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Ch. 25: Other Gemstones

Ch. 24: Onyx and Sardonyx Page of 451 Ch. 25: Other Gemstones Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
CHAPTER XXV
SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES OCCASIONALLY USED
T HE mineral world contains many beautiful materials that are without the pale which encloses the clearly defined gem stones; these " outlanders" may be classed as semi-precious stones that are only occasionally used, and while many are truly beautiful and others are in­teresting, because of rarity or peculiarities, all lack some quality—usually a sufficient degree of hardness—which would admit them into the patrician rank of Precious Stones. Because of their intense scientific interest, technical min­eralogists, who have written books about gems, not only include but devote considerable space to minerals that will not meet the eye of one manufacturing jeweller or gem dealer in one hundred, or ever be seen by one gem buyer in thousands. These stones are usually not so rare in nature as they are in stores, and their cutting and mounting is usually the result of
an individual order; otherwise they are col-
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Ch. 24: Onyx and Sardonyx Page of 451 Ch. 25: Other Gemstones
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