock pectoralA pectoral ornament of gold, enamel, opals and diamonds with peacocks, made by René Lalique.Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, LisbonLalique used opals for their shifting colours, which suited peacock feathers perfectly.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
Opal with play of colour: a lab opal, or natural Ethiopian opal.
Lalique’s eagle and pines choker plaqueA choker plaque of gold, enamel and opals showing an eagle among pine trees, by René Lalique.Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, LisbonCalouste Gulbenkian bought Lalique’s jewels directly from the artist, and Lisbon now has the world’s finest group of them.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
Opal with play of colour: a lab opal, or natural Ethiopian opal.
A Mughal jade wine cup set with rubies and emeraldsA wine cup of jade inlaid with gold, rubies and emeralds, made in Mughal India in the 18th century.Guimet Museum (Musée Guimet), ParisMughal jewellers set gems into jade so finely that the gold lines look painted on.Photo: Vassil, Public domain.
A Fatimid rock crystal ewerA ewer hollowed and carved from a single block of rock crystal in Fatimid Egypt around the year 1000.The David Collection, CopenhagenOnly a handful of these Fatimid crystal ewers survive, most of them in European church treasuries.Photo: Richard Mortel, CC BY 2.0.A Seljuk bracelet of garnets and sapphiresA gold bracelet set with garnets, sapphires and turquoises, made in Iran under the Seljuks in the 12th century (V&A M.32-1957).Victoria and Albert Museum, LondonMedieval Persian goldsmiths built bracelets from fine gold wire and granules, then studded them with stones.Photo: Vassil, CC0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
The Crown of Stephen BocskaiA gold crown set with rubies, spinels, emeralds, turquoises and pearls, given by the Ottoman sultan to Stephen Bocskai, Prince of Transylvania, in 1605.Imperial Treasury (Kaiserliche Schatzkammer), ViennaA Muslim sultan crowned a Protestant prince, and the crown ended up in the treasury of the Catholic Habsburgs he had fought.Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis, CC BY-SA 2.0.
A bunch of amethyst grapesA paperweight with a bunch of grapes carved in amethyst on serpentine and marble, made by the Ekaterinburg lapidary works and once owned by the Stroganov family.Fersman Mineralogical Museum, MoscowUral amethyst was prized for its deep purple, and Russian carvers turned it into fruit that looks good enough to eat.Photo: shakko, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Natural amethyst, the purple quartz in this piece.
A Tillya Tepe sheath set with turquoiseA sheath for three knives from Tomb IV at Tillya Tepe, of gold and bronze set with turquoise.National Museum of Afghanistan, KabulIt belonged to the only man buried among the Tillya Tepe graves, probably a nomad chieftain.Photo: Artacoana, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Tanzanite and white sapphire necklaceDesigned and made by Ernesto Moreira in Houston in 2006: 16 graduated tanzanites totalling 208.85 carats with 17.5 carats of white sapphires, set in 18kt white gold.Houston Museum of Natural Science, TexasTanzanite comes from one mining area on earth, the Merelani Hills of Tanzania.Photo: Wikipedia Loves Art participant "Assignment_H, CC BY-SA 2.5.
Natural tanzanite, from the only mine area in the world.
Tanzanite at the Cleveland Museum of Natural HistoryA tanzanite on display in the museum gem gallery, photographed in 2014.Cleveland Museum of Natural History, OhioTanzanite comes from one mining area on earth, the Merelani Hills of Tanzania.Photo: Tim Evanson, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Natural tanzanite, from the only mine area in the world.
The bracelet of Queen Ahhotep, with Geb on his throneA hinged gold bracelet inlaid with lapis lazuli, bearing the name of King Ahmose I. One half shows the earth god Geb, wearing the double crown, enthroned with his hands on the shoulder of the kneeling king.Egyptian Museum, Cairo (JE 4684)Found in the burial of Queen Ahhotep, mother of Ahmose, the king who drove out the Hyksos and founded the New Kingdom.Photo: Viva Fox, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The lapis bead of King MesannepadaA long lapis lazuli bead, about 12 cm, inscribed in cuneiform: it was dedicated to the god Lugalkalam by Mesannepada, king of Ur, son of Meskalamdug, king of Kish.National Museum of Damascus, Syria (M 4439)It was found far up the Euphrates at Mari, in a jar of about 50 precious objects buried in the palace, which is why the hoard is called the Treasure of Ur.Photo: UNESCO, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
The Queen’s Lyre of UrA gold-covered bull’s head with eyes of lapis lazuli and shell and hair and beard of lapis lazuli, from a lyre found in the grave of Queen Puabi (PG 800) in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. The head and mosaic are ancient; the wooden body, pegs and strings are modern.British Museum, London (1928,1010.1)One of two lyres Leonard Woolley found in Puabi’s grave; nobody knows why the bull wears a beard.Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Tutankhamun’s vulture pectoralA gold vulture pendant set with lapis lazuli, carnelian and blue and red glass, on a chain with a counterpoise. The vulture is Nekhbet, protector goddess of Upper Egypt.Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza (JE 61894; formerly Egyptian Museum, Cairo)Unusually, the jeweller turned the vulture’s head to look up at the king wearing it, instead of the usual profile.Photo: Siren-Com, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Tutankhamun’s falcon pectoralA gold pectoral of the falcon god Horus with wings spread and a sun disc on his head, holding shen rings in his talons, inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise and blue glass.Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza (formerly Egyptian Museum, Cairo)The upturned wings were meant to wrap the dead king in protection.Photo: Claude Valette, CC BY 2.0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
Tutankhamun’s golden throneA wooden throne overlaid with sheet gold and silver and inlaid with coloured glass, faience and semi-precious stones. The back panel shows Queen Ankhesenamun anointing the king under the rays of the Aten.Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza (formerly Egyptian Museum, Cairo)Howard Carter found it in the tomb’s antechamber in 1922 and called it the most beautiful thing yet found in Egypt.Photo: Djehouty, CC BY-SA 4.0.The Triad of Osorkon IIA gold pendant 9 cm high: Osiris crouches on a pillar of lapis lazuli carved with the king’s name, flanked by Horus and Isis.Louvre, Paris (E 6204)The Louvre suggests it was a temple offering, perhaps hung on the chest of a royal statue by the two rings on its back.Photo: Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 FR.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Babylonian lapis conical sealAn inscribed stamp seal of lapis lazuli in a cone shape, 2.7 cm high, from the Neo-Babylonian era.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1999.325.97)A seal like this was pressed into clay rather than rolled, and lapis made it a mark of status.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Lapis lazuli, the same deep blue stone, as a natural piece you can own.
A Mughal mango-shaped flaskA 6.5 cm flask in the shape of a mango, made of two halves of rock crystal held by gold wire scrolls set with rubies and emeralds, with enamel.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1993.18)The Met dates it to the reign of Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal, when the Mughal court loved jewelled objects shaped like nature.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
A lab-grown emerald: beryl, the same mineral family as the stones here.
A centaur made from a baroque pearlA pendant 8.9 cm high whose body is one irregular baroque pearl, finished in enamelled gold set with sapphires and rubies, with more pearls hanging below.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1982.60.381)Renaissance goldsmiths let the odd shape of a pearl suggest the creature, here the half-man, half-horse of Greek myth.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Cultured pearls: the way almost all pearls are grown today.
A Tibetan conch-shell trumpetA conch-shell trumpet (dung-dkar) mounted in copper and gilt copper alloy set with semi-precious stones, with a dragon on its metal flange, 44 cm long, used in a monastery orchestra.British Museum, London (1992,1214.16)In Tibetan Buddhism the white conch stands for the voice of the Buddha spreading the teaching.Photo: Andreas Praefcke, Public domain.A carnelian Isis knot amuletA tiny tyet amulet of carnelian, 1.1 cm high, from a string of amulets. Egyptian, Third Intermediate Period, About 1080 to 945 BC.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (25.3.169f)Chapter 156 of the Book of the Dead links the knot with the blood of Isis, which is why it was cut from red stone.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
A carnelian amulet of TaweretThe hippopotamus goddess Taweret, carved in carnelian, 3 cm high. Egyptian, New Kingdom, About 1550 to 1300 BC.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (30.8.273)Taweret protected women in childbirth and small children; a red stone added the power of blood and life.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
A silver and carnelian butterflyA butterfly amulet of silver, carnelian and faience, about 2 cm wide. Egyptian, Middle Kingdom, About 1900 to 1802 BC.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (15.3.307)Silver was rarer than gold in Middle Kingdom Egypt, so this little insect was a true luxury.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
A Minoan carnelian sealA lens-shaped (lentoid) seal of carnelian, 1.6 cm across. Minoan, Crete, About 1600 to 1400 BC.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Seager bequest, 1926)Minoan officials pressed seals like this into clay to close jars, boxes and doors.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
A Minoan almond-shaped sealAn amygdaloid (almond-shaped) carnelian seal, 1.7 cm long. Minoan, Middle Minoan III, About 1750 to 1600 BC.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Seager bequest, 1926)Bequeathed by Richard Seager, the American archaeologist who excavated on Crete.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
An Etruscan carnelian scarabA carnelian scarab, 2.7 cm high, engraved on its flat underside. Etruscan, Classical, About 450 BC.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe Etruscans borrowed the scarab from Egypt and used it as a seal for scenes from Greek myth.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
Alexander the Great on a carnelian ringA gold ring set with a carnelian intaglio head of Alexander the Great. Greek, Hellenistic, 3rd century BC.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkAfter Alexander died in 323 BC his portrait became a favourite image for rings, carried by people who wanted some of his luck.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
A gladiator fights a lionA carnelian intaglio 1.5 cm high showing a gladiator battling a lion. Roman, Early Imperial, First half of the 1st century AD.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (41.160.710)Pressed into wax, the reversed carving printed the arena scene the right way round.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
The seal of Nasir al-Din ShahA wheel-cut carnelian seal of Nasir al-Din Shah, dated the year he became shah. Qajar Iran, 1848 (1264 AH).Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, LondonIts verse says his seal became like rings of the sun and the moon. Carnelian (aqiq) was the classic seal stone of the Islamic world.Photo: Khalili Collections, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
An Ottoman octagonal sealAn octagonal carnelian seal, wheel cut, inscribed in Turkish: "May the Divine Grace manifest, Yar Hasan". Ottoman Turkey, 18th century.Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, LondonAn everyday personal seal, the same eight-sided shape as the carnelian Napoleon is said to have found in Egypt.Photo: Khalili Collections, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
Shulgi’s bead from SusaA long carnelian bead inscribed for Shulgi, king of Ur, dedicated to Ningal. Ur III, found at Susa, About 2094 to 2047 BC.Louvre, Paris (Sb 6627)Found at Susa by Jacques de Morgan. The stone and the bead shape came from the Indus; the king’s words were added in cuneiform.Photo: Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
Etched carnelian beads from UrGold and carnelian beads from the Royal Cemetery of Ur, including white-etched carnelian. Sumerian, with Indus beads, About 2600 to 2300 BC.British Museum, LondonThe etched beads were probably imported from the Indus Valley, about 2,000 km away.Photo: Vassil, CC0.
Carnelian, the orange chalcedony used here, as natural cabochons.
Aquamarine, blue sapphire and diamond necklaceMade by Ernesto Moreira in Houston in 2006: 224.47 carats of aquamarines with 6.39 carats of blue sapphires and 6.29 carats of diamonds, set in white gold.Houston Museum of Natural Science, TexasErnesto Moreira necklace and earrings with 224.47 carats of aquamarines, Houston Museum of Natural Science.Photo: Ed Uthman, CC BY 2.0.
A lab spinel in aquamarine blue: a different mineral, the same colour.
A 15,256 carat aquamarine from Minas GeraisA large aquamarine from Minas Gerais, Brazil, labelled at 15,256 carats in the Smithsonian gem hall.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.A 15,256 carat aquamarine from Minas Gerais, Brazil, in the Smithsonian gem hall.Photo: thisisbossi, CC BY-SA 2.0.
