96 Fun Facts About Jewelry

The Mohs hardness scale used for gemstones was introduced in 1812 by a mineralogist of which nationality?

German: Friedrich Mohs simply ranked ten minerals by which could scratch which, so the steps are uneven, and diamond at 10 is far harder than corundum at 9.

Which mineral sits at 1, the softest point, on the Mohs scale?

Talc: soapstone is made mostly of talc, which makes the rock soft enough to carve, so people have shaped it into bowls, pipes and figures for thousands of years.

Rubies get their red colour from traces of which element?

Chromium: a ruby is just red corundum, and the same mineral in blue or any other colour is sold under a different gem name.

Which gemstone is the modern birthstone for September?

Sapphire: in 1912 America's National Association of Jewelers adopted a modern list to standardise birthstones, which had varied from one tradition to another.

Which upheaval saw Louis XIV's blue diamond stolen?

French Revolution: thieves stole most of the French crown jewels, and the Hope Diamond is probably a piece of the lost blue stone.

Trace amounts of which element give the Hope Diamond its blue colour?

Boron: the Hope's famous curse is much younger than the stone, since tales of it only arose in the early 1900s.

To which institution was the Hope Diamond donated in 1958?

The Smithsonian, Washington: the jeweller who gave it simply sent it by registered mail in a box wrapped in brown paper.

Which jeweller first lent jewels to actresses for the 1944 Oscars and later donated the Hope Diamond?

Harry Winston: he made the Hope the star of his touring Court of Jewels exhibition, which raised money for charity.

Which French traveller bought the rough Hope Diamond in India and sold it to Louis XIV?

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier: besides paying for the stone, Louis XIV granted him letters of nobility, and he bought the barony of Aubonne near Geneva.

Found in 1905, the Cullinan diamond weighed about how many carats before it was cut?

About 3,100: yet the shape of its surfaces suggested that even this rough stone was only part of a larger crystal.

The Cullinan Diamond was named after what?

The owner of the mine: Frederick Wells actually found the stone in 1905, but it took Thomas Cullinan's name instead.

Cullinan I, the Great Star of Africa, is mounted in which piece of the British regalia?

The Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross: made for Charles II's coronation in 1661, it had to be altered in 1910 to take the huge stone.

What does the name Koh-i-Noor mean?

Mountain of Light: visitors found it disappointingly dull, so Prince Albert had it recut in London, and the diamond lost over 40% of its weight.

In 1937 the Koh-i-Noor was set into which piece of British regalia?

The Queen Mother's Crown: when she died in 2002, the crown was placed on her coffin for her state funeral.

The 1849 treaty that ceded the Koh-i-Noor to Queen Victoria was signed in which city?

Lahore: in 2000 several Indian MPs demanded that Britain return the diamond, claiming it had been taken illegally.

Why is most jewellery gold mixed with other metals?

Too soft: pure gold bends and dents so easily that even 18-karat jewellery is a quarter other metals.

What is a ring stamped 925 made of?

Sterling silver: from 1697 to 1720 silversmiths had to use a purer standard, because sterling coins were being melted down for silverware.

The word 'hallmark' derives from the London headquarters of which guild?

The Goldsmiths' Company: from 1478 makers had to bring their gold and silver to Goldsmiths' Hall to be tested and stamped, which gave 'hallmark' its name.

The 1300 English statute that began hallmarking required silver to be marked with which animal's head?

A leopard: the statute made the 'guardians of the craft' test silver for purity before striking the leopard's head on it.

Which symbol is the assay office mark for Birmingham on British hallmarks?

Birmingham's mark is an anchor, reputedly chosen in 1773 at London's Crown and Anchor tavern, where Sheffield's lobbyists took the crown and Birmingham's the anchor.

What was the first Fabergé imperial egg, made in 1885, called?

The Hen Egg: it was modelled on an older egg in the Danish royal collection, from the empress's homeland.

What did Pierre Cartier trade a pearl necklace for in 1917?

