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Graphic design

Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline  and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of design and of the fine arts. Its practice involves creativity, innovation and lateral thinking using manual or digital tools, where it is usual to use text and graphics to communicate visually.

The role of the graphic designer in the communication process is that of the encoder or interpreter of the message. They work on the interpretation, ordering, and presentation of visual messages. Usually, graphic design uses the aesthetics of typography and the compositional arrangement of the text, ornamentation, and imagery to convey ideas, feelings, and attitudes beyond what language alone expresses. The design work can be based on a customer's demand, a demand that ends up being established linguistically, either orally or in writing, that is, that graphic design transforms a linguistic message into a graphic manifestation. Graphic design has, as a field of application, different areas of knowledge focused on any visual communication system. For example, it can be applied in advertising strategies, or it can also be applied in the aviation world or space exploration. In this sense, in some countries graphic design is related as only associated with the production of sketches and drawings, this is incorrect, since visual communication is a small part of a huge range of types and classes where it can be applied.

With origins in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, graphic design as applied art was initially linked to the boom of the rise of printing in Europe in the 15th century and the growth of consumer culture in the Industrial Revolution. From there it emerged as a distinct profession in the West, closely associated with advertising in the 19th century and its evolution allowed its consolidation in the 20th century. Given the rapid and massive growth in information exchange today, the demand for experienced designers is greater than ever, particularly because of the development of new technologies and the need to pay attention to human factors beyond the competence of the engineers who develop them.

Terminology
William Addison Dwiggins is often credited with first using the term "graphic design" in a 1922 article, although it appears in a 4 July 1908 issue (volume 9, number 27) of Organized Labor, a publication of the Labor Unions of San Francisco, in an article about technical education for printers:

An Enterprising Trades Union … The admittedly high standard of intelligence which prevails among printers is an assurance that with the elemental principles of design at their finger ends many of them will grow in knowledge and develop into specialists in graphic design and decorating. …

A decade later, the 1917–1918 course catalog of the California School of Arts & Crafts advertised a course titled Graphic Design and Lettering, which replaced one called Advanced Design and Lettering. Both classes were taught by Frederick Meyer.

History
In both its lengthy history and in the relatively recent explosion of visual communication in the 20th and 21st centuries, the distinction between advertising, art, graphic design and fine art has disappeared. They share many elements, theories, principles, practices, languages and sometimes the same benefactor or client. In advertising, the ultimate objective is the sale of goods and services. In graphic design, "the essence is to give order to information, form to ideas, expression, and feeling to artifacts that document the human experience."

The definition of the graphic designer profession is relatively recent concerning its preparation, activity, and objectives. Although there is no consensus on an exact date when graphic design emerged, some date it back to the Interwar period. Others understand that it began to be identified as such by the late 19th century.

It can be argued that graphic communications with specific purposes have their origins in Paleolithic cave paintings and the birth of written language in the third millennium BCE. However, the differences in working methods, auxiliary sciences, and required training are such that it is not possible to clearly identify the current graphic designer with prehistoric man, the 15th-century xylographer, or the lithographer of 1890.

The diversity of opinions stems from some considering any graphic manifestation as a product of graphic design, while others only recognize those that arise as a result of the application of an industrial production model—visual manifestations that have been "projected" to address various needs: productive, symbolic, ergonomic, contextual, among others.

Nevertheless, the evolution of graphic design as a practice and profession has been closely linked to technological innovations, social needs, and the visual imagination of professionals. Graphic design has been practiced in various forms throughout history; in fact, good examples of graphic design date back to manuscripts from ancient China, Egypt, and Greece. As printing and book production developed in the 15th century, advances in graphic design continued over the subsequent centuries, with composers or typographers often designing pages according to established type.

