Modern science of precious stones. Lithotherapy - the science of stones The science of precious stones what is it called

Have you noticed how important a role stones play in people's lives? Construction of buildings and structures, interior and landscape design, sculpture and architecture are far from full list areas of their application. Whatever you do, when you go to the TENAX-shop website, you will definitely find necessary tools and a variety of chemicals for processing. For a long time, humanity has not only actively used stones for its own purposes, but also studied them from different points of view.

Mineralogy

The science of natural chemical compounds - solid components of the earth's crust. Her areas of interest include the composition, properties and conditions under which stones were formed. To date, more than 3 thousand types of minerals have been described. These include solids of natural origin, having a crystalline structure, formed during geological processes.

Petrography

Rock Science. He is engaged in their microscopic and spectrometric study with a description of the structure and composition, as well as the shape and geography of occurrence. In English-speaking countries it is better known as petrology.

Crystallography

Closely related to mineralogy. It arose as part of it, then gradually grew into a separate science. Studies the forms and structure of natural and artificial crystals, their properties and conditions of occurrence. There are physical, chemical and geometric directions of this science.

Gemology

Examines precious and ornamental stones (gems). The object of her study is not only minerals, but also amorphous structures such as amber, as well as organic formations - coral and pearls. Gemologists are interested in the properties and composition of gems, their processing technologies and decorative qualities. They also deal in synthetic stones.

All sciences are interconnected in one way or another. Knowledge of the properties they describe natural materials provide great opportunities in terms of their application. For example, TENAX stone adhesive was specially created for the best possible connection of marble or granite parts. After hardening, it can be processed in the same way as bonded materials.

Gemology is a branch of mineralogy that studies precious stones. Its task is to study the physical and chemical properties of precious minerals, their optical, as well as decorative properties. A gemologist, using special equipment, can always distinguish a natural stone from a synthetic one, and will immediately determine the imitation of a particular stone. It is no secret that store sellers often do not tell the buyer that the stone is not synthesized. Conscientious manufacturers always indicate on the labels the naturalness of the stone, which cannot be said about trade.

jadeite roses

There are authoritative gemological organizations in the world. The oldest of them, the Gemological Association of Great Britain, was founded in 1908. This is one of the leading gemological institutes in the world. Since 1929, this organization has been training and graduating qualified gemologists. In Russia, gemological research, including stone refining, is carried out at Moscow State University. There are also professional courses for training gemologists.

red tourmaline crystal

Gemology as a part of mineralogy was born along with the advent of artificial gemstones. This happened at the beginning of the twentieth century, in 1902. This year the French chemist M.A. Verneuil received and offered synthetic rubies, sapphires and spinels for sale. The market immediately reacted to the emergence of competitors. Natural natural stones jewelry-quality stones have increased in price and become available to the richest buyers, while synthetic stones have formed their own niche: cheaper, for less solvent buyers. The art of synthesizing stones developed, and synthetic emeralds and diamonds soon appeared. They are also much cheaper than natural ones.

More than four thousand minerals are known in the world, of which a third are used as jewelry (precious), jewelry, and ornamental stones. Strictly speaking, not all minerals that we call so are minerals. The frozen resin of ancient trees, amber, the skeletons of marine organisms, corals, pearls, the inner surface of shells - mother-of-pearl, a type of coal - jet, volcanic glass - obsidian are not minerals.

And, finally, synthetic stones obtained in factories and laboratories are also not minerals from the point of view of the strict science of mineralogy, since, by definition, a mineral is, first of all, a “natural crystalline formation.” These are cubic zirconias, synthetic garnets, the synthetic diamonds mentioned above, rubies, emeralds, quartz, spinel and many other analogues of natural minerals.

During the development of mineralogy, several different gemological classifications were proposed. Currently, most gemologists use the classification given below by E.Ya. Kievlenko.

This classification is a general option and does not include all minerals used in jewelry and stone cutting. In addition, some minerals, for example, alexandrite, are classified by different specialists in different sections.

Gemological classification adopted in Russia

(Classification by E.Ya. Kievlenko, based on the method of use and cost of stones)

Jewelry (precious) stones

I order: diamond, ruby, emerald, blue sapphire.