A lab spinel in aquamarine blue: a different mineral, the same colour.
The Iris Corsage Ornament by Tiffany & Co.An iris brooch designed by G. Paulding Farnham for Tiffany & Co. and shown at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900. The petals are Montana sapphires, the bearding on the petals is set with citrines, and the leaf-like sheaths on the stem are demantoid garnets.Walters Art Museum, BaltimoreTiffany & Co. iris brooch of about 1900: sapphire petals, citrine bearding and demantoid garnets on the stem. Walters Art Museum.Photo: Walters Art Museum, Public domain.
A French gold brooch with citrines and amethystsA gold brooch made in France about 1820 to 1840, with a large yellow citrine at its centre and drops of citrine and amethyst.Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New YorkA French gold brooch of about 1820 to 1840 set with citrines and amethysts, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.Photo: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Public domain.
Demantoid brooch and pendantA pendant made in Moscow and a brooch made in Yekaterinburg, both between 1908 and 1917, set with Russian green demantoid garnets in gold.Museum of the History of Stone-Cutting and Jewellery Art, Yekaterinburg, RussiaA demantoid pendant (Moscow) and brooch (Yekaterinburg), 1908 to 1917, Museum of the History of Stone-Cutting and Jewellery Art, Yekaterinburg.Photo: shakko, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
Demantoid in its rock from Val MalencoGreen demantoid garnets scattered through rock from Val Malenco, Sondrio, Italy, one of the classic European demantoid localities.Mineralogical Museum, University of Bonn, GermanyDemantoid garnet in rock from Val Malenco, Italy, on show in the Mineralogical Museum, Bonn.Photo: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
A Labrador specimen in the Paris mineral galleryPolished labradorite from Labrador, shown in the Paris museum’s mineral gallery. Labrador, Canada, Natural specimen.Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology)The label calls it anorthite (labradorite), a reminder that labradorite is a middle member of the anorthite to albite feldspar series.Photo: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, CC BY 4.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
Two cabochons from the Labrador coastTwo domed cabochons of labradorite from the Labrador coast, where the mineral was first described. Labrador coast, Canada, Natural stone, cut as cabochons.Mineralogical Museum, University of Bonn, GermanyLabradorite’s colour shows best on one particular face of the crystal, so a cutter has to orient each cabochon to put the flash on top.Photo: Ra'ike, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
Spectrolite on display in OsloA piece of spectrolite, the dark, many-coloured labradorite variety, photographed in an Oslo museum. Spectrolite variety, Natural specimen.Museum display in Oslo, Norway (photographed 2008)Spectrolite is a brand name for labradorite mined at Ylämaa in Finland, with a wider range of colours than most labradorite.Photo: Shyamal, CC BY 3.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
Spectrolite from Ylämaa in KazanSpectrolite from the Ylämaa deposit in south-eastern Finland, labelled as labradorite (spectrolite). Ylämaa, Finland, Natural specimen.Museum of Natural History of the Republic of Tatarstan, KazanThe Ylämaa deposit was found in 1940, when Pekka Laitakari came across it while building the Salpa Line.Photo: Lumaca, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
A two-hand-high chunk in OttawaA strongly iridescent block of labradorite that stands about two hands high. Origin not labelled, possibly Madagascar, Natural specimen.Canadian Museum of Nature, OttawaThe fine parallel lines across its face are twinning striations, a tell-tale sign of plagioclase feldspar.Photo: Mike Beauregard, CC BY 2.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
A Labrador specimen in VancouverLabradorite from Labrador, photographed and shared by the museum itself. Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, Natural specimen.Pacific Museum of Earth, Vancouver, CanadaLabrador’s labradorite comes from anorthosite of the Nain area, rock that crystallised 1.29 to 1.35 billion years ago.Photo: Pacific Museum of Earth, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
A polished slab at UCLA cut and polished sample of labradorite from University College London’s teaching collection. Unknown locality, Natural specimen, cut and polished.UCL Geology Collections, LondonA polished face shows the colour in patches, because the hidden layers that make it are not perfectly parallel across a crystal.Photo: UCL Mathematical and Physical Sciences, CC BY 2.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
A Madagascar specimen in LausanneLabradorite found in Madagascar, inventory number AMGL 53619. Madagascar, Natural specimen.Cantonal Museum of Geology, Palais de Rumine, Lausanne (AMGL 53619)Madagascar is one of the notable sources of labradorite today, alongside China, Australia, Slovakia and the United States.Photo: Rama, CC BY-SA 3.0 fr.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
Labradorescence at the University of PaduaA collage of one labradorite specimen photographed to show its labradorescence. Unknown locality, Natural specimen.Mineralogical collection, University of Padua, ItalySeen from different angles, the same stone can go from dull grey to bright blue, because the colour comes from light reflecting off layers inside it.Photo: Matilde.Spagnolo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
North American labradorite in La PlataA labradorite specimen labelled as a silicate from North America. North America, Natural specimen.Museo de La Plata, ArgentinaLabradorite is a silicate of calcium, sodium and aluminium, a plagioclase feldspar with 50 to 70 percent anorthite.Photo: Beatrice Murch, CC BY 2.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
Labradorite at the Akita University mining museumA labradorite specimen on display at the mining museum of Akita University. Unknown locality, Natural specimen.Mining Museum of Akita University, JapanLabradorite is found mainly in dark igneous rocks such as basalt and gabbro, and in anorthosite, which can be almost pure labradorite.Photo: 掬茶, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
Azurite stalactites from Bisbee, slicedA columnar aggregate of azurite stalactites from Bisbee, Arizona, about 13 x 75 x 15 cm.Royal Ontario Museum, TorontoCut across, each stalactite shows rings of blue like a tree trunk.Photo: Tony Hisgett, CC BY 2.0.
Azurite with malachite, Copper Queen mineAzurite with malachite from the Copper Queen mine, Bisbee, Arizona.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, WashingtonBisbee is one of the best sources of fine azurite, with crystal clusters several inches long and rosettes up to 2 inches across.Photo: thisisbossi, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Azurite and malachite from BisbeeDark blue azurite crystals with green malachite balls from Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona.Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, MassachusettsAzurite and malachite are the two common basic copper carbonates, and they often grow side by side like this.Photo: DerHexer, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Malachite after azurite from ChessyGreen malachite that has replaced azurite crystals, from Chessy, France.Indiana State Museum, IndianapolisChessy near Lyon is the type locality of azurite, which is why it was called chessylite in the early 19th century.Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0.
Malachite after azurite from TsumebLarge azurite crystals turned to green malachite, from Tsumeb, Namibia.Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los AngelesAzurite is less stable than malachite in open air, so in nature it is often replaced by malachite that keeps the azurite crystal shape; Tsumeb gave the best azurite crystals, up to 10 inches long.Photo: Eric Polk, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Azurite crystal mass from GuangdongA mass of bladed blue azurite crystals from Guangdong Province, China.Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los AngelesCopper gives azurite its deep blue colour.Photo: Eric Polk, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Azurite and malachite from UtahBlue azurite balls on green malachite from San Juan County, Utah.Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, ParisIt sits in the museum's mineralogy gallery; the label credits sponsorship by the Total group.Photo: Hypsibius, CC BY 4.0.
Botryoidal azurite from the Holbrook MineRounded, grape-like azurite from the Holbrook Mine, Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona.Houston Museum of Natural Science, HoustonPliny the Elder already wrote about this blue copper mineral, under the Latin name caeruleum.Photo: Wikipedia Loves Art participant Assignment_Houston_One, CC BY-SA 2.5.
Opal inside an ironstone noduleA split ironstone nodule with precious opal inside, from Queensland, Australia.Natural History Museum, LondonThis is boulder opal: in western Queensland opal fills cracks and hollows in dark ironstone.Photo: Daderot, CC0.
Opal with play of colour: a lab opal, or natural Ethiopian opal.
The Addyman plesiosaur, an opalised sea reptileAn 80% complete, 70 cm plesiosaur skeleton (SAM P15980) found by opal miners John and Molly Addyman near Andamooka, South Australia, in 1967.South Australian Museum, AdelaideIts bones were replaced by opal, and it has been called the finest known opalised skeleton on Earth.Photo: Bahudhara, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Opal with play of colour: a lab opal, or natural Ethiopian opal.
An opalised ichthyosaur backboneA run of ichthyosaur vertebrae in which the bone has been replaced by precious opal.South Australian Museum, AdelaideAustralia's opal fields also yield opalised marine creatures, from sea reptiles to shells.Photo: Bahudhara, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Opal with play of colour: a lab opal, or natural Ethiopian opal.
Opalised seashells from Coober PedyBivalve shells from Coober Pedy whose calcite has been replaced by precious opal.South Australian Museum, AdelaideCoober Pedy is called the opal capital of the world, and some of its opal grew inside ancient clam shells.Photo: Bahudhara, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Opal with play of colour: a lab opal, or natural Ethiopian opal.
An opalised conifer trunkA broken section of an opalised podocarp conifer trunk with growth rings, Early Cretaceous (Aptian), Bulldog Shale, Coober Pedy (SAM P39616).South Australian Museum, AdelaideThe museum label explains that waterlogged logs sank to the floor of the Eromanga Sea, were buried in mud and petrified by silica-rich water, sometimes forming opal.Photo: RegionVisitor90, CC0.
Opal with play of colour: a lab opal, or natural Ethiopian opal.
An opal 'pineapple'Precious opal after glendonite crystals, from the White Cliffs opal field, New South Wales (CMNH 10146).Cleveland Museum of Natural History, ClevelandThe spiky shape is borrowed: opal replaced glendonite, which is itself a replacement of ikaite, a mineral that falls apart once out of near-freezing water.Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0.
Opal with play of colour: a lab opal, or natural Ethiopian opal.
Precious opal from YowahPrecious opal from Yowah, Queensland, Australia, in the Terra Mineralia collection.Terra Mineralia, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, GermanyYowah is an outback town of about 130 people, known for the 'Yowah nut', a type of opal found only around there.Photo: Derbrauni, CC BY 4.0.
Opal with play of colour: a lab opal, or natural Ethiopian opal.
Lalique's opal and amethyst necklaceGold, enamel, opals and amethysts, 24.1 cm across with nine large and nine small pendants, by Rene Lalique, about 1897 to 1899 (Met 1985.114).The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkLalique alternated milky opals with enamelled plaques of figures and swans, choosing stones for colour rather than price.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Opal with play of colour: a lab opal, or natural Ethiopian opal.
Lalique's opal pendantA pendant of gold, enamel, opal, pearl and diamonds, 7.6 by 6 cm, by Rene Lalique, about 1901 (Met 1991.164).The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkA Paris Art Nouveau jewel from the years when Lalique built whole designs around a single opal.Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Opal with play of colour: a lab opal, or natural Ethiopian opal.
A Qing rose quartz vaseA vase with two small handles carved from rose quartz, China, Qing dynasty, 18th century, 14.9 cm tall.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkIt came to the Met in 1902 as part of Heber R. Bishop's gift of Chinese hardstone carvings.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
A rose quartz flower holder with pomegranateA flower holder carved in rose quartz with a pomegranate, China, Qing dynasty, 18th century, 11.7 cm tall.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkLike the vase, it was part of Heber R. Bishop's 1902 gift, one of the Met's founding collections of Chinese carved stones.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
A rose quartz dragon-headed censerA lidded incense burner carved in rose quartz with dragon-head handles, China, Qing dynasty, 1736 to 1795 (the Qianlong reign).Nanjing Museum, NanjingThe whole censer, lid and handles included, is cut from rose quartz, worked the same way Qing carvers worked jade.Photo: MtBell, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A Chinese rose quartz incense burnerA carved rose quartz incense burner with lid and ring handles, China, made between 1900 and 1949.Asian Art Museum, San FranciscoChinese workshops were still carving rose quartz vessels in the old Qing style in the first half of the 20th century.Photo: Mary Harrsch, CC BY 2.0.