By the late 19th century, graphic design emerged as a distinct profession in the West, partly due to the process of labor specialization that occurred there and partly due to the new technologies and business possibilities brought about by the Industrial Revolution. New production methods led to the separation of the design of a communication medium (such as a poster) from its actual production. Increasingly, throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, advertising agencies, book publishers, and magazines hired art directors who organized all visual elements of communication and integrated them into a harmonious whole, creating an expression appropriate to the content. In 1922, typographer William A. Dwiggins coined the term graphic design to identify the emerging field.

Throughout the 20th century, the technology available to designers continued to advance rapidly, as did the artistic and commercial possibilities of design. The profession expanded greatly, and graphic designers created, among other things, magazine pages, book covers, posters, CD covers, postage stamps, packaging, brands, signs, advertisements, kinetic titles for TV programs and movies, and websites. By the early 21st century, graphic design had become a global profession as advanced technology and industry spread worldwide.

Historical background
In China, during the Tang dynasty (618–907) wood blocks were cut to print on textiles and later to reproduce Buddhist texts. A Buddhist scripture printed in 868 is the earliest known printed book. Beginning in the 11th century in China, longer scrolls and books were produced using movable type printing, making books widely available during the Song dynasty (960–1279).

In the mid-15th century in Mainz, Germany, Johannes Gutenberg developed a way to reproduce printed pages at a faster pace using movable type made with a new metal alloy that created a revolution in the dissemination of information.

Nineteenth century
In 1849, Henry Cole became one of the major forces in design education in Great Britain, informing the government of the importance of design in his Journal of Design and Manufactures. He organized the Great Exhibition as a celebration of modern industrial technology and Victorian design.

From 1891 to 1896, William Morris' Kelmscott Press was a leader in graphic design associated with the Arts and Crafts movement, creating hand-made books in medieval and Renaissance era style, in addition to wallpaper and textile designs. Morris' work, along with the rest of the Private Press movement, directly influenced Art Nouveau. Will H. Bradley became one of the notable graphic designers in the late nineteenth-century due to creating art pieces in various Art Nouveau styles. Bradley created a number of designs as promotions for a literary magazine titled The Chap-Book.

Twentieth century

In 1917, Frederick H. Meyer, director and instructor at the California School of Arts and Crafts, taught a class entitled "Graphic Design and Lettering". Raffe's Graphic Design, published in 1927, was the first book to use "Graphic Design" in its title. In 1936, author and graphic designer Leon Friend published his book titled "Graphic Design" and it is known to be the first piece of literature to cover the topic extensively.

The signage in the London Underground is a classic design example of the modern era. Although he lacked artistic training, Frank Pick led the Underground Group design and publicity movement. The first Underground station signs were introduced in 1908 with a design of a solid red disk with a blue bar in the center and the name of the station. The station name was in white sans-serif letters. It was in 1916 when Pick used the expertise of Edward Johnston to design a new typeface for the Underground. Johnston redesigned the Underground sign and logo to include his typeface on the blue bar in the center of a red circle.

In the 1920s, Soviet constructivism applied 'intellectual production' in different spheres of production. The movement saw individualistic art as useless in revolutionary Russia and thus moved towards creating objects for utilitarian purposes. They designed buildings, film and theater sets, posters, fabrics, clothing, furniture, logos, menus, etc.

Jan Tschichold codified the principles of modern typography in his 1928 book, New Typography. He later repudiated the philosophy he espoused in this book as fascistic, but it remained influential. Tschichold, Bauhaus typographers such as Herbert Bayer and László Moholy-Nagy and El Lissitzky greatly influenced graphic design. They pioneered production techniques and stylistic devices used throughout the twentieth century. The following years saw graphic design in the modern style gain widespread acceptance and application.

The professional graphic design industry grew in parallel with consumerism. This raised concerns and criticisms, notably from within the graphic design community with the First Things First manifesto. First launched by Ken Garland in 1964, it was re-published as the First Things First 2000 manifesto in 1999 in the magazine Emigre 51 stating "We propose a reversal of priorities in favor of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication – a mindshift away from product marketing and toward the exploration and production of a new kind of meaning. The scope of debate is shrinking; it must expand. Consumerism is running uncontested; it must be challenged by other perspectives expressed, in part, through the visual languages and resources of design."

