02 / Explore Stones & Gems
Begin with a material, then follow its colour, structure and craftsmanship. The journals connect the story of a stone with the details worth noticing.
Sapphire hand specimen from near Kashmir, India, according to GeoDIL; University of North Dakota Mineralogy Collection 451. Photo by Nessa Eull, 2001.
Nessa Eull / Geoscience Digital Image Library, GeoDIL 1429; University of North Dakota Mineralogy Collection 451. CC0 1.0.
The primary record confirms collection, photographer, and locality: https://geodil.dperkins.org/h/1429.html . “Near Kashmir” is the source wording, not an independent origin certification.
Material journal / 03
Corundum, colour and the distinction between an observation and a laboratory conclusion.
Primary sources linked · Independent editorial
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Ellen Goin Rionda, 1945; 45.30.1. Public domain / CC0. Source record · CC0 1.0; image marked Public Domain by The Met Resized display copy; full photograph retained.
Crystal, cut and the way light returns: a considered introduction to the details behind brilliance.
Read the story
Géry PARENT, “Beryl, quartz 02.jpg”, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Source record · Public domain, author release Resized display copy; full photograph retained.
Jardin, the beryl family and the difference between a stone’s identity and the shape of its cut.
Read the storyIndependent editorial and educational content. Photographs and illustrations are study references, not sales listings. See the sources and image-credit pages for attribution.
The Salon
Three self-guided tours. A considered path through gallery photographs and colour illustrations.
Enter the Salon
Diamond-set brooch, part of a hair ornament, probably French, mid-19th century. Diamonds, gold, and silver; The Met, 45.30.1.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Ellen Goin Rionda, 1945; 45.30.1. Public domain / CC0.
Historical jewellery context; this photograph does not establish a loose-stone identification or a modern cut grade.
Make the visit your own
A new way to look closer
Compare identity, care and documented stories across six familiar gems.
Enter the gem explorerThis index brings together the journal's material guides. Begin with a name, then compare the questions each guide addresses: identity, colour, formation, documented use, treatment and care. A photograph offers a starting point for observation; it cannot establish a stone's origin or condition.
Some labels name a mineral species; others identify a variety, a group, a rock, an organic material or a trade term. Read those distinctions before treating similar appearances as the same material. The colour index uses descriptions recorded in the guides, rather than colours inferred from photographs.
Follow a material link for its complete reading and sources. Compare related guides when a question crosses names, and keep the qualifications attached to each record. The cabinet provides another route through photographs and longer histories.
These labels reproduce colour descriptions recorded in the guides. They are not specimen identifications, treatment disclosures or origin opinions. A material can appear under more than one label. Guides without a recorded colour label remain available in the A–Z index.
44 guides have no recorded colour label. All 72 material topics remain in the A–Z reading index.
Read the extended alexandrite study: changing light, chrysoberyl identity, geological sources, documented history and the limits of photographs.
Read the extended diamond study, from mineral identity and geological journeys to historical objects, cut, light and the sources behind the stories.
Read the extended emerald study: beryl identity, geological sources, historical objects, inclusions and the evidence behind a changing green story.
Read the extended opal study: material identity, geological sources, historical objects, changing light and the evidence behind its visual effects.
Read the extended ruby study: corundum identity, geological sources, historical objects, colour and the evidence behind its changing royal vocabulary.
Read the extended sapphire study: corundum identity, geological sources, historical objects, many colours and the evidence behind changing names.
Read the extended spinel study: mineral identity, geological sources, historical objects and how evidence distinguishes its story from that of ruby.
Read the extended tanzanite study: zoisite identity, its documented locality, mineral identification, naming history and the limits of image evidence.
Materials A–Z
A reading index of 72 material topics. The labels distinguish mineral species, varieties, groups, rocks, organic materials and trade terms.
The material cabinet
Species, varieties, mineral groups, rocks, organic materials and trade names have different meanings. Follow the photographs and source-led reading for all 72 material topics.
Open the 72-material reading cabinetThe family connection
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