A 1,438-carat star rose quartzA polished star rose quartz of 1,438.5 carats from Madagascar.Houston Museum of Natural Science, HoustonRose quartz can show a star (asterism) when cut into a dome or sphere; its pink comes from microscopic fibres of a mineral related to dumortierite.Photo: Wikipedia Loves Art participant "The_Wookies", CC BY 2.5.
Crystallised rose quartz from the Ilha claimPink quartz crystals on quartz from the Ilha claim, Taquaral, Itinga, Jequitinhonha Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil.Private collection (Géry Parent)Ordinary rose quartz never forms crystals; this rare crystallised pink quartz gets its colour a different way and can fade in sunlight.Photo: Géry Parent, Public domain.
Dendritic rose quartz from Roger Caillois's collectionA piece of rose quartz crossed by black fern-like dendrites, likely from Sapucaia, Brazil, from the Caillois donation.Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, ParisIt was lent to "Stones and Reveries", a 2025 to 2026 exhibition on the writer Roger Caillois's minerals at the School of Jewelry Arts in Paris.Photo: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, CC BY 4.0.
Rose quartz from Newry, MaineA rose quartz specimen from Newry, Maine, USA.Maine Mineral & Gem Museum, Bethel, MaineRose quartz forms at 400 to 700 °C in the quartz cores of pegmatites, the same kind of rock Maine's gem mines dig.Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0.
Tanzanite crystal, natural and heatedA rough tanzanite crystal shown half in its natural brownish colour and half heated to blue, labelled 'natur / gebrannt' in the museum case.Mineralogical Museum of the University of Bonn, GermanyRough tanzanite is reddish-brown to clear, and heat treatment removes that brownish veil to bring out the blue-violet, which is why nearly every tanzanite you can buy has been heated.Photo: Ra'ike, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Natural tanzanite, from the only mine area in the world.
Tanzanite rough and cut stonesA display of rough tanzanite crystals, a dish of small cut stones and a row of larger faceted gems, photographed in 2010.Deutsches Edelsteinmuseum (German Gemstone Museum), Idar-Oberstein, GermanyTiffany & Co. named the stone after Tanzania and launched it in 1968, because its scientific name, blue zoisite, was not thought friendly enough to sell.Photo: Beckstet, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Natural tanzanite, from the only mine area in the world.
Tanzanite crystal from the Merelani HillsA single prismatic tanzanite crystal from the Merelani Hills, Arusha, Tanzania, catalogue number AMGL 2010.Cantonal Museum of Geology, Lausanne, SwitzerlandTanzanite is strongly trichroic: turn a crystal like this one and it shows blue, violet or burgundy depending on the direction you look through it.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
Natural tanzanite, from the only mine area in the world.
The Sutton Hoo purse lidA kidney-shaped gold frame with garnet cellwork plaques of birds and of wolves devouring men, from the Sutton Hoo ship burial, early 7th century.British Museum, LondonThe lost leather purse under it held 37 gold coins, each from a different Frankish mint, and they are the main evidence for dating the burial.Photo: Rob Roy (Robroyaus), CC BY-SA 2.5.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
The Kingston BroochAn Anglo-Saxon disc brooch 8 cm across, of gold with garnet, blue glass, white shell and pearl inlays, 7th century, found on Kingston Down, Kent, in 1771.World Museum LiverpoolIts excavator, the Rev. Bryan Faussett, called it one of the most curious and costly pieces of antiquity ever found in England.Photo: Reptonix, CC BY 3.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
The Apahida eagle harness mountA gold eagle-shaped harness fitting decorated with garnets, from the second princely tomb at Apahida, Cluj County, Romania, second half of the 5th century (inv. 54385).National Museum of Romanian History, BucharestIt was made for a horse harness, so even a prince’s horse wore cut garnets set in gold.Photo: Laci3, CC0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
A pair of Frankish garnet disc broochesTwo cloisonné disc brooches of gilt silver with garnets over patterned foil, Frankish, first half of the 6th century.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (photographed on loan at the Chazen Museum of Art, Madison)Behind each garnet is a sheet of patterned gold foil that throws light back up through the thin red slice.Photo: Daderot, CC0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
A Byzantine agate cross with almandinesA pectoral cross of agate from the 12th century, in a 16th-century Novgorod setting of gilded silver filigree with almandine garnets, turquoise and pearls.Moscow Kremlin Museums, MoscowThe stone cross is about four hundred years older than the silver and garnet frame that Novgorod goldsmiths later built around it.Photo: shakko, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
Spessartine from the collection of René Just HaüyA dark red-brown spessartine garnet of unknown origin, formerly in the collection of René Just Haüy.National Museum of Natural History (MNHN), ParisHaüy is often called the father of modern crystallography, and this garnet was part of his own collection.Photo: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, CC BY 4.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
Spessartine on a long aquamarine crystalA long, clear aquamarine crystal carrying small orange-red spessartine garnets, from the Shigar Valley, Skardu, Pakistan.National Museum of Natural History (MNHN), ParisTwo gems on one specimen: the blue-green beryl and the orange garnet were found together, just as they grew.Photo: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, CC BY 4.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
Dr John Hunter’s grossular garnet from QuebecHoney-coloured grossular garnet crystals on white rock from Quebec, collected in the 18th century by Dr John Hunter.Hunterian Museum, GlasgowGrossular is the same garnet species as green tsavorite, which was not discovered until 1967.Photo: Stephencdickson, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
Green andradite from MadagascarA rock covered in green andradite garnet crystals from the Antetezambato mine, Antsiranana, Madagascar, acquired by the museum in 2011.National Museum of Natural History (MNHN), ParisAndradite is the garnet species that includes demantoid; this green crust shows it as it grows, before any cutting.Photo: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, CC BY 4.0.
Red garnet like the stones in this piece, as a natural loose gem.
Gustav Gaudernack's labradorite broochA 16.5 cm brooch of matt silver with filigree and labradorites, made in Norway in 1910.Nasjonalmuseet (National Museum), Oslo (OK-1983-0073)The museum files it under Jugend, the Norwegian name for Art Nouveau; it came into the collection as a gift in 1983.Photo: Gustav Gaudernack, Public domain.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
A Paul's Island specimen in Las PalmasLabradorite labelled as spectrolite from the Isle of St Paul (Paul's Island), Labrador Peninsula, shown in the exhibition Tesoros en las rocas.Museo Elder de la Ciencia y la Tecnología, Las Palmas de Gran CanariaPaul's Island, near Nain in Labrador, is the type locality of labradorite, the place that defines the mineral.Photo: JUAN RAMON RODRIGUEZ SOSA, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
Norwegian labradorite in NantesA labradorite feldspar specimen from Norway in the mineral collection at Nantes.Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Nantes, FranceNorway is better known for larvikite, a rock full of feldspar crystals that flash blue in a similar way.Photo: Koreller, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
A blue-and-gold slab from Madagascar in UstkaA polished slab of labradorite from Madagascar, labelled spektrolit, flashing blue, green and orange.Mineral Museum, Ustka, PolandStrictly, spectrolite is the name for Finnish labradorite, but the label shows how the name gets used for any labradorite with this many colours.Photo: Yarl, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
Labradorite at Naturalis, LeidenA labradorite specimen photographed and released by the Dutch national natural history museum.Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NetherlandsThe museum gave this photo to the public domain (CC0), so anyone can reuse it.Photo: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, CC0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
A specimen in the Estonian Museum of Natural HistoryLabradorite specimen ELM G28:396:1 in the museum's geological collection, photographed in 2015.Estonian Museum of Natural History, TallinnThe museum publishes its geology collection online, specimen by specimen, at geocollections.info.Photo: Mai Seppel, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Labradorite with the same blue flash, set in silver.
The Crawford CupA Roman drinking cup carved from banded blue and yellow fluorite, about AD 50 to 100.British Museum, LondonPliny describes Roman cups of soft, purple-and-white 'murrhine' stone so soft that one man of consular rank gnawed the rim of his; the Crawford Cup, found among Roman grave goods near the Turkish-Syrian border, is thought to be one.Photo: Wilson44691, CC0.
Natural fluorite, the same soft, colourful mineral.
A 3,965-carat faceted blue fluorite3,965.35 carats, cut from fluorite from the Minerva mine, Rosiclare, Illinois.National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian), Washington, DCFluorite is only 4 and splits easily in four directions, so cutting a stone this size without it cleaving is a real feat.Photo: thisisbossi from Washington, DC, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Natural fluorite, the same soft, colourful mineral.
The Chatsworth Tazza and vasesA wide Blue John tazza between two Blue John vases, made by William Adam of Matlock about 1842.Chatsworth House (Dining Room), DerbyshireBlue John, a purple-and-yellow banded fluorite, is found in Britain only under Treak Cliff at Castleton, a short drive from Chatsworth.Photo: Daderot, Public domain.
Natural fluorite, the same soft, colourful mineral.
Georgiana's Blue John bowlA bowl turned from Derbyshire Blue John, kept with the mineral collection of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire.Chatsworth House, DerbyshireBlue John's colour can be bleached out by a few hours in an oven, and restored by irradiation; why it is blue at all is still not fully understood.Photo: Pasicles, CC0.
Natural fluorite, the same soft, colourful mineral.
The Blue John vase at Kedleston HallA lidded Blue John vase on a Blue John and alabaster plinth, in Robert Adam's Kedleston Hall.Kedleston Hall (National Trust), near DerbyIn 1768 the Birmingham industrialist Matthew Boulton tried to buy or lease the Blue John mines so he could make decorative vases like this one.Photo: kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0.
Natural fluorite, the same soft, colourful mineral.
Yellow fluorite cubes from WeardalePale yellow fluorite cubes on siderite from Weardale, County Durham, England.Natural History Museum, LondonFluorite from northern England glows blue under ultraviolet light, and it was fluorite that gave the word '' its name in 1852.Photo: Daderot, CC0.
Natural fluorite, the same soft, colourful mineral.
Red fluorite on smoky quartz, Aiguille VerteRed (pink) fluorite crystals on smoky quartz from the Aiguille Verte, a 4,122 m peak in the Mont Blanc massif, France.Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, ParisThe Aiguille Verte is a 4,122-metre peak in the Mont Blanc massif, so these crystals were collected high in the French Alps.Photo: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, CC BY 4.0.
Natural fluorite, the same soft, colourful mineral.
Fluorite from SichuanA fluorite specimen from Sichuan, China, given by C. Ferraris in 2012.Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, ParisRecently found deposits in China have produced fluorite banded much like Derbyshire's Blue John.Photo: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, CC BY 4.0.
Natural fluorite, the same soft, colourful mineral.
Blue fluorite with golden pyriteBlue fluorite crystals with gold-coloured pyrite.Museo di Storia Naturale, MilanFluorite defines 4 on the Mohs hardness scale, and industry uses it as a flux for smelting metals.Photo: Giovanni Dall'Orto, CC BY-SA 2.5 it.
Natural fluorite, the same soft, colourful mineral.
The turquoise mask of XiuhtecuhtliA human face carved in cedro wood and covered in turquoise mosaic with scattered turquoise cabochons, Mixtec-Aztec, AD 1400 to 1521.British Museum, LondonXiuhtecuhtli was the Aztec 'Turquoise Lord', god of fire and the year; in Nahuatl one word, xihuitl, meant turquoise, fire and year.Photo: Andres Rueda, CC BY 2.0.
A turquoise mask, possibly of TlalocWood covered in turquoise, shell and lignite mosaic set in resin, Mixtec-Mexica (Aztec), Late Postclassic period, 1350 to 1521 AD.Dallas Museum of Art, DallasTlaloc was the Aztec rain god; every tile of this face was cut by hand and pressed into natural resin.Photo: Daderot, Public domain.
A Teotihuacan-style turquoise mask from GuerreroA mask carved in volcanic stone and covered in a mosaic of turquoise and red shell, from the state of Guerrero, in the style of Teotihuacan.National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico CityIt shows turquoise mosaic was prized in Mexico many centuries before the Aztecs.Photo: Gary Todd, CC0.