II order: alexandrite, noble jadeite, orange, yellow, purple, green sapphires, noble black opal.

III order: demantoid, noble spinel, noble white and fire opals, topaz, aquamarine, red tourmaline, rhodolite.

IV order: blue, green, pink and polychrome tourmalines, noble spodumene (kunzite, giddenite), zircon, yellow, green, golden and pink beryl, turquoise, peridot, amethyst, chrysoprase, pyrope, almandine, citrine.

Jewelry and ornamental stones

I order: smoky quartz, amber-succinite, rock crystal, jadeite, jade, lapis lazuli, malachite, aventurine, charoite.

II order: agate, colored chalcedony, cachalong, amazonite, rhodonite (eagle), heliotrope, hematite-bloodstone, rose quartz, iridescent obsidian, common opal, labradorite, other opaque iridescent feldspars.

Ornamental stones

Jasper, written granite, petrified wood, marble onyx, larchite, obsidian, jet, jaspilite, selenite, fluorite, aventurine quartzite, agalmatolite, cut stone, colored marble.

Modern science about precious stones

Gemstones are rare minerals usually found in the form of clear crystals. They are distinguished by the variety and beauty of color, strong shine, sometimes other optical effects, high hardness and strength, and durability.

They have been known since the times of primitive man, but only relatively recently, about 300 years ago, people learned to process them artistically. Cutting - creating new facets in a specific order - enhances the brilliance and beauty of stones. The art of modern cutting is based on knowledge of the laws of optics and precise mathematical calculations. Lapidary making first appeared in Ancient Egypt 3 thousand years BC.

Beauty, rarity and durability determined the high price of precious stones, making them a symbol of power, power and wealth. It was so a long time ago, it is so today and, probably, it will be in the future.

Millennia passed, and already in the 20th century people learned to artificially grow diamonds, rubies, sapphires, aquamarines, emeralds and amethysts, according to their quality and appearance not inferior to natural jewelry minerals. Today, people can artificially grow jewelry stones that do not exist in nature. These are the minerals cubic zirconia and fabulite, yttrium-gallium garnets that imitate diamonds and polished diamonds. Artificial jewelry stones are widely used all over the world, but their price is low.

The price of a real gemstone depends on individual characteristics each sample of natural mineral and its mass.

Jewelry stones are measured by their mass measure - carats, and pearls - by grains. The cost of one carat of a first-order cut gemstone on the world market is estimated at 20-25 thousand US dollars.

Technological progress has forced modern man to look for a “second profession” in precious stones, and, of course, it has been found for many minerals.

Diamond, as the hardest stone on earth, is widely used in the processing of hard materials. Small diamond crystals are used to strengthen drill bits, with the help of which the strongest rocks are destroyed at any depth. No need to be surprised: in drill bits and grinding wheels there are not diamonds, but opaque technical diamonds of any small size, even diamond dust. They make up the overwhelming majority of natural and artificial diamonds.

Domestic optical instruments use the highest quality rock crystal crystals - transparent, like pure water. Artificial single crystals are the basis of lasers and sources of optical radiation. Examples of the use of precious stones in technology can be continued.

Some legends are probably related to the variability of the beauty of gemstones. The color and shine of the stone often change depending on the light, air humidity, and the color of surrounding objects. And the perception of the beauty of a stone is the fruit of a person’s mood and state of mind. Alexandrite, for example, is violet-red under electric light, and emerald green under natural light. Gemstones shine differently in moonlight than in solar or electric light.

People can artificially change the color of gemstones. In the Urals, for example, morions - black crystals of rock crystal - from time immemorial were placed in raw bread dough and placed in a Russian oven. An hour later, the finished loaf of bread was taken out of the oven, and from it there were golden, not black, morions. Uniform heating led to a change in the color of rock crystal.

Today, in laboratory installations - muffle furnaces and thermostats, by adjusting the temperature, they have learned to change the color of topaz, beryl, zircon, amethyst and other minerals.

Some gemstones have weak natural radioactivity and thus actually have a healing effect on the human body.

