Can you tell the difference between a precious stone and a semi-precious one? In this post, we'll show you the real difference so you don't make mistakes when shopping. Check out!
When thinking about precious stones, the first names that come to mind are: ruby, emerald, sapphire and, of course, the best known of all: the diamond. If you managed to remember the names of these 4 types of gems, you would already know by heart the entire list of so-called precious stones. This is because they are placed in this category, which emerged in the XNUMXth century.
All gems that are not considered diamonds, sapphires, rubies or emeralds and that are still used in the making of jewelry and ornaments, automatically fall under the denomination of semiprecious. Some you probably know: jade, amethyst, topaz, turquoise, among others.
But what makes a stone really precious? Well, there are a number of natural reasons that raise the relevance of a gem in the market. One of them is rarity: the more difficult it is to find a certain gem in nature, the more valuable it becomes. Resistance is also a factor that implies its value, as stones considered precious are precisely resistant and durable.
However, although the name precious stone is correct, the same is not true of semi-precious stone. The main reason is that there was never a consensus on which stones would be considered precious. Ruby, sapphire, emerald and diamond were usually classified as such. Another reason for not separating gems into precious and semi-precious is the futility of this distinction. For Brazil, which produces a good amount of emeralds and diamonds, but almost no ruby and sapphire, the distinction, more than useless, is harmful.
Although emerald, ruby, sapphire and diamond are usually expensive gems, paraiba tourmaline has an average price higher than that of ruby and sapphire (and with the deposits in the exhaustion phase, this only tends to increase). For this reason, the semi-precious classification fell into disuse in almost the entire world, surviving only in a few countries, including Brazil.
The Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT) itself recommends always avoiding the use of the word semiprecious, replacing it with precious, except in cases of commercial or legal requirements (NBR 10630).
In short: everything will depend on several factors, but one thing cannot be denied: they are all beautiful regardless of the nomenclature, right?
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