Top 10 Origins of Gemstone Names
Unfortunately, the origin of some gem names is unclear (usually gems that have been known since antiquity).
Because the first crystals were discovered in Russia in 1834, on the very day Alexander II came of age. The gem was later declared to be the national stone of tsarist Russia.
Alexandrite is a very hard and unique gem - it's the 3rd hardest gem with hardness at 8.5 out of 10. Besides, Alexandrite changes its color depending on the light (it can even change its color from green to red).
Boo, Alexander was a sack of crap.
That's a great and correct description! Unbreakable! (hardness 10 / 10).
Its name comes from the ancient Greek word "smaragdos" ("green gem") via several language modifications:
From Greek: smaragdos -> Latin: smaragdus -> Vulgar Latin: esmaralda / esmaraldus -> Old French: esmeraude -> Middle English: emeraude ->
Modern English: Emerald.
So, it was a long way from smaragdos to emerald (4 common letters remained - m, r, a, d).
This is also a correct description - emerald can be only green.
Painite is the rarest mineral/gem in the world. It was first found in Myanmar/Burma by British mineralogist and gem dealer Arthur C.D. Pain in the 1950s.
And it's found only in Tanzania, no other localities
Aquamarine is the pale blue variety of beryl. I love 'em, the beryls.
... and not after Benito Mussolini.
One of the rarest gems in the world
It resembles feathers, sometimes it's very strong and can be seen "flight feathers".
Beryl is composed of beryllium aluminium cyclosilicate.
Beryl is actually a big gem family - some of the most prominent "beryls" are Emerald, Aquamarine, Morganite, Red Beryl (aka Bixbite), Green Beryl, Goshenite, and many more.
But when the word "beryl" is used to describe a particular gem, it's the colorless variety of beryl - Goshenite.
Goshenite is actually the colorless variety of beryl