Applications
Graphic design can have many applications, from road signs to technical schematics and reference manuals. It is often used in branding products and elements of company identity such as logos, colors, packaging, labelling and text.

From scientific journals to news reporting, the presentation of opinions and facts is often improved with graphics and thoughtful compositions of visual information – known as information design. With the advent of the web, information designers with experience in interactive tools are increasingly used to illustrate the background to news stories. Information design can include Data and information visualization, which involves using programs to interpret and form data into a visually compelling presentation, and can be tied in with information graphics.

Skills
A graphic design project may involve the creative presentation of existing text, ornament, and images.

The "process school" is concerned with communication; it highlights the channels and media through which messages are transmitted and by which senders and receivers encode and decode these messages. The semiotic school treats a message as a construction of signs which through interaction with receivers, produces meaning; communication as an agent.

Typography
Typography includes type design, modifying type glyphs and arranging type. Type glyphs (characters) are created and modified using illustration techniques. Type arrangement is the selection of typefaces, point size, tracking (the space between all characters used), kerning (the space between two specific characters) and leading (line spacing).

Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic artists, art directors, and clerical workers. Until the digital age, typography was a specialized occupation. Certain fonts communicate or resemble stereotypical notions. For example, the 1942 Report is a font which types text akin to a typewriter or a vintage report.

Page layout
Page layout deals with the arrangement of elements (content) on a page, such as image placement, text layout and style. Page design has always been a consideration in printed material and more recently extended to displays such as web pages. Elements typically consist of type (text), images (pictures), and (with print media) occasionally place-holder graphics such as a dieline for elements that are not printed with ink such as die/laser cutting, foil stamping or blind embossing.

Grids
A grid serves as a method of arranging both space and information, allowing the reader to easily comprehend the overall project. Furthermore, a grid functions as a container for information and a means of establishing and maintaining order. Despite grids being utilized for centuries, many graphic designers associate them with Swiss design. The desire for order in the 1940s resulted in a highly systematic approach to visualizing information. However, grids were later regarded as tedious and uninteresting, earning the label of "designersaur." Today, grids are once again considered crucial tools for professionals, whether they are novices or veterans.

Tools
In the mid-1980s desktop publishing and graphic art software applications introduced computer image manipulation and creation capabilities that had previously been manually executed. Computers enabled designers to instantly see the effects of layout or typographic changes, and to simulate the effects of traditional media. Traditional tools such as pencils can be useful even when computers are used for finalization; a designer or art director may sketch numerous concepts as part of the creative process. Styluses can be used with tablet computers to capture hand drawings digitally.

Computers and software
Designers disagree whether computers enhance the creative process. Some designers argue that computers allow them to explore multiple ideas quickly and in more detail than can be achieved by hand-rendering or paste-up. While other designers find the limitless choices from digital design can lead to paralysis or endless iterations with no clear outcome.

Most designers use a hybrid process that combines traditional and computer-based technologies. First, hand-rendered layouts are used to get approval to execute an idea, then the polished visual product is produced on a computer.

Graphic designers are expected to be proficient in software programs for image-making, typography and layout. Nearly all of the popular and "industry standard" software programs used by graphic designers since the early 1990s are products of Adobe Inc. Adobe Photoshop (a raster-based program for photo editing) and Adobe Illustrator (a vector-based program for drawing) are often used in the final stage. CorelDraw, a vector graphics editing software developed and marketed by Corel Corporation, is also used worldwide. Designers often use pre-designed raster images and vector graphics in their work from online design databases. Raster images may be edited in Adobe Photoshop, vector logos and illustrations in Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw, and the final product assembled in one of the major page layout programs, such as Adobe InDesign, Serif PagePlus and QuarkXPress.

