Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Gemstones

Episode Date: August 10, 2024

For thousands of years, humans all around the world have coveted gemstones.  Gemstones have been used as symbols of authority by kings, queens, and emperors, have been central to religious ceremonies, and have served as adornments for the wealthy.  While you may have heard of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, what exactly are they, and where do they come from? Learn more about gemstones, what they are and how they’ve been used throughout history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Sign up for ButcherBox today by going to Butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily at checkout to get $30 off your first box! Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Ben Long & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For thousands of years, humans around the world have coveted gemstones. Gemstones have been used as symbols of authority by kings, queens, and emperors, have been central to religious ceremonies, and have served as adornments for the wealthy. And while you may have heard of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, what exactly are they, and where do they come from? Learn more about gemstones, what they are, and how they've been used throughout history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong?

ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. In a previous episode, I discussed rocks and minerals. And so this episode can be considered a follow-up to. that one. Gemstones are usually high-quality minerals with a crystalline structure. As we'll see, some very common minerals can be considered gems if they're large enough and high enough quality.

However, the term gemstone can be a bit of a misnomer, as some gemstones are not, in fact, minerals at all. However, because they're rare and beautiful and look like gems, they get classified as gemstones in common usage. Gemstones, or just gems, can be divided into roughly two categories. Precious gemstones and semi-precious gemstones. There are only four gemstones that are considered precious. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. There are at least 200 different types of semi-precious gemstones, depending on how you define them. I previously did an entire episode on diamonds, so I'm not going to spend too much time on them. Diamonds are pure crystalline carbon that's created under extreme pressures.

and temperatures down in the earth. The first diamonds were discovered in India, which is considered the historical home of diamonds. In the 18th and 19th century, however, diamonds were discovered in South Africa and Brazil, greatly increasing the supply. Diamonds are usually clear, but can have other colors based on impurities in the crystal.

Rubies are a gem-quality version of a mineral known as carundum. Corundum is nothing more than aluminum oxide. aluminum oxide is extremely common. If you take a piece of aluminum and scratch it, a one molecule layer thick of aluminum oxide will form on its surface. Now, you might be thinking that the coating on aluminum doesn't look very much like a ruby, and you would be correct. Rubies are known for their red color, which can vary from deep red to light red,

and the word ruby comes from the Latin word for red, ruber. What makes a ruby a ruby instead of normal corundum are impurities in the crystal from the element chromium. Rubies have traditionally been found in Southeast Asia in the countries of Myanmar and Thailand, with recent discoveries in Madagascar, Kenya, and Tanzania. The next precious gem is one that is chemically very similar to ruby, sapphire. Sapphire are usually noted by their blue color. Sapphire is also a form of carundum. What differentiates sapphire from ruby is that instead of chromium, a sapphire will have titanium

and trace amounts of other elements such as iron, cobalt, lead, vandium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. There is no firm distinction between a ruby and a sapphire. Depending on the color, some pinkish-colored gems could be classified as rubies or sapphires. The word sapphire comes from the Latin word sapphireous, which comes from the Greek word for Lapis lazui. More on that in a bit. The fourth precious gemstone is emeralds. Emeralds are usually deep green and are a high-quality version of the mineral barrel. Barrel is made from beryllium, aluminum-silicate, and it's usually a light green color. Emeralds are a deeper green that comes from chromium or vanadium impurities in the barrel. Like rubies or sapphires, they can range in

color depending on the amount of impurities. Some of the first emeralds were mined in ancient Egypt, and there was also production in India and Austria. Today, the most productive emerald mines can be found in Colombia. While today there are four precious gemstones, there used to be five gemstones that were called the Cardinal gemstones. The fifth gemstone that used to be considered much more precious than it is today is amethyst. Amethyst is known for its deep, rich purple color. Purple, if you remember back to my episode on the subject,

was a very rare color in the ancient world. The dye used to make purple only came from the area around the city of Tyre in Lebanon, and it came from sea snails. Purple became associated with royalty, which, along with its rarity, made Amethyst valuable. Amethyst is just a form of quartz, an extremely common mineral. Its color comes from impurities, usually iron, and from radiation. Amethyst went from being a precious stone to a semi-precious one because large quantities were discovered. in Brazil. There are additional mines in South Korea, Russia, Uruguay, India, and Zambia. And if you've ever seen a geode, a rock filled with purple crystals, those are amethyst. The largest geode ever found is called

the Empress of Uruguay, which is 3.27 meters or just under 11 feet long. It's estimated to be worth $190,000. And I should add, if quartz has a yellowish hue rather than a purple one, it's known as citrine. As I mentioned before, there are many semi-precious stones. Basically, any mineral or stone that looks pretty can be classified as semi-precious if there is a market for it. That being said, some semi-precious gems are more popular than others. Turquoise is a bluish-green mineral that is an opaque, hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminum. It's much softer and less durable than other gemstones. It was first discovered in Iran, but large quantities have been discovered in the southwestern