A Mixtec turquoise mosaic maskA Mixtec mask inlaid with turquoise mosaic, from Oaxaca.National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico CityIt is shown beside a bowl of loose turquoise tiles and a lump of rough turquoise, so you can see the raw stone and the finished mosaic together.Photo: Gary Todd, CC0.
The bracelets of King DjerFour bracelets of gold, turquoise, lapis lazuli and amethyst from the tomb of King Djer at Abydos, Egypt, about 3150 to 2890 BC.Grand Egyptian Museum, GizaThey were found still fastened on a linen-wrapped forearm in the wall of the tomb, and are among the oldest royal jewellery known from Egypt.Photo: Hyspaosines, CC BY 4.0.
A turquoise-inlaid bronze plaque from ErlitouBronze inlaid with turquoise in a stylised animal-mask design, Erlitou culture, China, 1900 to 1350 BC.Harvard Art Museums (Sackler Museum), Cambridge, MassachusettsErlitou had its own turquoise workshops beside the palace, and plaques like this were buried with its elite.Photo: Daderot, CC0.
A Tibetan Tara set with turquoiseThe bodhisattva Tara in gilt copper alloy with turquoise, coral and enamel, Central Tibet, second half of the 17th century.Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian, WashingtonTurquoise with coral has long been the signature pairing of Tibetan gold and silver work.Photo: Mary Harrsch, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A Navajo squash blossom necklaceSilver beads, blossoms and a crescent naja set with turquoise, Navajo, maker unknown (accession 12918.1).Honolulu Museum of Art, HonoluluThe 'squash blossoms' are really copied from the buttons on Spanish and Mexican horsemen's trousers, and Navajo smiths only began setting turquoise in silver around 1880.Photo: Hiart, CC0.
Turquoise from Cerrillos, New MexicoA specimen of turquoise from Los Cerrillos, New Mexico.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, WashingtonCerrillos is thought to hold the oldest turquoise mines in North America; Ancestral Puebloans were mining it by about 700 to 900 AD.Photo: Tim Evanson, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Orville Tsinnie's turquoise necklaceSilver and turquoise necklace with a cluster pendant, hammered, stamped and bezel-set, 73.7 cm long, by Orville Z. Tsinnie, Diné (Navajo), born 1943, Shiprock, New Mexico, about 1980.National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian, WashingtonA named Navajo master's piece: Tsinnie set each blue stone in its own silver bezel and packed them into one cluster.Photo: Smithsonian Institution, CC0.
A Zuni silver and turquoise necklaceSilver and turquoise necklace by an unknown Zuni artist, made about 1910.Denver Art Museum, DenverZuni smiths are famous for setting many small turquoise stones together, and even this early necklace has clusters of stones on every blossom and on the crescent.Photo: Epolk, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A Navajo six-strand coral and turquoise necklaceSix strands of coral with turquoise and silver on cloth, Navajo, about the 1920s, 39.4 cm (accession 71.57.1).Brooklyn Museum, New YorkRed coral and blue-green turquoise is the classic Navajo colour pair.Photo: Brooklyn Museum (gift of Marjorie Ruth Wagner), No known restrictions (Brooklyn Museum).
The Navajo jewellery wall at the Heard MuseumA display of Navajo silver and turquoise jewellery, including squash blossom necklaces, bracelets and rings, photographed in 2013.Heard Museum, PhoenixRow after row of squash blossoms shows how central turquoise became to Navajo silverwork.Photo: Scotwriter21, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A Pueblo turquoise and silver cross necklaceTurquoise and silver beads with silver cross pendants, Pueblo, southwest USA, early 20th century, 25.5 cm, acquired by Henry Walters in 1916 (accession 57.992).Walters Art Museum, BaltimoreThe silver crosses echo the Spanish Catholic rosary, brought to the Pueblos by Franciscan priests.Photo: Walters Art Museum, Public domain.
An Ancestral Puebloan turquoise necklaceA necklace of turquoise, shell and chert (phtanite), Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi), Pueblo III or IV period, AD 1100 to 1600.Art and History Museum (Royal Museums of Art and History), BrusselsIt was made centuries before Navajo and Pueblo smiths began setting turquoise in silver.Photo: Vassil, CC0.
A Chaco Canyon turquoise pendantA freeform turquoise pendant, Ancestral Puebloan, about AD 1000 to 1040, 1.3 by 1.0 cm, site 29SJ 626 (catalogue CHCU 30634).Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New MexicoAbout 200,000 pieces of turquoise have been dug up at Chaco Canyon, and more than 15,000 turquoise beads and pendants went into two burials at Pueblo Bonito alone.Photo: US National Park Service, Public domain.
A Zuni inlaid eagle broochA silver brooch in the shape of an eagle dancer, inlaid with turquoise, red, black and white stone or shell, made by a Zuni silversmith.Ethnological Museum, BerlinZuni inlay fits each coloured piece edge to edge, like a tiny stone mosaic set in silver.Photo: Anagoria, CC BY 3.0.
Michelangelo's DavidCarrara marble from the Fantiscritti quarry, 5.17 m tall, carved by Michelangelo 1501 to 1504.Galleria dell'Accademia, FlorenceThe block had been started and abandoned by other sculptors, and Florentines called it the giant before Michelangelo took it on.Photo: Jörg Bittner Unna, CC BY 3.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Michelangelo's PietàCarrara marble, carved by Michelangelo 1498 to 1499.St Peter's Basilica, Vatican CityIt is the only work Michelangelo signed, after he overheard visitors credit it to another sculptor.Photo: Stanislav Traykov, CC BY 2.5.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Venus de MiloParian marble, over 2 m tall, Hellenistic Greek, probably 160 to 110 BC.Louvre, ParisIt was found on the island of Milos in 1820 and has been in the Louvre since 1821.Photo: Livioandronico2013, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Winged Victory of SamothraceWhite Parian marble, the statue alone 2.75 m tall, Hellenistic Greek, about 190 BC.Louvre, ParisThe goddess Nike is shown landing on the bow of a warship, which forms the base.Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor (CC0 dedication), CC0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Laocoön and His SonsMarble group just over 2 m tall, dated anywhere from 200 BC to the 70s AD.Vatican Museums, Vatican CityDug up in Rome in 1506, it is very likely the statue Pliny the Elder praised in the highest terms.Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor (CC0 dedication), CC0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Bernini's Apollo and DaphneLife-size marble group by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1622 to 1625.Galleria Borghese, RomeBernini caught the instant Daphne's skin turns to laurel bark under Apollo's hand.Photo: Architas, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Bernini's Rape of ProserpinaCarrara marble group by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1621 to 1622.Galleria Borghese, RomeBernini finished it when he was just 23, carving Pluto, Proserpina and Cerberus, the guard dog of the underworld.Photo: Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Veiled ChristCarved from a single block of white marble by Giuseppe Sanmartino, completed 1753.Cappella Sansevero, NaplesThe thin veil is cut from the same block as the body, and Canova said he would give ten years of his life to have made it.Photo: David Sivyer, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's KissMarble by Antonio Canova, first commissioned in 1787.Louvre, ParisA handle near Psyche's foot let the statue be turned on its base so viewers could see every side.Photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Parthenon MarblesMarble sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens, 5th century BC, made under the direction of Phidias; includes 75 m of frieze.British Museum, LondonLord Elgin's agents removed them between 1801 and 1812, and Greece formally asked for their return in 1983.Photo: Jay.M, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Lincoln Memorial statue28 blocks of white Georgia marble, 170 tons, the seated figure 19 ft high; designed by Daniel Chester French and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, 1920.Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.The marble came from a quarry near Tate, Georgia.Photo: Raul654 (2002), CC BY-SA 3.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Canova's Three GracesMarble by Antonio Canova, carved between 1813 and 1816, the version made for the Empress Josephine.Hermitage Museum, St PetersburgJosephine died before it could be hers, and her grandson Maximilian took it to St Petersburg; a second version is shared by the V&A and the Scottish National Gallery.Photo: State Hermitage Museum, Public domain.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint TeresaWhite marble altarpiece by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, completed 1652.Santa Maria della Vittoria, RomeBernini set portraits of the Cornaro family at the sides, watching the scene as if from boxes in a theatre.Photo: Livioandronico2013, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Carrara marble quarriesOver 650 quarry sites in the Apuan Alps above Carrara, Tuscany, worked since Roman times, when the stone was called Luna marble.Carrara, ItalyMore marble has come from Carrara than from any other place on earth, including the block for Michelangelo's David.Photo: Wittylama, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Michelangelo's MosesMarble, about 2.35 m tall, carved about 1513 to 1515 for the tomb of Pope Julius II.San Pietro in Vincoli, RomeThe horns on his head come from a Latin translation of the Bible that read the rays of light on Moses’s face as horns.Photo: Szilas, Public domain.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Apollo BelvedereMarble, 2.24 m tall, a Roman copy of the 2nd century AD after a Greek bronze of about 330 BC.Vatican Museums, Vatican CityFor three hundred years Europe held it up as the most perfect statue ever made.Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen, Public domain.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Belvedere TorsoA marble fragment 1.59 m tall, signed by Apollonios son of Nestor of Athens, 1st century BC.Vatican Museums, Vatican CityMichelangelo studied it closely, and its twisting muscles turn up again in his figures on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.Photo: Yair Haklai, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Dying GaulMarble, a Roman copy of a Hellenistic bronze made for the kings of Pergamon, about 230 to 220 BC.Capitoline Museums, RomeA wounded Celtic warrior with a torque at his neck: the victors who paid for it chose to show the courage of the man they beat.Photo: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Augustus of Prima PortaMarble, 2.04 m tall, 1st century AD, found in 1863 at the villa of the empress Livia at Prima Porta.Vatican Museums, Vatican CityTraces of paint show it was once brightly coloured, as most ancient marble statues were.Photo: Joel Bellviure, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The DiscobolusThe Lancellotti Discobolus: a Roman marble copy of the 2nd century AD after Myron’s bronze of about 460 to 450 BC.National Roman Museum, Palazzo Massimo, RomeThe athlete is frozen at the top of his backswing, the instant before the throw.Photo: Livioandronico2013, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Farnese HerculesMarble, about 3.17 m tall, signed by Glykon of Athens, early 3rd century AD, after a bronze by Lysippos.National Archaeological Museum, NaplesFound in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome in 1546. The tired hero leans on his club, with the golden apples of the Hesperides hidden behind his back.Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Farnese BullA marble group about 3.7 m tall, the largest single sculpture to survive from antiquity, found in the Baths of Caracalla in 1546.National Archaeological Museum, NaplesThe sons of Antiope tie Queen Dirce to a wild bull to punish her for her cruelty to their mother.Photo: Yair Haklai, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Canova's Paolina Borghese as Venus VictrixMarble, carved by Antonio Canova from 1805 to 1808.Galleria Borghese, RomeNapoleon’s sister posed as Venus holding the apple of victory. A mechanism under the couch once turned the statue so guests could see it by candlelight.Photo: Fabrizio Garrisi, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Canova's Perseus with the Head of MedusaMarble, by Antonio Canova, completed in 1801.Vatican Museums, Vatican CityThe Pope bought it to stand where the Apollo Belvedere had been, after Napoleon carried the Apollo off to Paris.Photo: Daderot, Public domain.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Bernini's DavidMarble, life size, carved by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1623 and 1624.Galleria Borghese, RomeMichelangelo’s David waits; Bernini’s twists in the middle of the throw, biting his lip. The face is said to be the sculptor’s own.Photo: Jk1677, CC0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The head of the Colossus of ConstantineA marble head about 2.5 m tall, from a seated statue of the emperor about 12 m high, early 4th century AD.Capitoline Museums, RomeOnly the head, hands and feet were marble; the body was brick and wood covered in bronze. The pieces now stand in a museum courtyard.Photo: D. Benjamin Miller, Public domain.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Rodin's The KissMarble, about 1.8 m tall, carved from 1882 to 1898.Musée Rodin, ParisThe lovers are Paolo and Francesca from Dante’s Inferno, killed by her husband the moment they first kissed.Photo: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Michelangelo's Dying SlaveMarble, 2.15 m tall, carved from 1513 to 1516 for the tomb of Pope Julius II.Louvre, ParisThe tomb plan kept shrinking, and the slave never took his place on it. Michelangelo gave him away in 1546.Photo: Jörg Bittner Unna, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Michelangelo's BacchusMarble, 2.03 m tall, carved in 1496 and 1497 when Michelangelo was about 21.Bargello, FlorenceHe carved the god of wine visibly drunk, and the cardinal who ordered it turned it down.Photo: Rufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Hermes and the Infant DionysusParian marble, found in 1877 in the Temple of Hera at Olympia, attributed to Praxiteles, 4th century BC.Archaeological Museum of Olympia, GreeceThe traveller Pausanias saw a Hermes by Praxiteles in the same temple in the 2nd century AD; scholars still argue whether this is it or a later copy.Photo: Joyofmuseums, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Caryatids of the ErechtheionSix marble maidens that held up a porch roof on the Acropolis in Athens, about 420 to 415 BC.Acropolis Museum, Athens (one is in the British Museum)Copies stand on the Acropolis today; five of the originals were moved indoors to save them from air pollution.Photo: Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China, CC0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