A mansion: Morton Plant's house at 653 Fifth Avenue became Cartier's New York flagship store.

Renaissance painters ground which gemstone into ultramarine, a costly blue pigment?

Lapis lazuli: 'ultramarine' means 'beyond the sea', said to be because the stone was imported into Europe from Asia.

Which king called Cartier 'the jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers'?

Edward VII, who ordered 27 tiaras from Cartier for his 1902 coronation, called it 'the jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers' and granted a royal warrant in 1904.

In 1904 Louis Cartier designed a wristwatch for which pioneering aviator friend?

Alberto Santos-Dumont: he complained that checking a pocket watch while flying was impractical, so Cartier made him one for the wrist.

Which diamond company's 1947 slogan 'A Diamond Is Forever' was later named the century's best?

De Beers: the N. W. Ayer agency wrote the line for a campaign that sold diamonds as a never-ending sign of love.

The first well-documented diamond engagement ring was given in 1477 by which archduke?

Maximilian of Austria: Mary of Burgundy married him in August 1477 to win Habsburg support against the French king.

The Black Prince's Ruby in the Imperial State Crown is actually which gemstone?

A spinel: legend says Edward the Black Prince received it in 1367 as payment for a battle victory, and for centuries it was mistaken for a ruby.

The word 'diamond' comes from a Greek word meaning what?

'Diamond' descends from the Greek adamas, 'unbreakable' or 'untameable', the same root as the English word 'adamant'; it reached English via Old French diamant.

The GIA diamond colour scale begins with which letter?

GIA's colour scale starts at D, the first three letters being skipped so the new 1950s scale would not be confused with older A-B-C style grades; it runs down to Z.

Gem traders once weighed stones against the seeds of which tree?

Carob: its small seeds were thought to weigh about the same, and the carat, still used for gems, is named after them.

Emerald is a green variety of which mineral?

Beryl: blue aquamarine is the same mineral, and an emerald's mossy internal flaws are nicknamed 'jardin', French for garden.

Which film star once owned La Peregrina, a pearl that had belonged to Spanish royalty?

Elizabeth Taylor: Richard Burton bought it for her at auction in 1969, and she had Cartier reset it with diamonds and rubies.

Which French queen's name was used in the 'Affair of the Diamond Necklace' swindle?

Marie Antoinette: a swindler persuaded Cardinal de Rohan to buy the necklace in her name, though the queen had never ordered it.

Which black gem is found in the rocks near the Yorkshire town of Whitby?

Jet: people in Britain were already making necklace beads from it in the Bronze Age.

Opal is the national gemstone of which country?

Australia declared opal its national gemstone in 1993; it has produced the great majority of the world's precious opal, with Lightning Ridge in New South Wales famed for black opal.

Tanzanite is the blue-violet variety of which mineral?

Zoisite: Tiffany & Co. named the new gem after Tanzania, where it was found, and marketed it heavily.

Amber, used in jewellery for millennia, is what?

Amber is fossilised tree resin, hardened over millions of years and often trapping insects; its Greek name, elektron, gave us the word 'electric' because rubbed amber holds a static charge.

The colour-changing gem alexandrite was named in honour of which future Russian emperor?

Alexander II: the heir the gem was named for later became tsar and freed Russia's serfs.

Which gem mineral's finest 'imperial' green grade comes mainly from Myanmar?

Jadeite: 'jade' is really a name shared by two different minerals, jadeite and nephrite.

The Orlov diamond was a gift to which Russian empress?

Catherine the Great: her former lover Count Grigory Orlov gave it to her, reportedly hoping to win back her favour, but he failed.

The Kimberley Process certification scheme aims to keep which diamonds out of the legitimate trade?

Blood diamonds: rebel groups sold rough stones to pay for wars in countries such as Sierra Leone, so members must certify every rough diamond they export.

What is the tiny facet at the bottom point of a round brilliant called?

