Sterling Silver Jewelry: Ruby Etymology

The earliest European connection to the word Ruby, referring directly to the gem type and not describing the color, was ‘Rubinus lapis’: Latin for ‘Red Stone’. ‘Rubinus’ from the Latin ‘Rubeus’ originated from the ancient Proto-Indo-European language and its word ‘Reudh’: meaning ‘Red’. Proto-Indo-European, dating back to 3,500 B.C., was the root of all languages from Europe to India. Aside from European Greek or Latin, its influences can be seen in the Indian language of Sanskrit dating from 400 B.C., and its word for ‘Red’: ‘Rudhira’. Red is the only color in the spectrum that shares common etymological links that stretch across continents this far back into ancient history.


Although it’s no longer the case today, in ancient times Ruby was also referred to by another name. This word like ‘Reudh’ describes the Ruby’s coloration, but in a more figurative sense more closely related to the properties of a gemstone. The first recorded instance of this word appears in the Bible’s Book Of Exodus, which documents Moses leading the Hebrew slaves out of Amenhotep II’s Egypt, circa 1444 B.C.:

And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment…
And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row.
And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.

The Ruby was referred to as ‘Carbuncle’. This literally meant ‘A little burning coal’ from the prefix ‘Carbo’ as in ‘Carbon’. Pondering a ruby one can see the relevancy of the description: its deep reds burning like an ember in an open fire.

However, it seems that the ancients of the near east, unaware of the differences in red gemstones, used the term ‘Carbuncle’ as a universal term for all that was red including garnet, tourmaline and spinel. This confusion resulted in the mistaken identities of two of the most famous gemstones in history: The Timur Ruby and The Black Princes Ruby, one now in the Crown Jewels of England and the other in Queen Elizabeth II’s private jewelry collection. In 1815 both gemstones were discovered to be spinels.

The misnomer caused quite a fuss in Victorian England, so later on in1890 when the Irish author and dandy Oscar Wilde wrote ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, he was careful not to mince his words, choosing the more figurative of the red gemstones pseudonyms, carefully detailing its properties: “He would often spend a whole day settling and resettling in their cases the various stones that be had collected, such as the olive-green chrysoberyl that turns red by lamplight, the cymophane with its wire like line of silver, the pistachio-colored peridot, rose-pink and wine-yellow topazes, carbuncles of fiery scarlet with tremulous, four-rayed stars…”

Back east, home to the world’s most ancient and beautiful Ruby deposits, it seems that the art of Ruby identification was much more developed. On the ancient Southern Continent the Indian Sanskrit writings referred to Ruby as ‘Ratnaraj’: ‘The King of Jewels’, describing it as the most precious of all gemstones, the prized possession of Rajas and Emperors alike.

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Sterling Silver Jewelry: The Modern Etymology Of Sapphire

The earliest written records that show conclusive proof of both the words Sapphire, and lapis lazuli being used to describe the gems as we know them today, comes from the 12th Century A.D. ‘Silk Road’ travelogue: The Travels of Marco Polo. Marco Polo was born in Venice in 1254 A.D., and was only six years old when he set out on his first trip to China. At the age of seventeen Marco, accompanied by his uncle and brother, set out for China again. They passed from southern Europe through Armenia, Georgia, Persia, Afghanistan and into what was Turkestan.

It was during his travels through the latter area, now known as Badakhshan in Afghanistan, that Marco Polo fell ill, and was forced to stay for one year to regain his strength. During this time he made many excursions into the surrounding areas, and in doing so came across the now famous Badakhshan lapis lazuli mines, which were a recorded source of the blue gemstone for ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia as far back as 3500 B.C.

“We went three days journey from thence, without meeting any inhabitants, to the province of Balaxiam, Balascia or Balasagan, which is inhabited by Mahometans, who have a peculiar language…In this country the famous Ballas rubies are found, and other precious stones of great value, particularly in Sicinam…In other mountains of the same province, the best lapis lazuli in the world is found, from which azure or ultramarine is made.” In this passage Polo refers to lapis lazuli, the same gemstone that the ancients previously referred to as ‘Sapphirus’. Literally translated lapis lazuli means stone of ‘Azure’, the word we now use to refer to a shade of blue. The modern English ‘Azure’ is derived from the French ‘Lazur’, in turn originating from the Arabic ‘Al-lazaward’ and the Persian ‘Lajward’, named after the city of Lajward in Turkestan where lapis lazuli was mined. The Lajward lapis lazuli deposits were sourced from the 12th to 14th Centuries.

