Spinel crystal in dolomite marble, Burma
«Red fox agate» from Patagonia, Argentina
Inclusions of hematite in aquamarine, Tanzania
Inclusions of hematite in feldspar (sunstone), India
Fire opal, Mexico
Dendrites in agate
Agate from Anzi, Maroc
Epigenetic inclusion (probanly melanterite) in quartz, Brazil, parallel polarisers

Gemmology - The Aristocrat of the Natural Sciences

Even if man has succeeded in penetrating the mysteries of the life of animals and plants, precious stones preserve a mystery that arouses astonishment and deep respect.

The perfection of these enchanting products of the mineral kingdom, created millenniums ago by nature, has never ceased to fascinate humanity. Already in prehistoric times coloured pebbles, which seas and rivers had carried and polished, were collected on beaches and riverbanks.

It seems that it was men who, in order to attract the attention of their future companions, adorned themselves at first with these precious jewels before they became the noblest attributes of feminine grace. It was during the Renaissance that the extraordinary diversity of rare and precious stones prompted man to try to decipher their secrets and to discover their mysteries. Since then, the findings have continued to expand and have given way to a new science, born out of mineralogy, uniting several disciplines of the natural sciences; it has developed and became a nobility: the Science of Gemmology.