Deposits of precious stones are known all over the world and have different origins. Primary diamond deposits are of deep igneous origin. They are associated with volcanic explosion pipes composed of kimberlite - a special rock first discovered in South Africa near the town of Kimberley. However, many kimberlite pipes do not contain diamonds. On the surface of the earth, these rocks weather and turn into blue clay.

Constant and numerous companions of diamonds are dark red pyrope garnet and chrysolite. But these two gem-quality minerals are extremely rare in kimberlite pipes. About 1-2 crystals out of hundreds of thousands or millions of them.

In basalts - dark deep igneous rocks that erupted at a temperature of 1000 ° C on the surface of the earth, you can find zircon, sapphire and chrysolite.

The richest deposits of precious stones are, of course, igneous pegmatite veins. They are formed during the slow cooling of granite melts heated to 1000 °C, rising from the depths of the earth to its surface. Pegmatite veins are distinguished by their coarse-crystalline structure, and in the middle there may be voids (in Ural “zanyryshi”). The walls of the “gnarly” are covered with crystals of jewelry topazes, morions, aquamarines, emeralds, and tourmalines. Here the gems are found among feldspar crystals, dark phlogopite mica and light purple lithium lepidolite mica.

Granite hot melt coming from the bowels of the Earth often chemically interacts with the rocks it reaches. When interacting with limestones, skarns are formed, and when interacting with gneisses, sandstones and shales, greisens are formed.

Among the skarn rocks, rubies, green grossular garnet, spinel, lapis lazuli, jade, peridot, chrome diopside, and demantoid are found.

In mountainous regions - in the Northern Urals, in the Swiss Alps, in the Pamirs and in many other places - there are hollow quartz veins with crystals of rock crystal, amethyst, sometimes emerald, hematite, rutile. These quartz veins originated from hot underground waters and are therefore called hydrothermal.

Not all precious stones originated in the depths of the earth at temperatures of many hundreds of degrees. It is known that amber is the fossilized resin of coniferous trees, and in some amber “tears” you can see mosquitoes and flies that lived in the ancient forest. They stuck to the resin and were walled up forever. What circumstances, random or natural, led to the formation of the only large amber deposit in all of Europe on the shores of the Baltic? This is still a mystery, or rather, many mysteries.

Only damaged trees release resin. What or who was able to damage a mass of trees in one place, when and how did this happen? Maybe a rare storm on the ancient Baltic Sea that broke pine trees is to blame, maybe a meteor shower or something else.

Precious minerals, as chemically very resistant and hard natural formations, after the destruction of primary deposits by natural forces, turn into placers, where people often find them.

Precious stones are known that were born at ordinary temperatures at shallow depths due to the influence of cold underground waters on minerals previously formed in the bowels of the Earth. These include malachite, turquoise, and noble opal.

Malachite is formed due to copper sulfide minerals oxidized by groundwater. Ancient copper coins that have lain in the ground or even stored in a damp room are also covered over time with copper greens - malachite.

Turquoise also has a similar origin to malachite. It is less common than malachite. For its formation, sources of copper, phosphorus, and aluminum are needed simultaneously. There is enough aluminum in any clay. The source of copper can be hydrothermal sulfides or native copper, and phosphorus is initially associated with apatite, phosphorite or animal bones.

A characteristic feature of almost all gem deposits is the extremely uneven presence of rare minerals in rocks. A pegmatite vein can contain hundreds of tons of written granite, tons of amazonite, and the “znorysh” will contain only 5-10 crystals of blue topaz, each 2-3 cm in size. But the “geek” still needs to be found! Along the way, pink feldspar becomes green amazonite.

Let's name the countries that are the main suppliers of precious stones to the world market. Russia supplies diamonds and amber. Czech Republic - pyrope garnets. India - sapphires, emeralds, almandine garnets. Burma - rubies. Iran - turquoise. China - jade and turquoise.

About the precious stones of Transcaucasia After liberation from Arab rule, the states of Transcaucasia received the opportunity for independent development. In the field of medicine, a national school was formed quite quickly, based on the achievements of ancient and Arab