In this period, the Persians had a particular type of pottery called ‘Lajvardina’, which were ceramic vases with a dark blue glaze that was made from a dye derived from lapis lazuli. Another word Polo uses to describe the ‘Azure’ dye in his writings was Ultramarine; this described the same blue pigment made from lapis lazuli. Literally translated Ultramarine meant ‘Ultra’-‘Beyond’ and ‘Marinus’-‘Of the sea’, because lapis lazuli was imported to Europe from distant Asia by sea.

After his convalescence, Marco Polo resumed his travels visiting China where he served as translator at the court of Kublai Khan. He became one of the emperor’s favorites, being appointed high posts in his administration and was sent on a number of special missions in China, Burma and India. It was during his travels from Burma to India that he visited the island of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka.

“Sailing from Angaman 1000 miles west, and a little to the south, we come to the island of Zelan or Ceylon…This is the finest island in the world, and its king is called Sendernaz…They grow no corn except rice; and they have plenty of oil of sesame, milk, flesh, palm wine, Brazil wood, the best rubies in the world, sapphires, topazes, amethysts, and other gems.” These two passages from Polo’s travels act as comparative proof: one showing lapis lazuli originating from the Badakhshan mines in Afghanistan, the other showing Sapphires originating from Ceylon. Marco Polo’s texts give conclusive evidence that a clear distinction had been made between the two gem types, and that their use was current in Europe by at least the end of 12th Century.

After serving 17 years in Kublai Khan’s court, and accumulating great wealth in jewels and gems, Marco made the perilous 2-year journey back to Venice. Three years after Marco returned to Venice, he fought in a war against the rival city of Genoa and was captured. Marco Polo spent a year in a Genoese prison where a fellow inmate, a writer of romances named Rustichello, noted Marco’s travel stories.

After being published Marco's book became the most influential travelogue on the Silk Road ever written in a European language, paving the way for thousands of Westerners into the east for centuries to come. However, his travels into the mystic east weren’t rivaled for another 600 years, remaining the most comprehensive written documentation of Asia for that period of time.

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Written for SilverShake, an online retailer of gemstone silver jewelry and sterling silver jewelry at wholesale prices. Purchase today and get silver jewelry worth up to $60...Free!

Sterling Silver Jewelry: The Ancient Etymology Of Sapphire

The ancestry of the word Sapphire is obscured by thousands of years of etymological growth, and its roots entangled with names used to describe other gemstones both ancient and modern. Although it surfaces in many of mankind’s earliest texts, it is probable that what many of the ancients in Europe and the Near East recorded as being Sapphire is now what we call lapis lazuli. To make matters even more complicated, the gem that ancients referred to as Oriental Amethyst was probably the gem that we know as Sapphire...

The modern English word Sapphire originates from the Latin ‘Sapphirus’, which in turn is derived from the Greek ‘Sappheiros.’ The Greek word ‘Sappheiros’ originated from ancient Hebrew texts and their word ‘Sappir’ meaning precious stone. It is quite possible that this Hebrew term was introduced into the Greek language as a direct result of the translation of the Bible’s Old Testament, which was translated from Judaic and Aramaic into Greek in Ptolemaic Alexandria circa 300 B.C. Written and compiled from 1500 B.C. to 90 A.D., the Bible’s old and new testaments provide us with what is perhaps the earliest written record of the Hebrew word ‘Sappir’. It appears in the Bible’s oldest book, the Book of Job, chapter 28 verse 6 which dates from approximately 1400 B.C: “The stones thereof are the place of sapphires, and it hath dust of gold.”


From beginning to end, the two books of the Bible include passages that draw parallels between the glinting stars in the blue firmament of the heavens and the Sapphire. However, as most gemologists and etymologists agree the description of ‘Job’s’ gem containing “…dust of gold”, does not describe the physical properties of what we call Sapphire.

This corundum conundrum is further compounded in the works of the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, successor to Alexander the Greats' tutor Aristotle, and the world’s first mineralogist, who in 314 BC wrote: "…the sapphirus, is speckled as if with gold". A similar observation was made some three hundred years later in 77 A.D. by ‘Pliny the Elder’, who wrote the world’s first encyclopedia entitled ‘Natural History’. In chapter 37 of the ninth book Pliny states: "…for the Saphirrus also glittereth with markes and prickes of gold." Both of these descriptions provide almost irrefutable evidence that the ‘Sapphirus’ of the ancients with its golden properties was not our Sapphire, but what we now call lapis lazuli.

Lapis Lazuli, translated from Latin as ‘Stone of Azure’, was a prolific gemstone found in ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian burial sites dating as far back as 3000 B.C. Lapis Lazuli fits the ancient gemstone descriptions of Sapphire because in its normal state it contains particles of a mineral called Iron Pyrites. This mineral is also known as ‘Fools Gold’, because of its close resemblance and subsequent confusion with gold.