Many free and open-source programs are also used by both professionals and casual graphic designers. Inkscape uses Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) as its primary file format and allows importing and exporting other formats. Other open-source programs used include GIMP for photo-editing and image manipulation, Krita for digital painting, and Scribus for page layout.

Interface design
Since the advent of personal computers, many graphic designers have become involved in interface design, in an environment commonly referred to as a Graphical user interface (GUI). This has included web design and software design when end user-interactivity is a design consideration of the layout or interface. Combining visual communication skills with an understanding of user interaction and online branding, graphic designers often work with software developers and web developers to create the look and feel of a web site or software application. An important aspect of interface design is icon design.

User experience design
User experience design (UX) is the study, analysis, and development of creating products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. This involves the creation of the entire process of acquiring and integrating the product, including aspects of branding, design, usability, and function. UX design involves creating the interface and interactions for a website or application, and is considered both an act and an art. This profession requires a combination of skills, including visual design, social psychology, development, project management, and most importantly, empathy towards the end-users.

Experiential graphic design
Experiential graphic design is the application of communication skills to the built environment. This area of graphic design requires practitioners to understand physical installations that have to be manufactured and withstand the same environmental conditions as buildings. As such, it is a cross-disciplinary collaborative process involving designers, fabricators, city planners, architects, manufacturers and construction teams.

Experiential graphic designers try to solve problems that people encounter while interacting with buildings and space (also called environmental graphic design). Examples of practice areas for environmental graphic designers are wayfinding, placemaking, branded environments, exhibitions and museum displays, public installations and digital environments.

Occupations

Graphic design career paths cover all parts of the creative spectrum and often overlap. Workers perform specialized tasks, such as design services, publishing, advertising and public relations. As of 2023, median pay was $50,710 per year. The main job titles within the industry are often country specific. They can include graphic designer, art director, creative director, animator and entry level production artist. Depending on the industry served, the responsibilities may have different titles such as "DTP associate" or "Graphic Artist". The responsibilities may involve specialized skills such as illustration, photography, animation, visual effects or interactive design.

Employment in design of online projects was expected to increase by 35% by 2026, while employment in traditional media, such as newspaper and book design, expect to go down by 22%. Graphic designers will be expected to constantly learn new techniques, programs, and methods.

Graphic designers can work within companies devoted specifically to the industry, such as design consultancies or branding agencies, others may work within publishing, marketing or other communications companies. Especially since the introduction of personal computers, many graphic designers work as in-house designers in non-design oriented organizations. Graphic designers may also work freelance, working on their own terms, prices, ideas, etc.

A graphic designer typically reports to the art director, creative director or senior media creative. As a designer becomes more senior, they spend less time designing and more time leading and directing other designers on broader creative activities, such as brand development and corporate identity development. They are often expected to interact more directly with clients, for example taking and interpreting briefs.

Crowdsourcing in graphic design
Jeff Howe of Wired Magazine first used the term "crowdsourcing" in his 2006 article, "The Rise of Crowdsourcing." It spans such creative domains as graphic design, architecture, apparel design, writing, illustration, and others. Tasks may be assigned to individuals or a group and may be categorized as convergent or divergent. An example of a divergent task is generating alternative designs for a poster. An example of a convergent task is selecting one poster design. Companies, startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs have all benefitted from design crowdsourcing since it helps them source great graphic designs at a fraction of the budget they used to spend before. Getting a logo design through crowdsourcing being one of the most common. Major companies that operate in the design crowdsourcing space are generally referred to as design contest sites.]

Role of graphic design
Graphic design is essential for advertising, branding, and marketing, influencing how people act. Good graphic design builds strong, recognizable brands, communicates messages clearly, and shapes how consumers see and react to things.

