The Beauty of Ornamental Stones

THE beauty of translucent and opaque ornamental stones is of a capricious kind, since it must emerge without the favorable combination of transparency, brilliance, and fire. While the popularity of gemstones is explained by their luminous splendor of color or varying light effects, the enchantment of design your own engagement ring ornamental stones lies in their captivating appearance and the extraordinary individuality of their patterns.

In the phenomenal stones the inclusions are only slightly noticeable beneath the shimmering light effects; but in many ornamental stones, especially in agates, they are apparent in macroscopic sizes, that is, easily visible to the eye, and indeed frequently offer a feast for the eyes. They are primarily mineral inclusions whose origin is more recent than that of the ornamental stone embracing them. Mostly as iron or manganese solutions, they have forced their way from outside into cracks and fractures and, as the solution dried out, have crystallized there into the hydrous oxides of iron (brown iron) and manganese (psilomelanite and pyrolusite). Growth usually took place so rapidly that only dendritic or other fantastic skeletal crystals could develop. In this manner the coveted dendritic, mocha, and landscape agates originated. Dreamlike designs of inimitable grace and surprising regularity, illusions of landscapes, and hair-fine webs provide a fascination which arouses a painful collecting mania in the hearts of connoisseurs.

The temptation of contemplative lingering is obvious certified diamond jewelry. The enchanted observer, letting his thoughts ramble enjoyably, is always expecting to discover ever new wonders, ever other pictures. The master painter Nature shows her most lavish side in the ornamental stones: many-streamered sheaves of fireworks explode, a mirage of fairy palaces and rolling hills shimmers on the horizon, primeval plants appear transfixed forever in stone, seismograph styluses draw trembling curves . . . and the best of it is that Nature has not preordained the designs but has sketched them from her own imagination and without models.

Thus each ornamental stone is resplendent in its own individual color, emphasized by the character of the graceful design: whether the green-banded malachite; or rhodochrosite with its pink-colored, blossomlike pattern; or turquoise, shot through with velvety brown matrix veins, or the gold-sprinkled lapis lazuli—the beauty of each and every one is incomparable.