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Gem Lore

A Stone with No Antiquity: How Larimar Was Named, Marketed, and Made Local

A Stone with No Antiquity: How Larimar Was Name...

How blue pectolite from the Dominican Republic became larimar, a modern trade name and regional gem identity, and why its recent naming history matters more than any invented ancient pedigree.

A Stone with No Antiquity: How Larimar Was Name...

How blue pectolite from the Dominican Republic became larimar, a modern trade name and regional gem identity, and why its recent naming history matters more than any invented ancient pedigree.

The Garnet That Forgot to Be an Emerald: Tsavorite, Commemoration, and the Unmaking of a Misidentification

The Garnet That Forgot to Be an Emerald: Tsavor...

How green grossular garnet, once confused with emerald, became a modern option for commemorative jewelry, and why its reclassification matters for the history of mourning objects.

The Garnet That Forgot to Be an Emerald: Tsavor...

How green grossular garnet, once confused with emerald, became a modern option for commemorative jewelry, and why its reclassification matters for the history of mourning objects.

Nacre in the Ledger: How Pearl Merchants Classified Mother of Pearl

Nacre in the Ledger: How Pearl Merchants Classi...

Mother of pearl in historical trade was classified by sheen, finish, and use rather than modern mineralogy. Merchant ledgers and inventories reveal a shifting category between pearl, shell, and color.

Nacre in the Ledger: How Pearl Merchants Classi...

Mother of pearl in historical trade was classified by sheen, finish, and use rather than modern mineralogy. Merchant ledgers and inventories reveal a shifting category between pearl, shell, and color.

A Blue Stone on the Auction Block: Indicolite Tourmaline and the Reinvention of Victorian Jewelry Taste

A Blue Stone on the Auction Block: Indicolite T...

How blue tourmaline, traded as indicolite, entered nineteenth-century jewelry design through color classification, expanding gem supply, and changing consumer taste.

A Blue Stone on the Auction Block: Indicolite T...

How blue tourmaline, traded as indicolite, entered nineteenth-century jewelry design through color classification, expanding gem supply, and changing consumer taste.

Onyx, the Engraver's Stone: How Hard Stones Became a Democratic Medium

Onyx, the Engraver's Stone: How Hard Stones Bec...

How onyx became a democratic material in the glyptic arts. Explore ancient layered-stone carving, the rise of mass-produced cameos and signets, and the changing social meaning of engraved hardstone.

Onyx, the Engraver's Stone: How Hard Stones Bec...

How onyx became a democratic material in the glyptic arts. Explore ancient layered-stone carving, the rise of mass-produced cameos and signets, and the changing social meaning of engraved hardstone.

The Padparadscha Name and the Miners Who Never Used It

The Padparadscha Name and the Miners Who Never ...

Padparadscha sapphire's lotus-inspired name became an international grading term, but Sri Lankan miners used different color vocabulary. Explore how gemstone names circulate and why local knowledge often goes uncredited.

The Padparadscha Name and the Miners Who Never ...

Padparadscha sapphire's lotus-inspired name became an international grading term, but Sri Lankan miners used different color vocabulary. Explore how gemstone names circulate and why local knowledge often goes uncredited.