A Cycladic marble figurineA marble female figure of the Plastira type, Early Cycladic I, about 3200 to 2800 BC, from a tomb at Glypha on Paros.National Archaeological Museum, AthensIslanders of the Aegean carved figures like this from local marble five thousand years ago. They were once painted, and their simple forms later inspired Modigliani and Picasso.Photo: Jebulon, CC0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The New York KourosMarble statue of a youth from Attica, about 590 to 580 BC, one of the earliest Greek marble statues of the human figure.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkThe stiff stride, left foot forward and fists clenched, is borrowed from Egyptian statues.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Trajan's ColumnA column of Carrara marble about 30 m tall, finished in AD 113, wrapped by a carved frieze about 190 m long.Rome, ItalyThe frieze tells Trajan’s two wars against the Dacians in more than 150 scenes, spiralling up the shaft.Photo: Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China, Public domain.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Sleeping HermaphroditusMarble, a Roman copy of a Hellenistic original, with a marble mattress carved by Bernini in 1620.Louvre, ParisSeventeen centuries apart: the ancient figure sleeps on a mattress so soft-looking that visitors want to press it.Photo: Pierre-Yves Beaudouin, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Barberini FaunMarble, a sleeping satyr from about 220 BC or a Roman copy, found in Rome in the 1620s.Glyptothek, MunichA drunken satyr sprawled asleep on a rock: one of the most relaxed bodies ancient art ever carved.Photo: Vitold Muratov, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Venus de’ MediciMarble, Hellenistic, 1st century BC.Uffizi Gallery, FlorenceNapoleon took it to Paris in 1802; it came home to Florence in 1815.Photo: Yair Haklai, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Milan CathedralBuilt of pinkish-white Candoglia marble, begun in 1386 and finished almost six centuries later.Milan, ItalyThe duke gave the cathedral its own quarry at Candoglia, and the marble for repairs still comes from there.Photo: l0da_ralta, CC BY 2.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Michelangelo's Madonna of BrugesCarrara marble, carved about 1501 to 1504.Church of Our Lady, BrugesThe only sculpture by Michelangelo to leave Italy in his lifetime, bought by a family of Bruges cloth merchants.Photo: Hugo Maertens, Public domain.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Houdon's Voltaire SeatedMarble, by Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1781.Hermitage Museum, St PetersburgHoudon studied Voltaire from life just before his death in 1778. Catherine the Great ordered this version.Photo: Yair Haklai, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
Canova's Theseus and the MinotaurMarble, by Antonio Canova, 1781 to 1783.Victoria and Albert Museum, LondonCanova’s first great success in Rome: not the fight, but the quiet moment after, the hero sitting on the dead monster.Photo: Victoria and Albert Museum, Public domain.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Ludovisi Battle SarcophagusProconnesian marble, about AD 250 to 260, found in Rome in 1621.Palazzo Altemps, National Roman Museum, RomeRomans and Goths fight in relief so deep and crowded that the figures seem to pour off the stone.Photo: Gfawkes05, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Kritios BoyParian marble, 1.17 m tall, about 480 BC.Acropolis Museum, AthensThe earliest known statue to rest its weight on one leg, the relaxed stance that made Greek sculpture come alive.Photo: Ismoon, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The Aphrodite of KnidosThe Ludovisi marble copy of Praxiteles’ Aphrodite, made about 360 BC for the city of Knidos.Palazzo Altemps, National Roman Museum, RomeThe first life-size female nude in Greek sculpture. Pliny says people sailed to Knidos just to see it.Photo: MumblerJamie, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Real marble, the stone of this piece, in a polished sphere.
The pectoral of Amenemhat IIIGold inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian and turquoise, about 1850 to 1800 BC, found in the tomb of Princess Mereret at Dahshur.Egyptian Museum, CairoUnder the outspread wings of the vulture goddess, the king strikes down his enemies. It was dug up by Jacques de Morgan in 1894.Photo: Bruce Allardice, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Lapis is not grown in labs. Natural lapis with gold pyrite, the same stone.
The lapis scarab of Pharaoh AmenemopeA gold pectoral with a scarab of lapis lazuli at its centre, from the king’s tomb at Tanis, about 990 BC.Egyptian Museum, CairoThe scarab pushes the sun across the sky, as the beetle rolls its ball of dung: a promise of rebirth for the king.Photo: Вера Заварицкая/Vera Zavaritskaya, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Lapis is not grown in labs. Natural lapis with gold pyrite, the same stone.
The Eye of Horus bracelet of Shoshenq IIA gold bracelet inlaid with lapis lazuli and other stones around the wedjat eye, about 890 BC, from the royal tombs at Tanis.Egyptian Museum, CairoThe wedjat, the healed eye of Horus, was the most popular protective charm in Egypt.Photo: Vivafox/Francois Galluccio, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Lapis is not grown in labs. Natural lapis with gold pyrite, the same stone.
The Royal Game of UrA wooden game board covered with shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli, about 2600 to 2400 BC.British Museum, LondonPeople in the Middle East played this race game for some three thousand years. Its rules survived on a Babylonian clay tablet.Photo: BabelStone, CC0.
Lapis is not grown in labs. Natural lapis with gold pyrite, the same stone.
A lapis necklace with a gold bullLapis lazuli beads with a gold bull pendant, from the Royal Cemetery of Ur, about 2550 to 2450 BC.Penn Museum, PhiladelphiaThe bull stood for strength and the gods. The blue beads crossed some 2,500 km from Afghanistan to reach Ur.Photo: Mary Harrsch, CC BY 2.0.
Lapis is not grown in labs. Natural lapis with gold pyrite, the same stone.
The royal seal of Ishma-ilumA cylinder seal of lapis lazuli belonging to Ishma-ilum, prince of Kisik, Early Dynastic Mesopotamia, about 2500 BC.Shown in the exhibition “Lapislazzuli. Magia del blu”, Genoa, 2015Rolled across wet clay, it printed the prince’s mark. Only the most powerful sealed in lapis.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
Lapis is not grown in labs. Natural lapis with gold pyrite, the same stone.
A lapis lazuli cup with a lidLapis lazuli with gilded mounts, attributed to the Milan workshop of Giovanni Ambrogio Miseroni, late 16th century.Louvre, ParisThe Miseroni family cut hardstone vessels for emperors and kings; cups like this went into the French royal collection.Photo: Tangopaso, Public domain.
Lapis is not grown in labs. Natural lapis with gold pyrite, the same stone.
A lapis ram pendant from EgyptA small ram smoothly carved from lapis lazuli, with a hole to hang it, ancient Egypt.Walters Art Museum, BaltimoreThe ram was sacred to Amun and Khnum. Worn at the neck, it carried the god’s protection.Photo: Walters Art Museum, Public domain.
Lapis is not grown in labs. Natural lapis with gold pyrite, the same stone.
Michelangelo's Last JudgmentA fresco painted from 1536 to 1541, its whole sky in ultramarine, the blue ground from lapis lazuli.Sistine Chapel, Vatican CityUltramarine was at times priced like gold, the costliest blue a painter could buy, so the Pope’s court supplied it. Michelangelo covered the wall with it.Photo: Vatican Museums (public domain), Public domain.
Lapis is not grown in labs. Natural lapis with gold pyrite, the same stone.
Vermeer's The MilkmaidOil on canvas, about 1658 to 1660, with natural ultramarine from lapis lazuli in the apron and the cloth.Rijksmuseum, AmsterdamVermeer used real ultramarine here, even mixing it into his shadows.Photo: Rijksmuseum, via Google Arts & Culture, Public domain.
Lapis is not grown in labs. Natural lapis with gold pyrite, the same stone.
Fra Angelico's AnnunciationTempera and gold on panel, about 1425 to 1426, with the Virgin’s robe and the starry vault in ultramarine.Museo del Prado, MadridPainters’ contracts often named ultramarine for the Virgin’s robe: the costliest blue for the holiest figure.Photo: Museo del Prado, Public domain.
Lapis is not grown in labs. Natural lapis with gold pyrite, the same stone.
The Cup of Khosrow (the 'Cup of Solomon')A Sasanian Persian cup of gold set with roundels of rock crystal, garnet and green glass around a central rock-crystal medallion carved with an enthroned king, probably made in the 6th century AD.Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque nationale de France, ParisFor centuries it sat in the treasury of the Abbey of Saint-Denis as the 'Cup of Solomon', and medieval legend said it came to Charlemagne as a gift from the caliph Harun al-Rashid; it went to the Cabinet des Médailles in 1791.Photo: Sukkoria, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Its red roundels are garnet. A garnet of the same deep red, set in silver.
The cameo of Shapur I capturing ValerianA sardonyx cameo, 6.8 by 10.3 cm, carved about AD 260: its dark and white layers show the Sasanian king Shapur I on horseback seizing the arm of the Roman emperor Valerian.Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (Camée 360)It records a real event: Valerian, captured by the Persians in AD 260, was the first Roman emperor ever taken prisoner by a foreign enemy.Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY 2.5.
Carved gems were how kings were remembered. A carved-stone signet in chalcedony’s red cousin, carnelian.
Tutankhamun's meteorite daggerA 34.2 cm dagger whose iron blade (about 11% nickel) was made from a meteorite, with a granulated gold handle ending in a rock-crystal pommel; found in 1925 inside the wrappings of Tutankhamun's mummy.Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza (photographed at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo)Iron was rarer than gold in Tutankhamun's Egypt, and a 2016 X-ray study confirmed that this blade literally came from outer space.Photo: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0 (also GFDL).Tutankhamun's diademA gold circlet inlaid with carnelian roundels edged in turquoise, lapis lazuli and blue glass, with a vulture head (obsidian eyes) and a rearing cobra at the front; Egyptian Museum number JE 60684.Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza (JE 60684; formerly Egyptian Museum, Cairo)It was found still on the head of the king's mummy, where it had held a linen cap in place.Photo: Paul Appleyard, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Egyptian jewellers set carnelian, lapis and turquoise in gold. Natural carnelian, the same warm red.
The pectoral of Senusret IIIA gold openwork pectoral, 6.1 by 8.6 cm, inlaid with carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise and amethyst, bearing the name of Senusret III (c. 1878-1839 BC); found by Jacques de Morgan in 1894 in the tomb of Princess Mereret at Dahshur.Egyptian Museum, Cairo (JE 30875, CG 52002)Two falcon-headed sphinxes, standing for the king, trample his enemies while the vulture goddess Nekhbet spreads her wings above them.Photo: Viva Fox/Francois Galluccio, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Lapis was the blue of Egyptian royalty. A natural cabochon of the same deep blue.
