image_malachite

Why aren’t all gemstones valuable?

Although there are zillions of minerals that exist on the earth, not all of them are considered valuable. Only few of them are prized as gemstones and applied as accessories jewelry. There are few logical reasons for this.

1. Colors

Many minerals don’t have beautiful colors that can be highly prized as jewelry. Color is somehow an important aspect to determine whether a particular mineral is valuable. Specific color means a kind of beauty.

2. Madeable

To be able to manufacture as jewelry, minerals must be able to be cut. An uncutable stone can not be shaped and therefore it is difficult to apply as jewelry. In addition, the mineral should also be polishable. Polish process can enhance the color as well as its shine. A fine polish by an expert can enhance the value of the gemstone.

3. Unchanged

Matters can change by time. Even diamonds can not last forever. In about 50.000 years, diamonds can break and valued just like any other common stones. Other gemstone may have shorter lifetime, vary from hundreds to thousands of years. However, the real lifetime of value mostly determine by changing taste throughout human history. For example, in Imperial Russia and in the Victorian era, malachite and other opaque minerals were highly valued as gemstones jewelry. But, today malachite is not as precious as before. They are easily found as a by-product of copper mining. Compare to expensive emerald or ruby, malachite is not highly prized as a gemstone.

In the end, gemstones and jewelry are always changing. Nothing last forever and gemstone either.  It’s all about taste, yours and mine.