FREE: Small bag of Diamonds, Sapphires, and Gold..REAL.

Sapphire

Ancient History

Sapphire has been a royal gem, at least since the beginning of the written word and probably long before that. It is adorned for its beautiful colors, extreme hardness and has been a way of showing off power and wealth for many. Archaeological finds tell us that Sri Lanka is more than likely to be the source for sapphire in the classical world. The stones would have reached the Mediterranean cultures through the trading routes that crossed present day Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan to India. Distribution within Europe was a logical consequence over the excellent Roman roads to all the corners of the Roman Empire. The initial fashioning of sapphire wouldn't have gone further than polishing the rounded pebbles and crystals that are typical for alluvial deposits.[1] The early lapidaries gave the rough rounded stones a surface polish and the first cabochons were born. Material with parallel needle or plate-like inclusions orientated in three directions would have shown asterism. When the crystal faces were still present in the rough material these would be simply polished resulting in a partial return of light of the back faces, showing brilliance. Drilling holes with the aid of diamond abrasives allowed the classical jewelers to make sapphire beads and string them up to make necklaces and bracelets. Most settings from the classical period are closed back settings featuring skin polished crystals and pebbles. The faceting of sapphire isn't encountered until after the 16th century.

Middle Ages

During history sapphires have been attributed many powers. The stone was believed to shield the wearer from harm and disease and as an antidote against poison during the middle ages. It was the stone of choice for the ecclesiastic; like the pure sky, and mighty Nature has endowed it with so great a power that it might be called sacred and the gem of gems (after Kunz, mentioning Friburgi, 1531).

After the break down of the Roman Empire the rise of the Muslim world continued the trading routes between India and Europe. The Mediterranean cities being the distributors to the rest of Europe. A second route to the east was established in those days that allowed a faster and deeper penetration into Asia. These where the routes of the Slavic network that connected the German Hanze cities to the Mongolian postal routes that extended all the way to the eastern parts of present day China. New localities would have become available in these days; think of Burmese, Thai and Cambodian sapphires. When talking about long distance trade in history one has to realize that the volume/weight - value ratio is important. The smaller and more precious an article, the better for a trader. Gemstones have been a popular trading article throughout the history of long distance trading. A certain amount of marketing by the sellers would have been in place and can account for some of the Lore and Legends that have been documented, after all, the better the story, the better the stone.

Sapphires come in various colors. Photo by Apsara.co.ukThe increase in contact with Asian countries and cultures brought a few different things from Asia: first hand stories of far away countries with unknown wealth and gems beyond belief and secondly the bubonic plague. The latter couldn't stop the European quest to possession of the prized sapphires of the East. In the 15th century sea routes to Asia were the number one priority of several European explorers. In these days the dark Middle Ages end and the Renaissance is born. A time in which the Italian goldsmiths and stone carvers were pursuing their trades so zealously that artisanship turned into art.

Renaissance and Enlightenment

The devotion and specialization of lapidaries and goldsmiths resulted in new styles, many based on the classical period. It produced faceted stones and new settings techniques. An increase in trade and the growth of the 'bourgeoisie' created a new group of buyers, eager to show their wealth by wearing precious jewels while at the same time more and more research was done to the understanding of minerals. New continents were found, sea routes to Asia established. Trading companies were founded that devoted themselves to one thing only: importing luxury goods from the Orient. Sapphires were certainly among those products. More became known about the different localities and the stones properties. By 1652 Thomas Nichols, an English lapidary, produced a paper in which he showed an advanced knowledge of localities of sapphires and its properties. However, the mystic powers of sapphires that were alive in the Middle Ages and Ancient History weren't wiped out completely. The following quote implies a common belief of certain powers to sapphires and the exploitation of those ideas. In 1913 G.F. Kunz writes about a color change sapphire being used as a tool to test a girl's virtue in the 18th century:

"Le Saphire Merveilleux" here the sapphire is used as a test of female virtue, the change of color indicating unfaithfulness on the part of the wearer. If the owner of the stone wished to prove that the subject of the test was innocent, she was made to wear the sapphire for three hours of daylight; but in the opposite case the test was so timed that it began in daylight and ended when the candles or lamps had been lighted."