The pectoral of Princess SithathorA gold pectoral inlaid with carnelian, turquoise and lapis lazuli, centred on the cartouche of Senusret II and hung on a chain of gold and stone beads; from Princess Sithathor's tomb beside the pyramid of Senusret III at Dahshur, 12th Dynasty.Egyptian Museum, Cairo (JE 30857, CG 52001; photographed on tour in San Francisco, 2023)Two falcons wearing the double crown of Egypt guard the king's name, each with a cobra looping through an ankh, the sign of life.Photo: Ron Parsons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The same three stones Egypt loved; lapis is the easiest to own honestly, in natural beads.
Sithathoryunet's leopard-head girdleA girdle of gold leopard heads and double rows of amethyst beads, 81 cm round, made c. 1887-1813 BC and found in 1914 in Princess Sithathoryunet's tomb at Lahun.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (16.1.6)It belongs to the Lahun treasure, found in 1914 in a mud-filled niche of her tomb that ancient robbers had missed.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0.
Her girdle is strung with amethyst beads. A clean natural amethyst of the same violet.
The lion-headed eagle of MariA pendant of the lion-headed eagle Anzu with a lapis lazuli body and gold head and tail, about 2500 BC, found at Mari (Tell Hariri) in a jar holding about 50 precious objects.National Museum of Damascus, SyriaThe hoard is called the 'Treasure of Ur' even though it was dug up in Syria, because one of its beads names Mesannepada, king of Ur.Photo: ywpark2003 (Prof. Yong Woo Park), CC0.
Mesopotamia traded for Afghan lapis 4,500 years ago. A natural cabochon from the same kind of stone.
Ulugh Beg's jade dragon cupA jade cup with a dragon-shaped handle, 19.5 cm long, carved c. 1420-49 and inscribed with the name of the Timurid prince Ulugh Beg, grandson of Timur.British Museum, London (1959,1120.1)A later owner mended the rim with silver and had it inscribed in Ottoman Turkish: 'The generosity of God is infinite.'Photo: Rock drum, CC BY-SA (all versions) / GFDL.
Timurid jade was nephrite. A polished nephrite palm stone shows the same oily green.
The Kiani CrownThe Qajar coronation crown of Iran, made in 1796 under Agha Mohammad Khan, 32 cm tall and set with about 1,800 pearls, 300 emeralds and some 1,800 red stones listed as rubies.Treasury of National Jewels, Central Bank of Iran, TehranIt was made for the founder of the Qajar dynasty and became the traditional crown of the Qajar shahs.Photo: Eugene de Blois, CC0.
A crown of red stones, pearls and emeralds. A big lab ruby gives the same red at a fraction of the price.
The Pahlavi CrownMade by Iranian jewellers in 1926, it weighs about 2,080 g and holds 3,380 diamonds (1,144 carats), 369 natural pearls and five emeralds of about 200 carats in total, with a 60-carat yellow diamond at the front.Treasury of National Jewels, Central Bank of Iran, TehranReza Shah wore it at his coronation in 1926, and it was used for the last time when his son was crowned in 1967.Photo: Kamranfarahi, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Set with thousands of diamonds. A single lab-grown diamond is the same material, grown above ground.
Princess Khnumet's flower diademA gold diadem of rosettes between pairs of lyre-shaped flowers inlaid with carnelian, turquoise and lapis lazuli, repeated eight times, with a spray of gold leaves rising from the back; 12th Dynasty, from Khnumet's tomb beside the pyramid of Amenemhat II at Dahshur.Egyptian Museum, Cairo (JE 31105)Jacques de Morgan called the jewellery from Khnumet's tomb the most celebrated of all his finds at Dahshur.Photo: Zeinab Mohamed, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Turquoise, carnelian and lapis inlaid in gold. Real turquoise set in silver.
The seal of DariusA chalcedony cylinder seal, 3.7 cm tall, carved with a king hunting lions from his chariot below the winged god Ahura Mazda, and inscribed 'I am Darius, the (great) king' in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian.British Museum, London (89132)Said to have been found at Thebes in Egypt, then ruled by Persia, it was bought by the British Museum in 1835.Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), CC BY-SA 4.0.
A royal seal cut in chalcedony. A carnelian signet is the same idea, made to be worn.
The Gemma AugusteaA Roman low-relief cameo cut from two-layered Arabian onyx, about 19 cm tall and 23 cm wide, made in the early 1st century AD, probably by Dioscurides or his workshop.Kunsthistorisches Museum, ViennaStolen in 1590 by supporters of the Catholic League, it was sold to Emperor Rudolf II for 12,000 ducats.Photo: Andreas Praefcke, Public domain.
Roman emperors sealed with carved stones. A carnelian signet ring keeps the tradition.
The Gonzaga CameoA Hellenistic cameo carved from three layers of Indian sardonyx, 15.7 cm high, probably 3rd century BC, showing a royal couple in profile.State Hermitage Museum, St PetersburgIt passed through the Gonzagas, Queen Christina of Sweden and Napoleon's wife Joséphine, who gave it to Tsar Alexander I.Photo: Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Carved gems for the powerful. A carnelian signet ring in silver.
The Blacas CameoA large Roman sardonyx cameo, 12.8 cm high, showing the emperor Augustus in profile, probably made around AD 20-50.British Museum, LondonIt came to the British Museum in 1867 with the collection of the Duke of Blacas.Photo: Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net), CC BY-SA 4.0.
A carved portrait in layered stone. A carnelian signet ring is a wearable carved gem.
The Tazza FarneseA libation bowl about 20 cm across, carved from four-layered sardonyx agate in Ptolemaic Alexandria in the 2nd or 1st century BC.National Archaeological Museum, NaplesIt was at the court of Emperor Frederick II by 1239, and Lorenzo the Magnificent bought it in Rome in 1471.Photo: Miguel Hermoso Cuesta, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Carved from sardonyx, a banded chalcedony. Natural carnelian is the same family of stone.
The Lothair CrystalA Carolingian rock-crystal disc 11.5 cm across, engraved in 855-869 with eight scenes from the story of Susanna and the Elders.British Museum, LondonThrown into the River Meuse during the French Revolution, it was later sold by a dealer for just twelve francs.Photo: Daderot, CC0.The Alfred JewelA 6.4 cm Anglo-Saxon jewel of gold filigree around a tear-shaped piece of rock crystal over a cloisonné enamel figure, made in the late 9th century.Ashmolean Museum, OxfordIts rim reads 'AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN' ('Alfred ordered me made'), and it was ploughed up in Somerset in 1693.Photo: Giles Watson, CC BY-SA 2.0.Eleanor of Aquitaine's crystal vaseA rock-crystal vase with honeycomb carving, probably Sasanian or post-Sasanian (6th-10th century), later given a jewelled gilt mount at Saint-Denis.Louvre, Paris (MR 340)Eleanor gave it to Louis VII as a wedding present in 1137, and it is the only object of hers known to survive.Photo: Shonagon, CC0.The rock-crystal rhyton of ZakrosA Minoan libation vessel carved from rock crystal, with a handle of crystal beads on bronze wire, from the palace of Zakros, about 1500-1450 BC.Heraklion Archaeological Museum, CreteThe museum rebuilt this unique vessel from hundreds of tiny fragments.Photo: Zde, CC BY-SA 4.0.The Iron Crown of LombardySix hinged gold segments, about 605 g, set with 22 stones: seven garnets, seven sapphires, four amethysts and four of glass; its oldest parts date to the 5th-6th century.Chapel of Theodelinda, Monza Cathedral, ItalyIts inner band was said to be a nail from the True Cross, but a 1993 study found it is silver, not iron.Photo: James Steakley, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Its coloured stones include garnets. Natural garnet studs in the same deep red.
The Shrine of the Three KingsA gilded reliquary 220 cm long and 153 cm high, begun by Nicholas of Verdun around 1180 and finished about 1225, set with 304 engraved gems and over 1,000 jewels and beads.Cologne Cathedral, GermanyMany of its cameos and intaglios are ancient, pagan-era gems reused on a Christian shrine.Photo: Vassil, CC0.The Cross of CongAn Irish processional cross of about 1123-1127, 76 cm high, of oak covered in gold, silver, niello and enamel, with a large polished rock crystal at its centre.National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology, DublinKing Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair commissioned it to hold what was believed to be a piece of the True Cross under the crystal.Photo: Ceoil, CC BY-SA 4.0.The reliquary statue of Sainte FoyA seated figure about 85 cm (33.5 in) high, of gold and silver gilt over a wooden core, late 10th to early 11th century, covered in agates, amethysts, crystals, carnelians, emeralds and antique cameos.Treasury of the Abbey of Sainte-Foy, Conques, FranceIts face is thought to be reused from a Roman statue, and the saint's relics came to Conques after the monks plotted to steal them from Agen.Photo: 自由馴鹿 (ZiYouXunLu), CC BY-SA 3.0.
Studded with amethysts and other stones. A clean natural amethyst.
The Holy Thorn ReliquaryMade in Paris in the 1390s for John, Duke of Berry, just over 30 cm high and 1.4 kg, of gold and enamel with rock crystal, fourteen rubies, fourteen pearls and two large sapphires.British Museum, London (Waddesdon Bequest)In the 1860s a dealer secretly made a forgery and sent the copy back to Vienna in its place.Photo: Jonathan Cardy, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Gold set with rubies and sapphires. A lab ruby gives the same red.
The Middleham JewelA late 15th-century gold pendant about 6.4 cm across and 68 g, set with a 10-carat blue sapphire.Yorkshire Museum, YorkA metal detectorist found it on a bridle path near Middleham Castle in 1985, and the museum paid £2.5 million for it in 1992.Photo: Jonathan Cardy, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Its single blue stone is a sapphire. A lab sapphire is the same mineral, grown in a lab.
The Bust of CharlemagneA reliquary of gold, silver-gilt, gems and enamel made around 1350, holding the top of Charlemagne's skull; some of its stones are ancient intaglios.Aachen Cathedral Treasury, GermanyAt coronations it was set opposite the new king to show him as Charlemagne's rightful heir.Photo: Tuxyso, CC BY-SA 4.0.The crown of Margaret of YorkAn English crown of silver-gilt with enamelled white roses, pearls and gemstones, made around 1461 and worn by Margaret at her 1468 wedding to Charles the Bold.Aachen Cathedral Treasury, GermanyShe gave it to Aachen in 1475, which saved it from the fate of most English royal regalia in the Civil War.Photo: Armin Kleiner, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Edged with pearls. A strand of cultured freshwater pearls.
The Imperial CrossAn oak cross 77 by 70 cm covered in gold, its front set with pearls and gemstones, probably made around 1024-1030.Imperial Treasury (Kaiserliche Schatzkammer), Hofburg, ViennaIt was built to carry the Holy Lance in its arms and a piece of the True Cross in its shaft.Photo: Zairon, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Set with pearls and gems. Cultured freshwater pearls, the honest modern way to own them.
The Desborough NecklaceAn Anglo-Saxon necklace of about AD 650-700, alternating gold and cabochon garnet pendants with gold wire beads around a central gold cross.British Museum, London (1876,0504.1)The ironstone diggers who found it in 1876 shared out the pieces and returned them only when offered a reward.Photo: Lumaag, CC0.
Anglo-Saxon garnets in gold. Natural garnet studs of the same red.
The Gemma ClaudiaA five-layered sardonyx cameo 12 cm high from around AD 49, showing Emperor Claudius and Agrippina the Younger facing her parents, set in an 18th-century gold mount.Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (IX A 63)The carver cut some of its layers down to just 2 mm to make light and dark alternate.Photo: Andreas Praefcke, Public domain.
An imperial carved gem. A carnelian signet ring is a wearable one.
The Spoonmaker's DiamondAn 86-carat pear-shaped diamond set in silver and ringed by a double row of 49 old-mine-cut brilliants.Topkapı Palace Museum (Imperial Treasury), IstanbulLegend says a fisherman found it on the shore and sold it to a jeweller for three spoons, hence the name (the story is doubtful, but it stuck).Photo: Yair Haklai, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The same pear shape in a lab-grown diamond, or a small certified natural one.
