Gems commercial names

Some gems are sold and presented to buyers with commercial names used to attract more interest. The commercial name is based on curiosity, attractiveness and fame of some most loved and appreciated gems, however the scientific name allows to identify the real nature of the precious gem.

Everybody knows that the most loved products in the world can relay upon a top level commercial and marketing division and, nowadays, this aspect seems to be very relevant. We could ask ourselves if one of the most appreciated drink on the market, the Coca Cola, would have had the same success even if its inventors had given it a different name, less curious and evocative. The answer would be negative, as the way in which a product reaches potential buyers, that is its name, is essential.

The same world of gemmology seems to be aware of this aspect, so incisively that some less common or famous gems have been called, since the past period, with curious and attractive, even if a bit misleading, names.

For this, we could bump into precious gems that have beautiful characteristics but also seductive commercial names. The most impressionable people, for example, could easily be attracted by a French Rose. The evocative name of this gem should make us think about castles and dames, masked balls and luxurious outfits; this will unconsciously favour the attraction towards the gem French Rose that is surely gorgeous but it also is a simple pink quartz. The quartz is a brilliant and precious gem, but its wide diffusion makes it not so valued. For this reason, the seducing power of the French Rose does not depend only on its characteristics, but also on its evocative fictional name.

Other particular names are used to mask the quartz, such as the Water Drop or the hydrothermal quartz. Despite of the natural beauty of this gemstone, that would not require any make-up, the choice of an attractive name could be the perfect trick to conceal a little fault: the hydrothermal quartz, for example, is a synthetic quartz, very common and of lacking value.

The commercial name can be useful to promote a gem that is often underestimated, but it can also hide some little defects. In other cases some less valued precious gems, or gems that are not so esteemed, get the name of other most loved gems on loan, as well as their fame. This is the case of the Balas Ruby, that could seem a rare exotic ruby even if it is not a ruby at all. Actually, the attractive name, that recalls one of the most remarkable gem in the world, is used to “promote” the attractiveness of the Spinel, often confused with the ruby for their similarities, but less valued and with different characteristics.

The commercial names given to some gems can also be smoke and mirrors for who looks for a very precious and mainly renowned gem. Most of these gems would not require to be hidden by an original and attractive name, as they often have precious characteristics, moreover there is the risk to be cheated in evaluating the gem and bump into unexpected surprises; however, it is possible to be informed about the specific names of gemstones to easily identify the real identity of our gemstone with the rare name.

The practice to commercialize the gems with precious names is common and the commercial names are, in any case, associated to the scientific ones in a natural way, without any cheating purpose; we have to evaluate the gem’s characteristics according to our taste, remembering that, as Shakespeare wrote: “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”.