Gems are among the most important elements of a complete piece of jewellery and often make up its centre. Gems can belong to the most diverse upper classes, the only important thing for them is that they have a beautiful appearance and enhance the piece of jewellery aesthetically. Often gemstones are minerals, but also artificially manufactured products such as glass. The science of these special stones for jewellery production is called gemmology. In addition to their attractive appearance, gemstones also have a high material value, which is determined by the perfect cut, their size and purity as well as their colour, transparency and rarity. Gemstones for high-quality jewellery are provided with a facet cut, which refracts the light in a special way and provides the characteristic sparkle. The best known gemstones are diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. Whereby the diamond in the strict sense is not a gemstone, but a hardened carbon. Also very popular as gemstones are the minerals amethyst or malachite as well as citrine. For the production of jewellery, these are usually produced synthetically. Organic materials such as amber, pearls and coral are also among the gems.