One way that graphic design influences consumer behavior is through the use of visual elements, such as color, typography, and imagery. Studies have shown that certain colors can evoke specific emotions and behaviors in consumers, and that typography can influence how information is perceived and remembered. For example, serif fonts are often associated with tradition and elegance, while sans-serif fonts are seen as modern and minimalistic. These factors can all impact the way consumers perceive a brand and its messaging.

Another way that graphic design impacts consumer behavior is through its ability to communicate complex information in a clear and accessible way. For example, infographics and data visualizations can help to distill complex information into a format that is easy to understand and engaging for consumers. This can help to build trust and credibility with consumers, and encourage them to take action.

Ethical consideration in graphic design
Ethics are an important consideration in graphic design, particularly when it comes to accurately representing information and avoiding harmful stereotypes. Graphic designers have a responsibility to ensure that their work is truthful, accurate, and free from any misleading or deceptive elements. This requires a commitment to honesty, integrity, and transparency in all aspects of the design process.

One of the key ethical considerations in graphic design is the responsibility to accurately represent information. This means ensuring that any claims or statements made in advertising or marketing materials are true and supported by evidence. For example, a company should not use misleading statistics to promote their product or service, or make false claims about its benefits. Graphic designers must take care to accurately represent information in all visual elements, such as graphs, charts, and images, and avoid distorting or misrepresenting data.

Another important ethical consideration in graphic design is the need to avoid harmful stereotypes. This means avoiding any images or messaging that perpetuate negative or harmful stereotypes based on race, gender, religion, or other characteristics. Graphic designers should strive to create designs that are inclusive and respectful of all individuals and communities, and avoid reinforcing negative attitudes or biases.

Future of graphic design
The future of graphic design is likely to be heavily influenced by emerging technologies and social trends. Advancements in areas such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and automation are likely to transform the way that graphic designers work and create designs. Social trends, such as a greater focus on sustainability and inclusivity, are also likely to impact the future of graphic design.

One area where emerging technologies are likely to have a significant impact on graphic design is in the automation of certain tasks. Machine learning algorithms, for example, can analyze large datasets and create designs based on patterns and trends, freeing up designers to focus on more complex and creative tasks. Virtual and augmented reality technologies may also allow designers to create immersive and interactive experiences for users, blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds.

Social trends are also likely to shape the future of graphic design. As consumers become more conscious of environmental issues, for example, there may be a greater demand for designs that prioritize sustainability and minimize waste. Similarly, there is likely to be a growing focus on inclusivity and diversity in design, with designers seeking to create designs that are accessible and representative of a wide range of individuals and communities.

title: Graphic design


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Great Rift Valley

The Great Rift Valley (Bonde la ufa) is a series of contiguous geographic depressions, approximately 7000 km in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it is considered an imprecise merging of separate though related rift and fault systems.

This valley extends northward for 5,950 km through the eastern part of Africa, through the Red Sea, and into Western Asia. Several deep, elongated lakes, called ribbon lakes, exist on the floor of this rift valley: Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika are examples of such lakes. The region has a unique ecosystem and contains a number of Africa's wildlife parks.

The term Great Rift Valley is most often used to refer to the valley of the East African Rift, the divergent plate boundary which extends from the Afar Triple Junction southward through eastern Africa, and is in the process of splitting the African Plate into two new and separate plates. Geologists generally refer to these evolving plates as the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate.

Theoretical extent
Today these rifts and faults are seen as distinct, although connected, but originally, the Great Rift Valley was thought to be a single feature that extended from Lebanon in the north to Mozambique in the south, where it constitutes one of two distinct physiographic provinces of the East African mountains. It included what today is called the Lebanese section of the Dead Sea Transform, the Jordan Rift Valley, Red Sea Rift and the East African Rift. These rifts and faults were formed 35 million years ago.

Asia
The northernmost part of the Rift corresponds to the central section of what is called today the Dead Sea Transform (DST) or Rift. This midsection of the DST forms the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, separating the Mount Lebanon range from the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. Further south it is known as the Hula Valley separating the Galilee mountains and the Golan Heights.

