Precious and Semi Precious Gemstones

Precious and Semi Precious Gemstones: Myth and Reality

The idea that some gemstones are precious and others are only semi-precious is familiar to every buyer of colored stones. Precious stones -- diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald -- traditionally command a premium price in the market due to their extraordinary color or brilliance and extreme rarity.

While the precious stones are deservedly famous, the conventional distinction between precious and semi-precious gems is laden with myth and misconceptions. Lets try to sort out some of the myths from the reality.

One common misconception is that the distinction between precious and semi-precious gemstones is traditional, going back many centuries. In fact it is a recent innovation, dating only to the nineteenth century. The first use of semiprecious to mean "of less commercial value than a precious stone" can be traced back only to 1858.

Tasbihat

The word "Tasbihat" is the plural of Tasbih (also called as Tasbeh ) .. Misbaha means prayer beads or rosary and originates from the word "Subha" (also pronounced sebha), which means to
recite the glories of God (Allah).
Tesbih with 99 beads symbolize the ninety nine names of God in Islam. Sometimes only 33 beads are used, in this case Tesbih would be cycled 3 times to reach 99.
The main phrase repeated through the first thirty three beads is "Süphanallah" which means "Praise be to God." For the next thirty three beads is "Alhamdollellah" which means "Thank you God," and the third 33 beads is "AllahoAkbar" which means "God is the Great, is repeated. After these repetitions a final prayer is said,
bringing the total number of prayers, as dictated by the Koran, to one-hundred

A city called SEBHA .. !!!

Did you know that " Sebha"  is a name of a city in southwestern Libya with a population of about 130,000. It was historically the capital of the Fezzan region and is now capital of the Sabha District. Sabha is about 640 kilometres south of Tripoli. Wikipedia

TASBIHAT CATALOG

WHAT IS A GEMSTONE ?

There are over 3000 different minerals... To be regarded as a gemstone, a mineral must be beautiful, most importantly in its color. A gemstone must also be durable, hard enough to survive constant use or handling without being scratched or damaged. Only about 50 minerals are commonly used as gemstones. Others are cut for collectors of the unusual but are not suitable for wear because they are too soft and easily scratched. The number of minerals commonly used as gemstones constantly changes as new varieties are found.