United States, particularly in Arizona and New Mexico. Recent deposits have also been found in China. The amount found in the southwest is why it's so associated with southwestern jewelry and designs. Opals are a unique type of gemstone insofar as they aren't actually minerals. Opals are an amorphous form of silica that usually forms in the presence of water. Opals can take a wide variety of colors and levels of transparency, but they're best known for their ability to flash color. This ability to flash color is known as opal essence. Opels were first mined in Central Europe, but today the best known opal producing region is in Australia. And one of the

most productive regions in Australia is the town of Cuber Pedy in South Australia. When I was in Cooper Pety, I had the pleasure of going out with an opal miner one day, and it was a really interesting experience. Opal mining involves digging random holes and hoping for the best. There aren't opal mines per se like you would have for other gems. You just have a field with hundreds and hundreds of holes. One of my favorite gemstones is Peridot. Peridot is a high-quality version of the mineral olivine. Olivine isn't created in the earth's crust, but rather in the earth's mantle. It only comes to the surface via volcanoes. Peridot is olive green due to an iron in the crystal matrix. There's a magnesium version of olivine, which is a more yellowish amber color. If you visit the Big Island of

Hawaii, walk around on some of the lava fields and pick up some of the pieces of lava rock, and there's a good chance that you may see green flex in the rock. That stuff is olivine, basically tiny specks of Peridot. If you go to the southernmost point of the Big Island and go up the east coast about one mile, you will find the green sand beach, which is an entire beach made out of olivine, aka Peridot. Peridot has also been found in meteors, making it one of the only extraterrestrial gemstones. Aquamarine is a very light blueish-green version of barrel. It's actually a pretty common mineral, and as a result, it's pretty cheap. You can find two-inch aquamarine crystals on Amazon for under $10. Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminum and fluorine. It's another

gemstone that can come in a wide variety of colors, including everything from blue to yellowish orange. Blue topaz is actually quite rare, but it can be created artificially by treating colorless or lightly colored topaz with heat or radiation. As with aquamarine, you can find topaz for pretty cheap. Today, topaz can be found in a variety of global locations, including Brazil, which is not one of the world's largest producers, as well as Nigeria, Pakistan, Madagascar, Namibia, and the United States. Lampus lazuli is not a mineral, but rather a deep blue metamorphic rock that's been prized since early antiquity for its intense color. Although it isn't as prized today, it was highly prized in the ancient world, especially in Egypt.

One of the reasons it was so prized is because there isn't a lot of stuff in nature that is a deep blue. In Egypt, it was used in jewelry and ornaments, and it was also ground into powder for use as a pigment called ultramarine in paintings during the Renaissance. The most famous and historically significant source of Lapis Lazawi is the Sarisang Mine in Badakshan, Afghanistan, which has been in operation for over 6,000 years. Other notable sources include Chile and Russia, although the Afghan Lapis Lazawi is considered the finest quality due to its vibrant color and minimal calcite inclusions. The last semi-precious gemstone that I'll cover specifically is Jade. Jade was considered to be the most valuable gemstone. in ancient China. Jade is a term applied to two distinct minerals, nephrite and jadeite.

Chemically, nephrite is a calcium magnesium silicate, whereas jadeite is a sodium aluminum silicate. Historically, jade has been revered in China, symbolizing purity and moral integrity, and has been used in everything from ceremonial objects to jewelry. The main sources of nephrite jade are found in China, and other significant deposits exist in Taiwan, Russia, and New Zealand. Jadite is primarily mined in Myanmar, which is known for producing the highest quality jadite with rich, translucent green colors. In addition, Central America, particularly Guatemala, has been a notable source of jadite, dating back to the Mayan civilization. Perhaps the most common interaction people have with gemstones, both precious and non-precious, is through birthstones. Depending on which

list you use, each month in the calendar is associated with one or more gemstones. The history of birth stones is a blend of mythology, religion, and cultural tradition, dating back thousands of years. The concept likely originated from Aaron's breastplate, which was described in the book of Exodus, and contained 12 gemstones representing the tribes of Israel. Scholars and gem enthusiasts later connected those stones to the 12 signs of the zodiac and later the 12 months of the year. The connection of specific stones to individual months began to take shape in Poland during the 18th century among Jewish gem traders. However, the modern list of birthstones wasn't standardized until 1912 by the National Association of Jewelers in the United States.

The list has been updated occasionally to include more abundant or popular gemstones to better suit commercial purposes. Each stone in the list now carries some sort of significance and is thought to bring certain benefits or luck to individuals born in its corresponding month, weaving together historical beliefs and contemporary consumer culture. This practice has spread globally, making birthstones a popular and meaningful gift choice for birthdays and other significant occasions. The current generally accepted list of birthstones are, January is Garnet, February is amethyst, March is aquamarine, April is diamond, May is emerald, June is pearl, July, ruby, August, Peridot, September, Sapphire, October Opel, November topaz, and December turquoise. And this might change a little bit depending on which list. you look at. The trade of gemstones in ancient times created networks that span continents. Routes such as the Silk Road were crucial not only for the exchange of goods, but also for

cultural exchanges, including the spread of gemstone usage and lapidary techniques. Gemstones were often gifts between state leaders and played a role in diplomacy and the affirmation of alliances. Today, gemstones are still used as crown jewels as well as inexpensive of jewelry. However, the discovery of new deposits and the creation of synthetic versions of many precious stones has dramatically brought down the price. And that means that many gemstones are no longer things for kings and queens, but can be enjoyed by average people as well. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Benji Long and Cameron Kiever. I want to give a big shout out to everyone who supports

the show over on Patreon, including the show's producers. Your support, helps me put out a show every single day. And also, Patreon is currently the only place where Everything Everywhere Daily merchandise is available to the top tier of supporters. If you'd like to talk to other listeners of the show and members of the Completionist Club, you can join the Everything Everywhere Daily Facebook group or Discord server. Links to everything are in the show notes.