the.com/jewel
a rock that survived a billion years just to flatter your collarbone
means A precious stone, or a piece of fine jewelry made with one, often cut and polished to dazzle — and figuratively, anything or anyone treasured as rare and valuable.
from From Old French 'joel' or 'jouel,' a precious ornament, which came into English after the Norman Conquest. Its deeper root is debated: many trace it to Latin 'jocus,' meaning a joke or plaything (the same source as 'jewel's' cousin 'joy'), as if a gem were a delightful trifle — though some scholars instead link it to Latin 'gemma,' a bud or gem. Either way, the word arrived in English wrapped in the glitter of medieval courts.
- birth depth
- diamonds form 100 miles underground over billions of years
- hardest gem
- only a diamond can scratch a diamond
- living color
- emeralds get green from trapped chromium impurities
- royal robbery
- crown jewels are guarded but technically unsellable
- space rocks
- some diamonds arrive on Earth via meteorites
koh-i-noor diamond — 105.6-carat diamond in british crown jewels, owned by multiple empires since 1656
hope diamond — 45.52-carat blue diamond at smithsonian, cursed legend since 1668
cullinan i diamond — 530.2-carat largest clear cut diamond, in british royal sceptre since 1907