The culet: it is optional, which is why a round brilliant is described as having either 57 or 58 facets.

As of 2025, the oldest known jewellery, from caves in Israel and Morocco, is made from what?

Sea-snail shell beads: pierced shells from a Moroccan cave are at least 142,000 years old and may have signalled their wearers' identity.

Ancient Greeks wore which gem in the belief that it would stop them getting drunk?

Amethyst: it was once valued as highly as ruby and emerald, but today it is sold as a semiprecious gem.

Rock crystal, the clear form of quartz, takes its name from the Greek word for what?

Ice: ancient writers believed the clear stone was a kind of petrified ice.

Cartier's Love bracelet, designed in 1969 by Aldo Cipullo, can only be opened with which tool?

A screwdriver is supplied with every bracelet, and Cartier also sells one as a pendant, so that one partner can wear the tool while the other wears the locked bangle.

Tiffany Blue, the shade of the jeweller's gift boxes, matches the eggs of which bird?

Robin egg blue is the shade, and Pantone mixes it for Tiffany as a private custom colour numbered 1837, the year the firm was founded.

Diamond 'tennis bracelets' got their name after which champion's slid off during a US Open match?

Chris Evert said she had dropped her 'tennis bracelet' when the diamond line bracelet fell from her wrist onto the court, and jewellers have used the name ever since.

Pliny the Elder claimed that which queen dissolved a pearl in vinegar to win a dinner-party bet?

Cleopatra had wagered Mark Antony that she could serve the costlier feast, the story goes, and won by dropping a pearl from her earring into a cup of vinegar and drinking it.

The 'stone' of a 1970s mood ring changes colour in response to which change in its wearer?

Finger temperature is all a mood ring reads: liquid crystals under the 'stone' shift colour as the skin warms or cools. The fad sold $15 million of rings by December 1975.

Rose gold, once known as Russian gold, gets its pink colour from which added metal?

Copper is the whole difference between pink, rose and red gold: the more of it in the alloy, the redder the metal looks.

The 'vena amoris', a vein once believed to run from the ring finger, was thought to lead to which organ?

The heart was the vein's supposed destination, a belief that lasted until William Harvey showed in the 17th century that every vein in the body flows there.

What traditionally happens to a pope's Ring of the Fisherman after his death?

It is destroyed with a hammer in front of the cardinals, a custom begun so that nobody could forge papal documents before the next pope was elected.

Mr. T's trademark gold chains began as lost property he wore while working in which job?

Nightclub bouncer: customers lost chains in fights or left them behind, and he took to wearing them. He gave up nearly all his gold after helping with the Hurricane Katrina cleanup in 2005.

British royal wedding rings have traditionally been made with gold from which part of Britain?

Wales has supplied the gold since the future George VI's wedding in 1923, and royal brides from Diana in 1981 to Meghan in 2018 have worn bands made from it.

Which precious metal takes its name from a Spanish word meaning 'little silver'?

Platinum got its dismissive name because the Spanish in South America treated it as an impurity in their gold; a French king later called it the only metal fit for a king.

Which type of ring has an engraved face made for pressing its wearer's mark into sealing wax?

A signet ring is cut below its flat surface, so that the impression it leaves stands up in relief. It is traditionally worn on the little finger.

Which metal, restricted in European jewellery since 1994, is the world's most common contact allergen?

Nickel sensitivity often begins with ear studs and other piercings, so the rules cap how much of the metal a piece may release onto the skin.

Diamond graders judge the 'four Cs': carat, colour, cut and which fourth quality?

Clarity measures a diamond's internal defects, known as inclusions. Unlike carat weight, it is judged by a trained human eye, so two graders can differ slightly.

Hei-tiki, neck pendants usually carved from the green stone pounamu, are treasures of which people?

Māori prize hei-tiki as taonga, or treasures; the same stone was valued for its toughness and was also shaped into carving tools, adzes and weapons.

The kara, a steel bangle, is one of the five Ks worn by initiated members of which religion?

