Gemstones: English Vocabulary List

a precious or semi-precious piece of stone cut and polished to make items of jewelry

"The gem shines in sunlight."

"The museum displayed a rare blue gem that was cut from a huge sapphire found in Sri Lanka."

a semi-precious gemstone that takes a high polish and is green, consisting of jadeite or nephrite

"The Buddha statue is jade."

"The figurine was carved from translucent green jade a stone highly valued in Chinese culture for its beauty and symbolism."

a precious or semi-precious piece of stone cut and polished to make items of jewelry

"The crown holds many jewels."

"The crown was set with many precious jewels including rubies sapphires and diamonds."

an artificial stone made of crystal glass or acrylic to look like diamond, used on clothes and in making cheap jewelry

"Her brooch has rhinestones."

"Her costume jewelry was covered in sparkly rhinestones that looked like diamonds but were actually made of inexpensive crystal."

a semi-precious gemstone that is softer than quartz and its white color shifts under the light, used in jewelry making

"The opal flashes many colors."

"She wore an opal ring that flashed many different colors as it caught the light from blue to green to fiery red."

a clear and precious gemstone consisting corundum that is usually blue but comes in many other colors except red

"Her sapphire is deep blue."

"The engagement ring featured a large blue sapphire surrounded by small diamonds instead of a traditional diamond center."

a piece of jewelry, decorated by gemstones, resembling a small crown worn on the front of the head by women

"Princess tiara worn."

"The little girl wore a shiny plastic tiara and felt like a real princess yesterday."

a gemstone that typically ranges in color from yellow-green to olive-green and is composed of the mineral olivine

"The peridot has a light green hue."

"Peridot is a green gemstone that forms deep within the earth and is brought up by volcanic activity."

a type of feldspar mineral that exhibits a unique adularescence effect, giving it a distinct glow or shimmer that appears to move across the surface of the stone

"The moonstone glows softly."

"The moonstone glowed with a soft milky blue light from within as if the stone contained a tiny piece of the moon."

a type of chalcedony mineral characterized by its banded patterns and a hardness of 6.5-7 on the Mohs scale

"The agate has banded stripes."

"The slice of agate showed beautiful concentric bands of red orange yellow and white like a natural painting."

a silicate mineral that is valued as a gemstone, typically yellow to yellow-brown in color but can also be blue, green, pink, or clear

"Her topaz is golden yellow."

"His blue topaz tie pin was a gift from his wife and matched the color of his eyes perfectly."

a mineral gemstone that typically exhibits shades of red, but can also appear in other colors such as green, orange, and brown

"The garnet is dark red."

"The dark red garnet brooch was an antique from the Victorian era set in rose gold with intricate scrollwork."

a mineral that typically occurs in various colors and is used as a gemstone in jewelry

"Tourmaline comes in many colors."

"Tourmaline comes in many colors; this rare pink tourmaline was from a mine in Brazil."