gems

Gübelin’s contribution is a commemorative tribute to the German mineralogist Hugo Strunz on his seventieth birthday (24 February 1980), rather than a gemological research paper. It concerns Strunz’s career and scientific contributions, particularly his work in mineralogy, crystallography, and crystal chemistry and the systematic classification of minerals for which he became internationally known; Strunz had retired from his chair at the Technical University of Berlin in 1978 after a long academic career and had produced roughly 200 scientific publications.

ammolite, Canada, gems

Gübelin introduces ammolite as a newly recognized fossil gem material derived from the iridescent aragonitic shell layers of ammonites from southern Alberta, Canada. He discusses its fossil origin, striking opal-like play of spectral colors, structure and gemological characteristics, and its preparation and use as an ornamental stone. The material’s color results from interference within the thin aragonite layers of the preserved shell, while its relative softness and thin gem-quality layer present difficulties in cutting and jewelry use. The article represents one of the earliest gemological descriptions of ammolite as a distinct commercial gem material.

gems, ancient gemology, carbuncle, corundum, history.1, garnet, spinel, ruby

Miguet examines the medieval escarboucle (carbuncle) as the legendary “stone of light,” tracing its appearances and symbolic functions in medieval French literature. The carbuncle is represented as a marvelous gem capable of emitting its own light: illuminating rooms, showing the way at night, and shining from helmets, crowns, jewelry, and other precious objects. The study draws on works including the Roman de la Rose, Raoul de Cambrai, the Voyage de Charlemagne, and other romances and chansons de geste, examining how the stone developed from the ancient carbuncle tradition into a literary and symbolic gem whose supernatural luminosity signified magnificence and wonder. Later scholarship repeatedly cites Miguet as an important study of this medieval gemstone tradition.

corundum, Greenland.12, gems

Gübelin describes the ruby occurrences of the Fiskenæsset (now Qeqertarsuatsiaat) area of West Greenland, where ruby and pink corundum occur within the Archean Fiskenæsset complex. The article places the rubies in their mineralogical and geological setting and discusses the associated minerals of this unusual assemblage. Later geological work confirms that the district contains numerous ruby–sapphirine occurrences, commonly associated with ultramafic rocks near contacts between anorthosite and amphibolite, with associated minerals including sapphirine, kornerupine, gedrite, enstatite, cordierite, spinel, pargasite, and phlogopite. Gübelin’s 1979 article is one of the early gemological accounts of the Greenland ruby deposits, which had been discovered in 1966 and were attracting commercial exploration during the 1970s.

gems, ancient gems, glyptic, archaeology, archaeogemology, rings, Greek, Roman

The Oxford University collection of Greek, Etruscan and Roman gems and rings is one of the most representative in the world. The Minoan gems, unrivalled outside Crete, and the Roman series are destined for publication in other volumes. The present wor4ks offers full descriptions, comments, and enlarged photographs of the 385 Greek and Etruscan engraved gems, scarabs, and rings, from the eighth-century B.C. to the end of the Hellenistic period. To Arthur Evans, explorer of Knossos, is due the wealth of Geometric and early Archaic stones, including a fine range of Island Gems. The later Archaic and Classical periods are well-represented, and the gifts of Greville Chester offer an unusually full sequence of the Greco-Persian stones. Charles Drury Fortnum’s great collection of finger rings, the subject of a special exhibition in the home, the Ashmolean Museum, in 1978, includes many of Greek and Roman date. The full range of the styles and engraving on Etruscan scarabs is represented, and particular attention has been paid to the Hellenistic gems, whose styles in portraiture and symbolism inspired the glyptic of early Imperial Rome. The study of ancient gems flagged in the first half of the twentieth century until recent years, and the two authors of this catalogue have done much in their previous publications to direct the attention of scholars and art historians again to these examples of a prime miniaturist art: Mr. Boardman in his studies of Greek gems and rings; Miss Vollenweider in her studies of Hellenistic and early Roman engraving. Modern methods of photography and styles of publication are called for to present the gems satisfactorily, and this is the first major catalogue of an English collection of mainly Greek gems to complement the new publications of some European collections.

gems, Ceylon, Sri Lanka, sinhalite, diopside

A gemological note on sinhalite and diopside from Ceylon.

gems, Arabic mineralogy, Persian gemology, history of gemology, Arabic gemology, al-Tamīmī, pearl,

Mineralogical and gemological extracts from the large Arabic treatise on medicine and medicaments, based on the Paris manuscript. Schönfeld notes that this pharmacopoeia is “one of many dealing with simple healing materials, which borrow from Greek pharmacopoeias, particularly those of Dioscorides and Galen.” Among its contents are a list of abbreviations, an index to the literature, a biography of al-Tamīmī, descriptions of the manuscripts, orthographic and stylistic peculiarities, a discussion of medicine and magic, and a heavily annotated translation accompanied by the Arabic text. In general, the two classes of stones found in this work are: (1) “eye-healers,” including antimony, pearl, zircon, emerald, carnelian, hematite, coral, lapis lazuli, jet, turquoise, and meerschaum, among others; and (2) personal protective devices incorporating diamond, malachite, bezoar, and other substances. Isis, Critical Bibliography, vol. 69, 1978, p. 64.

zoisite, tanzanite, Tanzania, gems

Gübelin and Weibel report further investigations of blue zoisite (tanzanite) from Tanzania, examining this relatively new gem variety from a mineralogical and gemological perspective.

gems, gemology, gem research

gems, archaeology, archaeogemology, Central Asia, Iran

Tosi examines turquoise as evidence for long-distance exchange across the Iranian plateau during the late prehistoric and protohistoric periods, treating its archaeological distribution in much the same way as lapis lazuli. He reviews possible turquoise sources in Iran and neighboring regions and compares them with finds from major settlements and craft centers, particularly Shahr-i Sokhta, where turquoise occurs alongside lapis lazuli and carnelian in evidence for specialized stone-working. The distribution suggests that turquoise was not simply a locally consumed ornamental material but formed part of wider systems through which valuable stones, finished ornaments, and technological knowledge circulated between northeastern and southeastern Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Mesopotamia, and the Indus region. Tosi stresses the difficulty of assigning archaeological turquoise to particular mines solely from appearance and therefore treats proposed source-to-market connections cautiously. The study places turquoise within the developing network of specialized production and interregional exchange that accompanied increasing urbanization on the Iranian plateau during the fourth and third millennia B.C., showing how relatively small quantities of distinctive luxury materials can help reconstruct otherwise poorly documented trade routes and economic relationships.