Gemstones in Early European Jewellery

Many of the stones used in early European gemstone jewellery have flaws (technically named inclusions) which look simply dreadful to modern eyes; but until the end of the seventeenth century, when a jeweller discovered the brilliant cut which revealed the full beauty of the diamond, no one seems to have worried greatly about a gemstone’s clarity. Although stones which were relatively clear were naturally preferable, men value them for their magical power, their colour or their size, rather than their fineness. If a jeweller did decide to cut a stone, he probably restricted himself to simple table-cut: that is, he sliced off one side, and set the stone with the cut side uppermost. Very little was known about mineralogy in pre-Renaissance days, and still less about refraction and reflection of light, so attempts to cut a gemstone might well be disastrous.

Polishing a gemstone, however, with powder ground down from a gemstone harder than itself was a different matter. By doing this the jeweller could achieve a smooth surface, smooth edges and a uniform shape; whereas if he tried to cut it, he might shatter it into splinters. Polishing and engraving-another sure and tried technique which was unlikely to damage the stone-were much safer than cutting.

Thus the gemstones set in jewellery of the Carolingian period are polished or engraved stones, mined in Europe, the Middle East or India, believed to have magical or medicinal power, and with a depth of rich and glowing colour. There were rubies from India; garnets from Bohemi; lapis lazuli and sapphires (the latter’s name being applied to the former); emeralds, amethysts, beryl and aquamarine; amber, the fossilized resin of the ancient forests, which had been known and valued since the beginning of recorded time: turquoises and cornelians, both of which the Egyptians too had gathered; pearls and jet, for which the Romans had had a great liking: all of these were gems which were relatively easy to find, or which could be mined in fairly shallow workings.

In the main there were two styles of setting for the gemstones used in early jewellery: the box setting and the collet. In the former, the jeweller made a small metal box without a lid, placed the gemstone inside, and hammered the metal edges carefully down to hold it in place. A collet set is very similar, but the sides of the box were cut down so that more of the stone might be seem, and claws were sometimes incorporated for the sake of safety.

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