The Jordan River begins here and flows southward through Lake Hula into the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The Rift then continues south through the Jordan Rift Valley into the Dead Sea on the Israeli-Jordanian border. From the Dead Sea southwards, the Rift is occupied by the Wadi Arabah, then the Gulf of Aqaba, and then the Red Sea.

Off the southern tip of Sinai in the Red Sea, the Dead Sea Transform meets the Red Sea Rift which runs the length of the Red Sea. The Red Sea Rift comes ashore to meet the East African Rift and the Aden Ridge in the Afar Depression of East Africa. The junction of these three rifts is called the Afar Triple Junction.

Africa
The East African Rift follows the Red Sea to the end before turning inland into the Ethiopian highlands, dividing the country into two large and adjacent but separate mountainous regions. In Kenya, Uganda, and the fringes of South Sudan, the Great Rift runs along two separate branches that are joined to each other only at their southern end, in Southern Tanzania along its border with Zambia. The two branches are called the Western Rift Valley and the Eastern Rift Valley.

The Western Rift, also called the Albertine Rift, is bordered by some of the highest mountains in Africa, including the Virunga Mountains, Mitumba Mountains, and Ruwenzori Range. It contains the Rift Valley lakes, which include some of the deepest lakes in the world (up to 1470 m deep at Lake Tanganyika).

Much of this area lies within the boundaries of national parks such as Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwenzori National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Lake Victoria is considered to be part of the rift valley system although it actually lies between the two branches. All of the African Great Lakes were formed as the result of the rift, and most lie in territories within the rift.

In Kenya, the valley is deepest to the north of Nairobi. As the lakes in the Eastern Rift have no outlet to the sea and tend to be shallow, they have a high mineral content as the evaporation of water leaves the salts behind. For example, Lake Magadi has high concentrations of soda (sodium carbonate) and Lake Elmenteita, Lake Bogoria, and Lake Nakuru are all strongly alkaline, while the freshwater springs supplying Lake Naivasha are essential to support its current biological variety.

The southern section of the Rift Valley includes Lake Malawi, the third-deepest freshwater body in the world, which reaches 706 m in depth and separates the Nyassa plateau of Northern Mozambique from Malawi. The rift extends southwards from Lake Malawi as the valley of the Shire River, which flows from the lake into the Zambezi River. The rift continues south of the Zambezi as the Urema Valley of central Mozambique.

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title: Great Rift Valley


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Grigori Rasputin

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (Григо́рий Ефи́мович Распу́тин ; 21 January 1869– 30 December 1916) was a Russian mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the Russian Empire.

Rasputin was born to a family of peasants in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye, located within Tyumensky Uyezd in Tobolsk Governorate (present-day Yarkovsky District in Tyumen Oblast). He had a religious conversion experience after embarking on a pilgrimage to a monastery in 1897 and has been described as a monk or as a strannik (wanderer or pilgrim), though he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1903 or in the winter of 1904–1905, he travelled to Saint Petersburg and captivated a number of religious and social leaders, eventually becoming a prominent figure in Russian society. In November 1905, Rasputin met Nicholas II and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna.

In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a faith healer for Nicholas' and Alexandra's only son, Alexei Nikolaevich, who suffered from haemophilia. He was a divisive figure at court, seen by some Russians as a mystic, visionary and prophet, and by others as a religious charlatan. The extent of Rasputin's power reached an all-time high in 1915, when Nicholas left Saint Petersburg to oversee the Imperial Russian Army as it was engaged in the First World War. In his absence, Rasputin and Alexandra consolidated their influence across the Russian Empire. However, as Russian military defeats mounted on the Eastern Front, both figures became increasingly unpopular, and in the early morning of 30 December 1916, Rasputin was assassinated by a group of conservative Russian noblemen who opposed his influence over the imperial family.

