What are gemstones?

Gemstones are minerals or materials of organic origin that can be cut and polished to be used in jewelry or as an ornament, and that are characterized by being beautiful, durable and rare.

In the past, gemstones only included diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires. The other gems were called semi-precious stones.

But mineralogy and gemology eliminated this differentiation, because speaking of precious and semi-precious stones meant that one stone was more beautiful, more valuable or better than another.

Today, with the modern definition, we know that Alexandrite, Tanzanite, Morganite, Fire Opal, as well as Iolite, Garnet, Malachite and gems of lesser commercial value, are also gemstones.