The Grand Kolyvan VaseA green Revnev jasper vase weighing almost 19 tonnes, its bowl 5.04 x 3.22 m, designed by Avraam Melnikov and finished at the Kolyvan lapidary works in the Altai in 1843.State Hermitage Museum (New Hermitage), St PetersburgCarving took about fourteen years, and the vase was placed in its hall in 1851 while the New Hermitage was still being built around it.Photo: jimmyweee, CC BY 2.0.
Chalcedony, the family of onyx, agate and carnelian, in a carved signet ring.
The Rock Crystal Fabergé egg (Revolving Miniatures)A rock-crystal egg about 25 cm tall with gold, enamel and diamonds, topped by a 27-carat Siberian emerald; made by workmaster Mikhail Perkhin in 1896.Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, RichmondNicholas II gave it to Empress Alexandra; pressing the emerald turns twelve tiny paintings of places dear to her inside the clear shell.Photo: APK, CC BY 4.0.
Topped by a large emerald. A big lab emerald, cut the same way.
The Tsarevich Fabergé eggA 1912 egg of blue lapis lazuli under gold cagework, set with diamonds, made by workmaster Henrik Wigström; about 10 cm across.Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, RichmondMade in honour of the young heir Alexei, it hides a diamond-set platinum double-headed eagle holding his portrait in a sailor suit.Photo: APK, CC BY 4.0.
Carved from lapis lazuli. A natural lapis cabochon of the same royal blue.
The Lilies of the Valley Fabergé eggAn 1898 egg of rose-pink enamel and gold covered in pearls, with lilies of the valley in gold, rubies, pearls and diamonds; workmaster Mikhail Perkhin.Fabergé Museum, St Petersburg (Link of Times Foundation)Twisting a pearl button makes three diamond-framed portraits of Nicholas II and his daughters Olga and Tatiana rise out of the top.Photo: Sunny365days, CC BY 4.0.
Its lilies are pearls. Cultured freshwater pearls.
The Renaissance Fabergé eggAn 1894 egg carved from agate and set with gold, enamel, rubies and diamonds, by workmaster Mikhail Perkhin.Fabergé Museum, St Petersburg (Vekselberg collection)Alexander III gave it to Empress Maria Feodorovna, and Fabergé modelled it on an 18th-century casket in Dresden's Green Vault.Photo: Sunny365days, CC BY 4.0.
Chalcedony, the family of onyx, agate and carnelian, in a carved signet ring.
The Kazan CapA gold crown of 1553-1558, 24.8 cm high, set with a yellow sapphire, rubies, tourmalines, turquoise and pearls over a fur rim.Moscow Kremlin Museums (Armoury Chamber), MoscowTradition links it to Ivan the Terrible's conquest of Kazan in 1552.Photo: Shakko, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Set with sapphires, rubies and turquoise. A lab sapphire of the same blue.
A Silla gold crown with jade beadsA 5th-6th-century crown of sheet gold with branching uprights, hung with spangles and curved comma-shaped jade beads.National Museum of Korea, SeoulSilla crowns like this were found in royal burial mounds at Gyeongju and are among the finest gold work of ancient Korea.Photo: Gary Todd, CC0.
Its curved jade beads are jadeite. A carved jadeite pendant.
The jade suit of the King of ChuA Western Han burial suit of 4,248 jade plaques once sewn with gold wire, from the Shizishan (Lion Hill) royal tomb at Xuzhou, excavated in 1994-95.Xuzhou Museum, Jiangsu, ChinaGrave robbers pulled out the gold thread and left the jade behind, so museum restorers rebuilt the suit plaque by plaque.Photo: Gary Todd, CC0.
Thousands of nephrite plaques. A carved Hetian nephrite pendant.
A Hongshan jade pig-dragonA coiled jade 'pig-dragon' of the Neolithic Hongshan culture of north-east China (about 4700-2900 BC).Capital Museum, BeijingSome scholars think these curled creatures with pig-like heads are the earliest form of the Chinese dragon.Photo: Gary Todd, CC0.
A 5,000-year-old dragon in nephrite. A carved nephrite dragon pendant today.
The Meat-shaped StoneA Qing-dynasty carving of banded jasper only 5.73 cm high, on a gold stand.National Palace Museum, TaipeiCarved and stained to look like a piece of braised Dongpo pork belly, it is one of the museum's 'Three Treasures' with the Jadeite Cabbage.Photo: Chainwit., CC BY 4.0.
Chalcedony, the family of onyx, agate and carnelian, in a carved signet ring.
The Jade TerrapinA life-like terrapin carved from a single block of jade, 48.5 cm long and about 41 kg, made for the court of Jahangir in the early 17th century.British Museum, LondonIt was found at the bottom of a well in Allahabad in 1803 and probably once decorated a pool in a Mughal palace garden.Photo: Jononmac46, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Mughal nephrite. A polished nephrite palm stone of the same green.
Ulugh Beg's white jade jugA white jade drinking jug carved with the name and titles of the Timurid ruler and astronomer Ulugh Beg, made in about 1447-1449, probably in Samarkand.Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, LisbonThe Mughal emperors Jahangir (in 1613) and Shah Jahan later carved their own names on it, to show they were heirs of Timur.Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0.
A Mughal dagger with a jade horse's headA khanjar dagger of about 1700, 42 cm long, with a green nephrite jade hilt carved as a horse's head and set with rubies in gold.Victoria and Albert Museum, London (02566&A/(IS))Jade-hilted daggers were the height of fashion at the court of the emperor Aurangzeb (Alamgir).Photo: Wikipedia Loves Art participant "va_va_val", CC BY-SA 2.5.
A hilt of carved nephrite. A polished piece of the same stone.
Jadeite magatama from the Ukikunden siteComma-shaped magatama beads of Itoigawa jadeite from the Yayoi period (2nd-1st century BC), excavated at the Ukikunden site in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture.Saga Prefectural Museum, JapanJapan's only significant source of gem jadeite is the Itoigawa area of Niigata, so these beads travelled hundreds of kilometres to Kyushu.Photo: Peka, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Japan’s ancient beads were Itoigawa jadeite. A carved jadeite pendant.
La Lechuga, the emerald monstrance of BogotáA gold monstrance made in 1700-1707 by the Spanish goldsmith José de Galaz for the Jesuit church of San Ignacio in Bogotá, set with 1,485 Muzo emeralds plus 168 amethysts, 62 baroque pearls, 28 diamonds, 13 rubies and 1 yellow sapphire.Museo de Arte del Banco de la República, BogotáBogotanos nicknamed it 'La Lechuga' (the Lettuce) because its sea of green emeralds looks like a head of lettuce.Photo: Banco de la República (banco central de Colombia), CC BY-SA 2.0.
Colombian emeralds by the hundred. A big lab emerald, the same green.
The Kunz AxeAn Olmec ceremonial axe carved from jadeite, about 28 cm tall and dated roughly 1000-400 BC; first described by the gem expert George Kunz in 1890.American Museum of Natural History, New YorkIt is one of the largest jade objects ever found in Mesoamerica, and it is named after Tiffany's famous gemmologist rather than the people who carved it.Photo: Daderot, CC0.
Olmec jade came from Guatemala. A Guatemalan jade pendant.
The jade mask of CalakmulA Late Classic Maya funerary mask (c. 660-750 AD) made of jade tesserae with white shell and obsidian details, found in Tomb 1 of Structure VII at Calakmul, Campeche.Museo de Arquitectura Maya, Baluarte de la Soledad, Campeche, MexicoIt was laid over the face of a dead ruler of the Kaanu'l (Snake) dynasty, the great rivals of Tikal.Photo: Bernard DUPONT, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Maya jade came from the Motagua valley in Guatemala. A pendant of the same jade.
Offering 4 from La VentaAn Olmec buried offering of sixteen standing figurines (two of jade, thirteen of serpentine, one of reddish granite) arranged in a semicircle in front of six jade celts.Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico CityThe figures were ritually buried in a deep pit under coloured clay, and someone later dug a small hole down to exactly the level of their heads, as if to check on them.Photo: Gary Todd, CC0.
Olmec jadeite, from Guatemala. A pendant of the same jade.
The Moche winged-runner ear ornamentsA pair of Moche ear ornaments from Peru's North Coast, 400-700 CE, made of gold with a micro-mosaic of turquoise, sodalite and shell; each is about 9.8 cm across.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (66.196.40-.41)Each shows a bird-man running with a little cloth bag, his legs picked out in royal-blue sodalite and his eyes and beak sheathed in gold.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access), CC0.
Turquoise mosaic in gold. Real turquoise set in silver.
Dr Dee's magic mirrorA polished obsidian mirror, dated 14th-16th century by the British Museum, kept in a leather case with a label in Horace Walpole's hand; a 2021 geochemical study traced the obsidian to Pachuca, Mexico, a source used by the Aztecs.British Museum, LondonWalpole's note calls it 'the Black Stone into which Dr Dee used to call his spirits', linking the Aztec mirror to Elizabeth I's astrologer.Photo: Vassil, CC0.The British Museum crystal skullA life-size skull carved from a single block of rock crystal, sold to the British Museum by Tiffany & Co. in 1897 as an Aztec piece; it first surfaced in 1881 in Eugène Boban's Paris shop.British Museum, LondonTool marks from 19th-century jewellers' rotary wheels and quartz from Brazil or Madagascar show it is a European fake, probably cut in Germany, not an Aztec relic.Photo: Vassil, CC0.A Tahitian chief mourner's costumeA heva tupapa'u chief mourner's costume from Tahiti, Society Islands, built of polished pearl shell, coconut shell, feathers, barkcloth and wood (Bishop Museum 1971.198.001a-f).Bishop Museum, HonoluluWorn in the mourning rites for a dead chief, the shimmering pearl-shell mask left the wearer only a tiny eye hole, and Captain Cook carried about ten such costumes to Europe.Photo: Hiart, CC0.
Cultured pearls: the way almost all pearls are grown today.
The pounamu mauri stone of Te PapaA large boulder of pounamu (New Zealand greenstone) named Mauri, gifted by Ngāi Tahu to the national museum in 1986, which serves as the mauri (life-force) stone of the marae Rongomaraeroa.Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand, WellingtonUnlike almost every other treasure in a museum, visitors are invited to touch it.Photo: L Maule, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Pounamu is New Zealand greenstone. A pounamu pendant, carved in New Zealand.
A Costa Rican toucan pendant in jadeiteA bird pendant from Costa Rica's Central Region, 300-700 CE, carved from unusually clear jadeite in the form of a toucan, 6.7 cm high.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1979.206.1138)Its upright stance and folded arms suggest it is no ordinary bird but a person masked as, or turning into, a toucan.Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access), CC0.
Costa Rican jade came from the same Guatemalan source. A Guatemalan jade pendant.
A Maya royal belt ornament in jadeiteA Late Classic Maya royal belt ornament (c. 600-900 AD) of carved jadeite from Mexico or Guatemala, about 13 x 16.8 cm (Dallas Museum of Art 1976.W.2).Dallas Museum of Art, DallasMaya rulers wore jade plaques like this in sets of three hanging from their belts as part of their royal regalia.Photo: Daderot, Public domain.
Maya jadeite, from Guatemala. A pendant of the same jade.
The turquoise skull of Tomb 7, Monte AlbánA human skull covered in turquoise and shell mosaic, found by Alfonso Caso in 1932 in Tomb 7 at Monte Albán, a tomb reused by the Mixtecs and which held around 600 pieces of gold, silver, turquoise, amber and other precious materials.Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca (Santo Domingo), OaxacaIt is the only turquoise-mosaic skull ever found in a documented archaeological dig, and a shell blade once jutted from its nose.Photo: Anagoria, CC BY 3.0.
