Gemology is the study of the technical and science aspect of gems materials and the use of these aspects for identification purposes. The word “gemology” is derived from the Latin “gemma”—a gem, and from the Greek “logos”—word or speech.
The development of gemology includes two thousand years of gemstone documentations by philosophers and scientists and develops into a specialized field of minerals science. Historically, stones were priced for the colour, physical properties or ancient customs and belief. Colour was the primary method of identification for stones, for example all red stone are rubies, all blue stones are sapphire and all purple stones are amethyst, etc., and not always had a scientific basis. The transition from art to science took place during the 1900s.
During the 1900s, due to the rarity of natural pearl, the uses of pearl in jewelry pieces are very popular and highly valued. At the same time, a Japanese man, Mikimoto, have successfully perfecting the process of cultured pearl by inserting a nucleus or core into mollusk. Ever since then, the production of cultured pearl has began and these pearl have been used for jewelry ever since.
Beside culture pearl, in the 19th century the development of synthetic gems also have a great influence in the development of gemology. French scientist, Vernueil, had perfected his furnace design for the production of synthetic corundum. Synthetic corundum, such as rubies, is then introduced to the jewelry market.
Due to the fact that the physical appearances of cultured pearl and synthetic corundum are very similar to the natural ones, it is hard to differentiate between the cultured pearl from natural pearl or synthetic rubies from natural rubies. The value of natural pearl and rubies are much more valuable than cultural pearl and synthetic rubies, many businesses have taken the opportunities to sell cultured pearl or synthetic rubies at the same price range as natural pearl and gemstone. Therefore, identification is needed for gemstone, in order to determine their values and their proper care.
Knowledge of gemology is important for the gems and jewelry industry. Goldsmith create their jewelry pieces using the knowledge to handle their gems and help prevent mistakes when repairing a jewelry piece or setting stones. Lapidaries have to use the knowledge, such as the physical and optical properties when cutting from the rough or re-cutting the stone to optimize the beauty of the stone. Likewise, appraiser have to use the knowledge to identified the gems and determine their values.