Sikhism asks those initiated into the Khalsa to keep five ceremonial items, and the kara, made of steel or cast iron, is sometimes worn by Indians of other faiths too.

The nazar, a blue glass amulet popular in Turkey, is worn to protect against what?

The evil eye is met with an eye-shaped charm, built up from concentric circles of dark blue, white, light blue and black glass.

Who performed Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?

Marilyn Monroe sang it in a pink satin gown, in a rendition the American Film Institute ranked the 12th best film song of the century. Carol Channing had introduced the number on Broadway.

The Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold was discovered in 2009 by a man using what?

A metal detector led Terry Herbert to the gold in a newly ploughed field near Hammerwich; he and the farmer split the £3.285 million that two museums raised to buy it.

Which pale blue gem, once carried by sailors against shipwreck, is the birthstone for March?

Aquamarine was said in old tales to come from the treasure chests of mermaids, which is why sailors trusted it to keep them safe at sea.

A 2003 robbery dubbed the 'heist of the century' hit a vault in the diamond district of which city?

Antwerp lost diamonds, gold and jewellery valued at more than $100 million, but the ringleader was caught through DNA on a half-eaten salami sandwich thrown out with the gang's rubbish.

Which London street, the centre of Britain's diamond trade, was hit by a 2015 vault burglary?

Hatton Garden's burglars, a gang of mostly elderly career thieves, came down a lift shaft over the Easter weekend and drilled through a vault wall 50 cm thick.

Which Italian jewellery house was founded in Rome in 1884 by a Greek silversmith?

Bulgari is the Italian form of the founder's surname; the logo with its Latin-style V, BVLGARI, first appeared in 1934 over the door of the Via Condotti shop.

Which bird has been the logo of the crystal jewellery maker Swarovski since 1988?

The swan replaced earlier logos, the first of them an edelweiss flower. Swarovski set up at Wattens in the Tyrol so that local hydroelectric power could drive its energy-hungry grinding machines.

Pandora, known for its charm bracelets, began in 1982 as a family jewellery shop in which city?

Copenhagen was where Per Enevoldsen and his wife Winnie opened the shop; the charm bracelets that made the name famous only went on sale in 2000.

The squash blossom necklace, with its silver crescent 'naja', is a signature design of which people?

Navajo smiths copied the necklace's 'blossoms' from the buttons on Spanish and Mexican riders' trousers; the squash-flower name is an often-repeated mistake.

Which French author wrote The Necklace, about a couple ruined by replacing lost diamonds that were never real?

Guy de Maupassant kept the blow for the final lines: the borrowed necklace was worth five hundred francs at most, while its replacement had cost the couple 36,000.

Which looped cross, the Egyptian hieroglyph for 'life', became a popular pendant in goth fashion?

The ankh owes its goth following partly to The Hunger, a 1983 vampire film in which an ankh pendant appears prominently.

Which jeweller has made the Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's top prize, since the late 1990s?

Chopard took over the trophy after its co-president Caroline Scheufele redesigned the statuette in 1997; the gold palm rests on a cushion cut from a single piece of crystal.

What is the small handheld magnifier, usually of 10× power, that jewellers use to inspect gems?

A loupe of 10× power is the Gemological Institute of America's standard: only the flaws and blemishes visible at that strength affect a diamond's grade.

Which gem cut, usually chosen for opaque stones, is a smooth polished dome with no facets?

Cabochon comes from a Middle French word for 'head'. The dome also suits softer gems, because scratches from everyday dust and grit show far less on it than they would on flat facets.

Mother-of-pearl, the iridescent layer that also builds up pearls, is known by which other name?

Nacre shimmers because its mineral platelets are about as thick as a wavelength of visible light; molluscs lay it down in layers to entomb parasites and debris.

Moissanite, now grown in labs as a diamond alternative, was first found in 1893 in rock from what?

