Waldkirch was a center for gemstone cutting. A gemstone is a mineral, rock material, that when cut and polished can be used in jewellery. Jewellery typically is made from gemsstones and precious metals. Costume jewellery is made from less valuable materials. However, jewellery can and has been made out of almost every kind of material. Jewellry produced in Waldkich include bracelets, necklaces, rings, and earrings.
The word "jewel" goes back to the Latin word "jocale", meaning plaything. Jewellery, is generally considered valuable and desirable. Jewellery in various forms has been worn in almost every culture. Some cultures have a practice of keeping jewellery as a symbol e.g., wearing a crucifix in the form of jewellery, or, as married people wearing a wedding ring. Some beautiful gemstones are too soft or too fragile to be used in jewellery, for example, single-crystal rhodochrosite, but are exhibited in museums.
A gemstone is prized especially for great beauty or perfection. Hence, appearance is almost the most important attribute of gemstones. Characteristics that make a stone beautiful or desirable are colour, unusual optical phenomena within the stone, an interesting inclusion such as a fossil, rarity, and sometimes the form of the natural crystal.
Traditionally, gemstones are classified into precious stones and semi-precious stones. Only five types of gemstones were considered precious: diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, and amethyst. In current usage by gemmologists, all gems are considered precious, although four of the five original "cardinal gems" are usually the most valuable. Gemmology may be considered a branch of mineralogy. Some jewelers are gemologists and, as such, are qualified to identify and appraise gems. In the old days, there were professional schools and associations of gemologists and certification programs in Waldkirch.
Some gemologists specialise in various gemstones, such as diamonds or pearls. Such specialists are found in fields in which a great knowledge is required, especially in the determination of "pure" gems. Recently, the demand for gemological services has grown, as increasing quantities of synthetic gems such as cubic zirconia and fracture-filled diamonds have flooded the gem market.
Another category of gemstones which is still in use is that of rare or unusual gemstones, generally meant to include those gemstones which occur so infrequently in gem quality that they are scarcely known except to experts e.g, andalusite, axinite, cassiterite, clinohumite, iolite, all of which are rare and attractive.