Modern History

A selection of gem corundum colors. During the second half of the 19th century the heat was on! The 'nouveau riche' of Europe and America that made their money in the industrial revolution provided the cash for many explorations all over the world. New sapphire deposits in Australia, the USA, and India were found and known deposits were mined more extensively. New techniques allowed mechanized mining to enter the various gem fields thus increasing the yield enormously. Around the turn of the 20th century a new phenomenon entered the market: synthetic sapphire. Auguste Verneuil, a Frenchman that lived from 1856 till 1913, managed to create crystalline corundum in his lab. To this day, most synthetic sapphire is created in the way discovered by Verneuil. Other ways of synthesizing sapphires have followed in the last 100 years.

Burmese sapphire crystal. Photo by crystal-treasure.comContemporary History
Although known since ancient times, heat treatment of gems was perfected in the second half of the 20th century and allowed low quality stones to be turned into beautiful gems. This enabled sapphire miners to sell some of their low quality material for better prices than before and boosted mining immensely. The Sri Lankan gueda sapphire, a pale, translucent, until then useless variety, could be turned into a striking blue stone. This resulted in an enormous increase of blue Sri Lankan stones during the 1970's. The Thais being the most skilled gem treaters saw new possibilities in certain deposits like the Australian and became very active on the world market. Heated sapphires are more rule than exception nowadays. The third quarter of the 20th century has seen a new treatment being introduced. This treatment made diffusion of titanium ions into the outer parts of a sapphire possible hence allowing the stone to appear a deeper blue. Where these diffusion techniques were able to change the outer areas of a stone only, they are now perfected to coloring the gems throughout thus making the treatment harder to detect. It is presumed that a sapphire burner in Thailand accidentally discovered that his sapphires turned another color when he heated them in the presence of Chrysoberyl. It has been proven possible to diffuse beryllium into the crystal lattice of sapphire, changing its color. A last treatment mentioned here is that of fracture filling. Although more a technique used for rubies from Möng Hsu in Myanmar, it is encountered in sapphires as well. Fractures in rough stones are being filled with high RI glass or healed by heating the stones in a flux that will cause the walls of a fracture to partially dissolve. Then, upon cooling, the corundum recrystallizes thus closing the fracture.

Next, The Diamond.

Diamond has remarkable optical characteristics. Because of its extremely rigid lattice, it can be contaminated by very few types of impurities, such as boron and nitrogen. Combined with wide transparency, this results in the clear, colorless appearance of most natural diamonds. Small amounts of defects or impurities (about one per million of lattice atoms) color diamond blue (boron), yellow (nitrogen), brown (lattice defects), green (radiation exposure), purple, pink, orange or red. Diamond also has relatively high optical dispersion (ability to disperse light of different colors), which results in its characteristic luster. Excellent optical and mechanical properties, combined with efficient marketing, make diamond the most popular gemstone.

Most natural diamonds are formed at high-pressure high-temperature conditions existing at depths of 140 to 190 kilometers (87 to 120 mi) in the Earth mantle. Carbon-containing minerals provide the carbon source, and the growth occurs over periods from 1 billion to 3.3 billion years (25% to 75% of the age of the Earth). Diamonds are brought close to the Earth surface through deep volcanic eruptions by a magma, which cools into igneous rocks known as kimberlites and lamproites. Diamonds can also be produced synthetically in a high-pressure high-temperature process which approximately simulates the conditions in the Earth mantle. An alternative, and completely different growth technique is chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Several non-diamond materials, which include cubic zirconia and silicon carbide and are often called diamond simulants, resemble diamond in appearance and many properties. Special gemological techniques have been specially developed to distinguish natural and synthetic diamonds and diamond simulants.

