The earth is full of colourful and beautiful stones and we can learn how the beautiful stones are mined and how they become fine jewelry at last in this exhibition.
1st part
The 1st part is to know the basic knowledge about the rough stones which could become gems.
Most of the precious stones are lying in the deep earth under 600km, so it needs hard work to get those stones. The rough gemstones are formed over millions of years as magma undergoes, water, gas, pressure, and severe temperature changes.
After some processing as cutting, a rough stone becomes a gemstone. Cutting is the most important technique to maximize the characteristics of gemstones from each rough status.
2nd part
In the 2nd part, we can see the processing technology of cutting rough stones and how each mineral become a beautifully shining gem.
Very impressive to see how a just boring stone with dull color, no shining, and is not beautiful transformed into a beautiful gem. It is gradually getting more clarity, colour, and brightness with more adding the cutting procedure.
The value of gems is standardized by brilliance, glitter, color, and strength. You know diamonds hit the high point to all these standards.
3rd part
In the 3rd part, Diamonds are displayed in order of brilliance or color to understand how they are graded.
And also sapphire, ruby, and emerald are displayed similar way. I was impressed there are pink, yellow, orange, violet, and red sapphires, not only blue! Sapphire and ruby are scientifically the same minerals, and the only red colour is called sapphire. In the past, all gemstones are named according to their colours, but now they are segregated by scientific composition.
Moreover, a lot of rare stones such as phosphophyllite and sphene are also exhibited. It is a rare chance to see so many colourful gemstones showing various expressions with a scientific explanation about the element of “beautiful”, which is one of the requirements for gemstones.
4th part
Setting gems for making accessories needs a high technique called tailoring. The 4th part focuses on this “tailoring” technique and introduces the craftsmen’s commitment to setting stones on precious metals.
Very happy to see the effect of tailoring for the beautiful jewelry owned by High Jewelers as Van Cleef & Arpels in Paris, and Gimel, a Japanese jewelry brand.
5th part
The final part is distinguished! Photo shooting is prohibited in this area, cause all of the jewellery in this area is historically precious with the qualities of each gem and extraordinary tailoring techniques. The tiaras and necklaces with diamonds are exceptionally elegant and dazzling.
I was very happy to see a lot of beautiful and colourful gemstones at once. And I get some inspirations to realize how I remake my accessories at home.