In jewelry, gems of unusual gray color are used less often than stones of usual colors. However, smoky or steel-colored rauchtopazes or diamonds are highly prized. Often they are not inferior in value to diamonds.
Various impurities in their composition make natural formations gray. The smokiness effect creates a special crystal structure. Most often, these gems are used for cladding and in construction.
Gems
Steel-colored jewels include cornerupine, pearls and diamonds. The latter is the most valuable. In nature, colorless specimens are usually found. Therefore, the price of colored ones is much higher. Unique smoky specimens are formed due to a rather rare structural defect.
Impurities impart a tint to the colorless cornerupine. The gem discovered in Greenland looked so inconspicuous that no one expected that the jewel would be used by jewelers. Everything changed after the discovery of a deposit with greenish-gray minerals in Madagascar.
Fine pearls will be delighted by the ingress of a foreign body into the shell of the mollusc. Among the usual cream or white pearls, colored specimens are quite rare. The lead-silvery shade is a sign of one of the most valuable species.
Semiprecious stones
Semiprecious grays are zircon, rauchtopaz, bixbyite, moonstone and sherl. The second name of the moonstone, adularia, is derived from the place where the gem was first discovered, in the Swiss mountains of Adula. The transparent gray-bluish crystal is distinguished by the property of iridescence. At different angles, the bluish tint is replaced by a golden one. For some specimens, the color "cat's eye" is characteristic.
In rauchtopaz or smoky quartz, from the base of the stone, the saturation of the hue increases towards the top from light grayish to dark brown. When heated, the effect disappears, and the gem acquires the transparency of rock crystal.
Rare bixbyite is practically not used in jewelry. The item is collectible.
Translucent zircons are also used in industry. However, the most beautiful crystals are used by jewelers. Often these crystals are radioactive due to the presence of uranium.
A variety of tourmaline, sherl, has a rich black and steel tone. The mineral is not a rarity, it is used both in jewelry and in optics and industry. Mineral mined in the Norwegian Kragen begins to foam when heated.
Ornamental stones
Decorative jasper has many color options. Gray can be Nunkin, Orsk, Revnevskaya, as well as hornfels and irnimite. The variety got its name from a deposit in Germany with shades of white or yellow.
Irnimite is made unique by streaks of blue or bright blue on a steel or orange-gray surface. A distinctive feature of Ravnevsky jasper is a green and silvery-white stripe.
On the surface of the Orsk, wax-red stripes alternate with gray-green stripes. The color of the hornfel is grayish brown.
Emery is a kind of precious corundum. The gray-black rock is used as an abrasive and grinding material.
Interesting properties
Psychologists call gray a neutral, balancing color. Such talismans are chosen by serious, purposeful people. Jewelry is perfect for the business style of owners who want to emphasize their taste without distracting partners from important issues.
Dark steel shades are preferred by individuals who are completely confident in the correctness of the choice, with a solid character. Light bluish-silver is the choice of dreamers, representatives of creative professions who need intuition.
A unique feature of smoky crystals is to rid the body of excess. Therefore, lithotherapists advise those who want to lose weight to wear jewelry. Promotes such an amulet in the destruction of cholesterol plaques.
Jewelry with gray stones is very sophisticated. They perfectly emphasize the refinement of the owner's taste.