Ironically, the answer to our quest for Sapphire’s earliest roots may lie in the same book by Pliny. However, it lies in an earlier chapter that describes one of the four varieties of a gem variety that was known to the ancients as Indian or Oriental Amethyst. Pliny states: “… A third stone (Variety of Oriental Amethyst) of this class is of a more diluted color, and is known as ‘Sapenos’…” Although, there is a lack of conclusive proof, Pliny’s description of ‘Sapenos’ as a type of bluish-violet Amethyst appears to be far closer both in etymological name, color and geographical location to what we now know as Sapphire. It is quite probable that Pliny's description of ‘Sapenos', as a type of Oriental Amethyst, was the birth of the term we now use for the modern Sapphire.

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Sterling Silver Jewelry: The Definition Of Topaz

Topaz (To-Paz): The roots of the word Topaz first burgeoned into life in ancient Egypt, circa 300B.C., under the Pharaoh Ptolemy II. However, what the Egyptians, Greeks and subsequent Romans came to refer to as Topaz was in fact what we call Peridot. In reality the mineral known as Topaz, has only been officially recognized since the 17th Century. At that time, hundreds of kilos were sourced from Saxony in East Germany, later massive deposits were also found in South America.

Topaz was first discovered in the ‘New World’, under the reigning Portuguese colonialists, in the Brazilian mines of Villa Rica near Ouro Prêto. From these mines came a colored Topaz never seen before. Owing to the Portuguese royal family’s love of these gems, this variety received one of Topaz’s most prestigious titles: Imperial.

‘Imperial’ Topaz is the most coveted of all the Topaz family. Its name is used to denote colors that fall between a scintillating golden and orange-brown, for the most part Imperial Topaz is sourced from the mines of Ouro Prêto in Brazil. Another highly prized Topaz is the pink variety, which is sourced from Brazil and also the Katlang region in Pakistan. Most Pink Topaz derives its color from chromium present within the gems crystal structure. Heating the dark-yellow variety of Topaz can also produce Pink Topaz. Naturally occurring Yellow and Brown Topaz owe their colors to ‘Color Centers,’ the infamous ‘Swiss,’ ‘Sky’ and ‘London’ Blue Topaz are often derived from these two sources by a process of irradiating ‘Out’ the Yellow and Brown ‘Color Centers.’

Color centers are the cause of color within some Topaz crystals; they result from defects within the atomic structure of the crystal, which cause certain colors to become visible by the absorption of other light waves. Color centers are formed due to exposure to gamma rays; this irradiation may be from both natural and artificial sources. When exposed to radioactive sources, both natural and artificial, electrons within the atomic structure of Topaz can be removed from their normal sites. Some electrons are bounced around, eventually coming to rest in a vacant part of the atomic structure called a trap. Electrons in specific traps absorb a certain range of light wavelengths, the visible color that you see is the color that is not absorbed by these trapped electrons.

Naturally occurring ‘Colorless,’ or ‘White,’ Topaz takes a very high polish and is wonderfully clear and transparent. A relative new comer to the Topaz family is Mystic Topaz, which is produced by taking ‘Colorless’ Topaz and applying a thin layer of titanium oxide via physical vapor deposition. This process is similar to the method used in coating camera lenses, and produces an iridescent effect across the gems surface. Mystic Topaz, coming in a wide variety of colored nuances, is extremely popular and one of the most successful colored gemstones available today.

Topaz crystallizes from fluorine-bearing vapor in last stages of solidification of igneous rocks. In mineralogical terms it is a silicate of aluminum and fluorine denoted by the chemical formula Al2SiO4(F,OH)2. It is found in association with granite rocks, within pegmatite veins and in secondary concentrations such as streambed alluvial deposits.

Topaz crystals form in the rhombic system of crystallization, and its crystals are prismatic. Topaz possesses a perfect basal cleavage; therefore gems should be handled with care. Despite this fact, Topaz is one of the hardest minerals known to man attaining an 8 out of 10 on the Moh’s hardness scale, second only to corundum and diamond. Most Topaz is transparent to translucent with a vitreous glass-like luster. However, naturally occurring Pink and Red Topaz is often included due to the presence of the impurity chromium. These pink colored Topazes are so rare that the inclusions are, much like with ruby, tolerated and even valued as identifying fingerprints.

Topaz is sourced from the mines of Ouro Preto and Minas Gerais in Brazil, the Ural and Ilmen Mountains in Russia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Czech Republic, Saxony, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Mexico and the United States.

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Written for SilverShake, an online retailer of topaz silver jewelry and sterling silver jewelry at wholesale prices. Purchase today and get silver jewelry worth up to $60...Free!