The mask of the Red QueenA funerary mask of malachite tesserae with obsidian and limestone eyes (the Met lists jadeite, malachite, obsidian and limestone; about 36.7 cm high), dated 672 CE, found in 1994 in Temple XIII at Palenque.Museo de Sitio de Palenque 'Alberto Ruz L'Huillier', Chiapas, MexicoShe is called the Red Queen because her bones were covered in bright red cinnabar, and she was buried right beside the temple tomb of King Pakal.Photo: Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Her mask is malachite. A natural malachite specimen, banded like hers.
The Warner crystal ballThe world's largest flawless quartz sphere: 242,323 carats (106.75 lb / 48.5 kg) and 12.9 in (32.7 cm) across, cut and polished in China in 1923-24 from a crystal probably mined in Burma.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, WashingtonCornelia Blakemore Warner gave it to the Smithsonian around 1930. Its label still dares visitors to find a single flaw.Photo: Jorfer, Public domain.The Ostro StoneA 9,381-carat (about 1.9 kg) faceted topaz from Minas Gerais, Brazil, about 15 cm long and treated to an intense blue; it is the largest faceted blue topaz of its kind.Natural History Museum, London (Minerals gallery, on long-term loan)Gem dealer Max Ostro kept it out of sight for decades. After his death his son Maurice lent it to the museum, and it went on show in October 2016.Photo: Greyzxq, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A giant blue topaz. A natural imperial topaz crystal, the rarer golden kind.
The Subway GarnetA 9 lb 10 oz (about 4.4 kg) almandine garnet crystal with 24 natural faces, dug up about eight feet under 35th Street in Manhattan during sewer work in August 1885.American Museum of Natural History, New York (Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals)Despite its name, it was found 15 years before New York started building the subway. The famous mineralogist George F. Kunz once owned it.Photo: Vicpeters, CC BY 4.0.
A garnet found under New York. Natural garnet crystals in the rough.
The Aurora Pyramid of Hope296 natural-colour diamonds weighing 267.45 carats in all, collected by Alan Bronstein and Harry Rodman of Aurora Gems from 1979 onwards.Natural History Museum, London (on loan since 2005)Under ultraviolet light the pyramid glows in many colours, because each diamond fluoresces differently. It was shown at the American Museum of Natural History before it came to London.Photo: Jordiferrer, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Hundreds of naturally coloured diamonds. A lab-grown coloured diamond.
The DeYoung Red DiamondA 5.03-carat round brilliant red diamond, one of the largest known natural red diamonds, which joined the National Gem Collection in 1987.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, WashingtonBoston jeweller S. Sydney DeYoung bought it at an estate sale set in a pin, where everyone took it for a garnet.Photo: MBisanz, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Natural red diamonds are the rarest colour. A lab-grown fancy-colour diamond.
The Maximilian Emerald RingA 21.04-carat Colombian emerald (NMNH G5024), now in a platinum ring that Cartier made in 1949 with baguette diamonds on either side.Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, WashingtonIt was first set in a ring worn by Archduke Maximilian of Austria, who was crowned Emperor of Mexico in 1864 and executed in 1867. Marjorie Merriweather Post later owned it and gave it to the Smithsonian in 1964.Photo: thisisbossi from Washington, DC, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0.
A big step-cut emerald. A lab emerald cut the same way.
The Hungarian opal of the HabsburgsA large precious opal held in an enamelled gold cage made in southern Germany around 1600; the jewel weighs 83.81 g (Schatzkammer inv. WS XIa 52).Imperial Treasury (Kaiserliche Schatzkammer), Kunsthistorisches Museum, ViennaIt is called 'Hungarian' because, until Australian opal was found in the 1800s, Europe's best opal came from the Dubník mines near Červenica, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary and now in Slovakia.Photo: Andrew Bossi, CC BY-SA 2.5.
A lab opal triplet, or a small solid natural black opal.
An 898-carat aquamarineA flawless faceted oval aquamarine of 898 carats; the museum label gives its origin as Russia.Natural History Museum, LondonIt is one of the famous giant aquamarines on public show, alongside Washington's Dom Pedro and a 638-carat stone in Los Angeles.Photo: Daderot, CC0.
Lab spinel in aquamarine blue, an honest look-alike (it is spinel, not aquamarine).
A citrine cluster from Rio Grande do SulA cluster of golden-orange citrine quartz crystals from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on display at the museum.Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los AngelesRio Grande do Sul is better known for its giant amethyst geodes, and much of the citrine sold today is amethyst from there turned golden by heat.Photo: Eric Polk, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Brazilian citrine is often heated amethyst from geodes like this one.
The 'Flor de Liz' tourmalineA raspberry-red elbaite (rubellite) tourmaline crystal on white cleavelandite with smoky quartz, from Conselheiro Pena, Minas Gerais, Brazil.Harvard Museum of Natural History (Mineralogical and Geological Museum), Cambridge, MassachusettsThe Conselheiro Pena district, home of the Jonas mine near Itatiaia, produced some of the finest red tourmaline crystals ever found in the late 1970s.Photo: DerHexer, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (dual).
Before a gem is cut, it is a crystal growing inside a rock: emerald in a calcite vein, ruby in marble, diamond in the volcanic pipe that carried it up. Museums keep the best of these whole, because a crystal in its rock tells you where and how it grew. These are some of the finest, photographed in museums and private collections.
Emerald in its rockMuzo, ColombiaMuzo emeralds grow in veins of white calcite running through black shale. Miners follow the white veins, and this is what they hope to find: a green crystal still locked in place.Photo: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 3.0.Own the most similarStarborn emerald crystal in matrixabout $50on Amazon →Pyrite, fool’s goldHuanzala mine, Ancash, PeruIron and sulphur, nothing more, yet it grows into brassy stacks of cubes that shine like polished metal. The Huanzala mine in the Peruvian Andes produced the most famous clusters of all; most big pyrite you see for sale is Peruvian.Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0.Own the most similarKALIFANO pyrite cluster from Peruabout $20on Amazon →Perfect pyrite cubesNavajún, La Rioja, SpainNobody cut these. Pyrite in the soft clay rock of Navajún grows as cubes so sharp and flat they look machined, sometimes interlocked like dice. Miners split the rock and the cubes come out finished.Photo: JJ Harrison, CC BY-SA 3.0.Own the most similarNatural pyrite cube from Navajún, Spain, 1.5 inabout $60on Amazon →Ruby in marbleLuc Yen, VietnamRuby forms when limestone is baked into marble by colliding continents. Marble holds almost no iron, which is why marble rubies glow such a clean red.Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0.Red spinel in marbleMogok, MyanmarSpinel grows in the same Mogok marble as ruby, and for centuries nobody could tell them apart. The Black Prince’s Ruby in the British crown is a spinel.Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0.A sapphire crystal in its rockSan Jacinto Mountains, California grows as a six-sided spindle like this one. A cutter looks at that shape and plans the stone inside it.Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0.Diamond in kimberliteMir mine, Siberia, RussiaA diamond octahedron still sitting in , the volcanic rock that carried it up from more than 150 km down. Most mined diamonds come out of pipes of this rock.Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0.Own the most similarNatural rough diamond, white-grey, 5.5 to 7 mmabout $130on Amazon →Aquamarine on micaNagar, Hunza Valley, PakistanAquamarine is beryl, the same mineral as emerald, coloured blue by iron instead of green by chromium. It grew in an open pocket in granite high in the Karakoram, next to the silver mica it still sits on.Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0.Own the most similarStarborn natural beryl crystal, 10 to 15 ctabout $20on Amazon →
Fine natural stones still change hands, and a few are listed on Amazon by specialist dealers with lab reports. Real listings, for scale:
For the lab-grown versions of the same minerals, see the gem pages, where each one is followed from the ground to the finished piece.
Photos from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown on each card. Amazon links are affiliate links (tag thegemtray-20). Listings checked October 2026; prices rounded.
Lab-grown30 ct lab-grown graduated diamond riviera necklace, 14kabout $11,500on Amazon →
Natural5 ct natural diamond riviera necklace, 14k white goldabout $5,200on Amazon →
Lab-grownLab-created star sapphire cabochon, ovalabout $15on Amazon →
NaturalUnheated natural star sapphire, 19.17 ct, Sri Lanka, GRS reportabout $7,200on Amazon →
Lab-grownLab-created blue sapphire, cushion, 8 mmabout $20on Amazon →
NaturalNatural blue sapphire, cushion, 9.03 ct, GIA reportabout $23,500on Amazon →
Lab-grownLab ruby, oval, 20.5 ct, 20 x 15 mmabout $30on Amazon →
NaturalNatural Burmese ruby, 5.11 ct, unheated, GIA reportabout $17,250on Amazon →
Lab-grownLab-created star ruby cabochon, ovalabout $14on Amazon →
NaturalNatural Burmese star ruby, 17.83 ct, untreated, GRS reportabout $3,550on Amazon →
Lab-grownLab sapphire tennis necklace, 9.4 ct total, white goldabout $350on Amazon →
NaturalNatural blue sapphire with a GIA reportabout $7,700on Amazon →
Lab-grownGilson lab opal tripletabout $13on Amazon →
NaturalEthiopian Welo opal cabochonsabout $30on Amazon →
NaturalSolid natural black opal, Lightning Ridge, 1.35 ctabout $1,150on Amazon →
Lab-grownIGI lab-grown diamond, pear shape, 3 ctabout $900on Amazon →
NaturalGIA-certified natural diamond, 1.01 ct, D colour, looseabout $4,500on Amazon →
The Napoleon necklace 50 ct lab diamond riviera necklace A full riviera of lab diamonds: museum scale, if not museum price. about $22,250 on Amazon → 
A riviera to start 4 ct lab diamond riviera necklace The same style in a wearable size. about $1,050 on Amazon → 
Crown-jewel scale, in moissanite Moissanite tennis chain, 6.5 mm stones, 24 in, 96 ct total More than twice the Hope Diamond’s weight in sparkle, on one chain. Gem’s Beauty, sterling silver. about $1,100 on Amazon → 
Iced like a treasury piece Moissanite Cuban link, 20 mm wide, 24 in Every link paved with moissanite. The widest chain we found; also sold at 14 mm. about $700 on Amazon → 
Iced like a treasury piece Moissanite Cuban link, 10 mm wide, 18 in Ucciyo, sterling silver, set link by link. about $660 on Amazon → 
Iced like a treasury piece Moissanite Cuban link, 6 mm, 20 in KRKCLIFE. Comes as a necklace or matching bracelet. about $420 on Amazon → 
A wrist full of light Moissanite tennis bracelet, 8 mm stones, 7 in, 44 ct total The biggest stones in any tennis bracelet we found. TUHE, ships on a lead time. about $420 on Amazon → 
A wrist full of light Moissanite tennis bracelet, 6.5 mm stones, 7.5 in, 28 ct total AnuClub, sterling silver, with a certificate card. about $500 on Amazon → 
A wrist full of light Moissanite tennis bracelet, 4 mm stones, 8 in, 10.5 to 14 ct about $280 on Amazon → 
The front of a royal necklace Moissanite 7-stone necklace, 7.6 ct Seven big stones across the collarbone, gold-plated silver. about $240 on Amazon → 
The Logan and Bismarck sapphires Lab sapphire emerald-cut halo necklace, 4.25 ct One big blue centre stone ringed with white. about $190 on Amazon → 
The Chalk and Mackay emeralds Lab emerald emerald-cut halo necklace, 3 ct An emerald-cut green centre in a halo. about $170 on Amazon → 
The Hope Diamond IGI lab fancy-colour diamond, cushion (blue option) Blue by boron, like the Hope, grown in a lab. about $2,350 on Amazon → 
Own the most similarStarborn emerald crystal in matrixabout $50on Amazon → 
Own the most similarKALIFANO pyrite cluster from Peruabout $20on Amazon → 
Own the most similarNatural pyrite cube from Navajún, Spain, 1.5 inabout $60on Amazon → 
Own the most similarNatural rough diamond, white-grey, 5.5 to 7 mmabout $130on Amazon → 
Own the most similarStarborn natural beryl crystal, 10 to 15 ctabout $20on Amazon →