Ages ago I printed a list of ornamental gems, which continues to be the second most popular post ever on this blog. I have no idea why. For a long time I've meant to follow it up with the next group (I downloaded the pictures about six months ago) but I haven't been motivated. But since I have been working on gems this week, I guess I'll go ahead.
So here are the fancy stones (as I call them - fuck the book), with visual aids and links. The list only includes gems for which I have references. I no longer consider them to be 'worth the same amount,' though the biggest stones tend to fit into the 10 to 30 g.p. range. Not quite the same as the book, I know, but as I've said, the prices differ in my world for where you are. Included below is a price list for Kronstadt:
As before, I've tried to find pictures that show the gems in their polished state. Again, I've included the locations where they are found on Earth. The reader will notice, no doubt, that I've downgraded amethyst ... I have heard the rumors about it being rare and so on prior to the modern age, but I believe magic would have compensated for that, so I have reduced amethyst down one level in terms of value.
Also note that a lot of these tend to be the same gemstones. Amethyst is quartz, as is petrified wood in many cases (contaminated with carbon, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron or manganese). Bloodstone, chrysoprase and jasper are all forms of chalcedony.
Amethyst: America, Auvergne (France), Brazil, Ceylon, India, Madagascar, Meuglitz river basin (Czech Republic), Southwest Africa, Uruguay.
Bloodstone: America, Australia, Brazil, China, India.
Carnelian: Anatolia (Turkey), Brazil, India, Uruguay.
Chalcedony: Madagascar, Brazil, India, Uruguay.
Chrysoprase: Arizona, Brazil, California, India, Madagascar, Queensland (Australia), South Africa, Upper Silesia (Poland).
Citrine: Bahia (Brazil), Colorado, Cordoba (Spain), France, Goias (Brazil), Madagascar, Minas Gerais (Brazil), Salamanca (Spain), Scotland.
Corundum: Azerbaidzhan, Madagascar.
Jasper: America, Baden (Germany), Dauphine (France), Deccan Plateau (India), Egypt, Hunruck Mts. (Germany), North Carolina, Saxony (Germany).
Moonstone: America, Australia, Burma, Brazil, Canada, Ceylon, Colorado, India, Karelia (Russia), Madagascar, Southwest Africa, Tanzania.
Onyx: America, Argentina, Atlas Mts. (Algeria), Mexico.
Opal, common: Hungary, India, Mexico, Nevada, Western Australia.
Petrified Wood: Cairo (Egypt), Holbrook (Arizona), Patagonia (Argentina), Virgin Valley (Nevada).
Zircon: Australia, Burma, Cambodia, Ceylon, Haute-Loire (France), Madagascar, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam.
Alexis,
ReplyDeleteI think these posts are popular because they dive further into the mystique behind gemstones. Gems are the niftiest treasure you can get aside from magic items because they're so mysterious. Their value is variable, they can be made into other stuff (jewelry), they can sometime be enchanted -- gems are great treasure items.
And I think the deciding factor in why your posts about them are so popular is that you manage to bring some science to the table with actual weights and sizes, you provide compelling pictures of the little buggers and you manage to explain and support their value without destroying any of the mystique around them.
So, good job. :-)
I have to chuckle that the first thought through my mind about this post was "Oh!!! Shinies!!!!" The power of beauty. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good post.
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