History

The name diamond is derived from the ancient Greek ?????? (adámas), "proper", "unalterable", "unbreakable", "untamed", from ?- (a-), "un-" + ????? (damá?), "I overpower", "I tame".[3] Diamonds are thought to have been first recognized and mined in India, where significant alluvial deposits of the stone could be found many centuries ago along the rivers Penner, Krishna and Godavari. Diamonds have been known in India for at least 3,000 years but most likely 6,000 years.

Diamonds have been treasured as gemstones since their use as religious icons in ancient India. Their usage in engraving tools also dates to early human history. The popularity of diamonds has risen since the 19th century because of increased supply, improved cutting and polishing techniques, growth in the world economy, and innovative and successful advertising campaigns.

In 1772, Antoine Lavoisier used a lens to concentrate the rays of the sun on a diamond in an atmosphere of oxygen, and showed that the only product of the combustion was carbon dioxide, proving that diamond is composed of carbon. Later in 1797, Smithson Tennant repeated and expanded that experiment. By demonstrating that burning diamond and graphite releases the same amount of gas he established the chemical equivalence of these substances.

The most familiar use of diamonds today is as gemstones used for adornment, a use which dates back into antiquity. The dispersion of white light into spectral colors is the primary gemological characteristic of gem diamonds. In the 20th century, experts in gemology have developed methods of grading diamonds and other gemstones based on the characteristics most important to their value as a gem. Four characteristics, known informally as the four Cs, are now commonly used as the basic descriptors of diamonds: these are carat, cut, color, and clarity.A large, flawless diamond is known as a paragon.

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Holy cow!

History of the "Holy Cow"

In ancient India, oxen and bulls were sacrificed to the gods and their meat was eaten. But even then the slaughter of milk-producing cows was prohibited. Verses of the Rigveda refer to the cow as Devi (goddess), identified with Aditi (mother of the gods).
Later, in the spiritually fertile period that produced Jainism and Buddhism, Hindus stopped eating beef. This was mostly like for practical reasons as well as spiritual. It was expensive to slaughter an animal for religious rituals or for a guest, and the cow provided an abundance of important products, including milk, browned butter for lamps, and fuel from dried dung.
Some scholars believe the tradition came to Hinduism through the influence of strictly vegetarian Jainism. But the cow continued to be especially revered and protected among the animals of India.
By the early centuries AD, the cow was designated as the appropriate gift to the brahmans (high-caste priests) and it was soon said that to kill a cow is equal to killing a brahman. The importance of the pastoral element in the Krishna stories, particularly from the 10th century onward, further reinforced the sanctity of the cow.

Will you ship to Canada? I think some of these would make a great addition to the hubby's gem collection.

I'm not worried about the time, every auction I have won on here has come from the US and I have no problem waiting 2 weeks to get them. Thank you for shipping to Canada. =)

I like that wheat back penny

I was wrong, it's 53 years old. It's a 1958

You should list the penny

You are so very interesting. I'd enjoy having lunch with you. Knowledge is the key that opens the door. I have many artifacts from my grandmother that have been handed down. I treasure them. They are locked away. I do use some at various powwows but not the real fragile items. I pan out here in the west for gold. It is not easy but I enjoy it. I was unable to secure the Roman ring. I will be watching this one. Thanks for great auctions and imparted wealth of information.

I enjoyed the history of the "holy cow". : )

I was asked what those tiny white things are in the bag; those are clear diamonds, but so pathetically small, I didn't mention it in the description.

Omg trying to get to the bottom of this posting lol there has to be a better place for all this knowledge hahahaha

These are real diamonds??? if they are why are you getting rod of them here?

I've enjoyed reading this string of posts and all your "factoids". :-) Alas, I will likely not have enough credits to win at the end, but that doesn't stop me from watching!! Just became a fan. Good luck with your auction (although it won't need it)! I'm sure it will go extremely well. I look forward to more of your auctions!

great auction! wish you had some better pics though. phone cameras suck!

I will definitely be fanning you. You are obliviously a very intelligent person. I try to surround myself with people i can have an interesting conversation with. you are a lot like me, a fountain of useless/useful information.