Aquamarine
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| The bluest aquamarines are called 'maxixe' (don't ask me how that is pronounced). Maxixes fade to white in sunlight or when heated. |
Violet Garnet
Black Pearl
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| Peridot can be found in some meteors. |
Blue Spinel
Topaz
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| Like many gems, topaz comes in a bewildering variety of colors. The rainbow-hued center specimen here is 'mystic topaz', which is colorless topaz that has been artifically treated.* |
*In my limited research it seems that a lot of modern gem stones are treated or irradiated to bring out a color they wouldn't have had in earlier periods of history. Unless you believe the Knights Templar knew how to use radiation. I don't have a reference handy but I've seen such claims in various kook books, usually following the old Ark of the Covenant and/or Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trimegistus as radioactive material/atomic reactor line of craziness.
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I recall the nuclear battery theory cropping up in one of Graham Hancock's books, some massive doorstop of a book linking everything into a conspiracy to hide the ark in Ethiopia. Brilliant, mental stuff.
ReplyDeleteSeems pretty simple to me - Dwarves know where certain places deep underground suffer from weird emanations and the Drow of course know these places for manufacture of their special equipment. They've found that leaving gems in these rare and dangerous caves changes their color, making them more valuable. This is part of the reason why Dwarven gems are so highly prized. Obviously.
ReplyDeleteAlso, keep in mind that the shaping techniques that give gems that really beautiful luster and fire is relatively modern as well. In the middle ages, they simply polished the stones, which isn't nearly as effective.
ReplyDeleteLike 1d30, however, I've decided that dwarves understand the secrets of geometry well enough to cut gems in this fashion, because, quite frankly, it's what everyone expects.