A meteor crater in Arizona supplied the rock samples in which the French chemist Henri Moissan spotted the crystals; at first he took them for diamonds.

The fibula, a brooch that fastened Roman cloaks, worked on the same principle as which modern object?

A safety pin is the fibula's modern descendant. Fibulae were practical before they were decorative, and in the third century one cloak-fastening type became part of a Roman soldier's standard insignia.

Which metalwork technique solders fine gold or silver wires into delicate, lace-like openwork?

Filigree takes its name from the Latin words for 'thread' and 'grain', because tiny grains of metal were often set among the wires.

Which olive-green gem, dug on a Red Sea island since about 300 BCE, is the birthstone for August?

Peridot is one of the few gems that occur in only one colour. The ancient world knew it as topazios and took its supply from St John's Island.

Which rigid metal neck ring, open at the front, marked a person of high rank among Iron Age Celts?

The torc outlived the Celts who made it famous: the style vanished in the Migration Period, then came back into fashion, mainly in silver, during the Viking Age.

In many Hindu weddings, the groom ties which necklace around the bride's neck as the mark of marriage?

A mangalasutra is then worn throughout married life, and its design is chosen by the groom's family; some communities, though, historically had no such custom.

Women of the Kayan Lahwi people of Myanmar are known for wearing long neck coils made of which metal?

Brass coils weigh on the collarbone, pushing it down and compressing the rib cage, and a longer coil with more turns is fitted as the years go by.

In Norse mythology, the necklace Brísingamen is the prized possession of which goddess?

Freyja's necklace has a comic afterlife: Thor borrows it when he dresses up as her to attend a wedding among the giants and win back his stolen hammer.

Most white gold jewellery is coated with a thin layer of which rare metal to brighten it?

Rhodium gives naturally dull white gold its mirror shine, but the coating is so thin that it may wear off over time.

Thieves broke into the Green Vault museum in 2019 and took diamond-set royal jewels in which city?

Dresden's thieves put out the street lights by setting fire to a power box on a nearby bridge, then smashed the display cases with an axe. A large part of the haul was recovered in 2022.

The Spoonmaker's Diamond, an 86-carat pear-shaped stone, is the star exhibit of which Istanbul palace?

Topkapı shows it in the Imperial Treasury as its most valuable single piece, yet nobody knows for certain how it got there; one tale has a jeweller buying the rough stone for three spoons.

Which Japanese entrepreneur came back from near bankruptcy and is credited with the first cultured pearls?

Kokichi Mikimoto's first cultured pearls were only half-spheres, and buyers were so confused by them that he opened a boutique in Ginza where staff could explain what they were.

What is a matching set of jewellery, typically a necklace, earrings, brooch and bracelet, called?

A parure often adds a tiara or diadem too. Napoleon was fond of lavishing these suites of gems on Joséphine to wear at state functions.

The American William Spratling's 1931 silver workshop turned which Mexican town into a centre of jewellery design?

Taxco had been a silver-mining town since the Spanish found lodes there around 1532, but it was not known for design until Spratling set up his workshops.

Which ancient enamel technique holds each colour in a cell walled by thin metal strips?

Cloisonné is named after 'cloisons', the French for its compartments, and it probably began as an easier imitation of work that set cut gems into the cells.

Which American company announced the first commercially successful synthetic diamonds in 1955?

General Electric's Tracy Hall made them in a press of his own design, but the largest was 0.15 mm across: too small and flawed for jewellery, though usable as an industrial abrasive.

Which acid mixture, used to refine the purest gold, did alchemists name for dissolving the metal?

Aqua regia once hid two Nobel medals: when Denmark was invaded in the Second World War, the chemist George de Hevesy dissolved them in it, and afterwards recovered the gold.

Which London firm, the official Crown Jeweller from 1843 to 2007, made Diana's 1981 engagement ring?

Garrard made the sapphire ring that Prince William later gave to his own fiancée, Catherine Middleton. The firm lost the royal post in 2007, told only that it was time for a change.