Historians often suggest that Rasputin's scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the Tsarist government, thus precipitating the overthrow of the House of Romanov shortly after his assassination. Accounts of his life and influence were often based on hearsay and rumor; he remains a mysterious and captivating figure in popular culture.

Early life
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was born a peasant in the small village of Pokrovskoye, along the Tura River in the Tobolsk Governorate (now Tyumen Oblast) in the Russian Empire. According to official records, he was born on 21 January 1869 and christened the following day. He was named for St. Gregory of Nyssa, whose feast was celebrated on 10 January.

There are few records of Rasputin's parents. His father, Yefim (1842 – 1916), was a peasant farmer and church elder who had been born in Pokrovskoye and married Rasputin's mother, Anna Parshukova (c. 1840 – 1906), in 1863. Yefim also worked as a government courier, ferrying people and goods between Tobolsk and Tyumen. The couple had seven other children, all of whom died in infancy and early childhood; there may have been a ninth child, Feodosiya. According to historian Joseph T. Fuhrmann, Rasputin was certainly close to Feodosiya and was godfather to her children, but "the records that have survived do not permit us to say more than that".

According to historian Douglas Smith, Rasputin's youth and early adulthood are "a black hole about which we know almost nothing", though the lack of reliable sources and information did not stop others from fabricating stories about Rasputin's parents and his youth after his rise to prominence. Historians agree, however, that like most Siberian peasants, including his mother and father, Rasputin was not formally educated and remained illiterate well into his early adulthood. Local archival records suggest that he had a somewhat unruly youth—possibly involving drinking, small thefts and disrespect for local authorities—but contain no evidence of his being charged with stealing horses, blasphemy or bearing false witness, all major crimes later imputed to him as a young man.

In 1886, Rasputin traveled to Abalak, some 250 km east-northeast of Tyumen and 2,800 km east of Moscow, where he met a peasant girl named Praskovya Dubrovina. After a courtship of several months, they married in February 1887. Praskovya remained in Pokrovskoye throughout Rasputin's later travels and rise to prominence, and remained devoted to him until his death. The couple had seven children, though only three survived to adulthood: Dmitry (b. 1895), Maria (b. 1898) and Varvara (b. 1900).

Religious conversion
In 1897, Rasputin developed a renewed interest in religion and left Pokrovskoye to go on a pilgrimage. His reasons are unclear; according to some sources, he left the village to escape punishment for his role in horse theft. Other sources suggest Rasputin had a vision of the Virgin Mary or of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye, while still others suggest that his pilgrimage was inspired by a young theological student, Melity Zaborovsky. Whatever his reasons, Rasputin cast off his old life: he was 28 years old, married ten years, with an infant son and another child on the way. According to Smith, his decision "could only have been occasioned by some sort of emotional or spiritual crisis".

Rasputin had undertaken earlier, shorter pilgrimages to the Holy Znamensky Monastery at Abalak and to Tobolsk's cathedral, but his visit to the St. Nicholas Monastery at Verkhoturye in 1897 transformed him. There, he met and was "profoundly humbled" by a starets (elder) known as Makary. Rasputin may have spent several months at Verkhoturye, and it was perhaps here that he learned to read and write. However, he later claimed that some of the monks at Verkhotuyre engaged in homosexuality and criticized monastic life as too coercive. He returned to Pokrovskoye a changed man, looking disheveled and behaving differently. He became a vegetarian, swore off alcohol, and prayed and sang much more fervently than he had in the past.

Rasputin spent the years that followed as a strannik (a holy wanderer or pilgrim), leaving Pokrovskoye for months or even years at a time to wander the country and visit a variety of holy sites. It is possible he wandered as far as Mount Athos—the center of Eastern Orthodox monastic life—in 1900.

By the early 1900s, Rasputin had developed a small circle of followers, primarily family members and other local peasants, who prayed with him on Sundays and other holy days when he was in Pokrovskoye. Building a makeshift chapel in Yefim's root cellar—Rasputin was still living within his father's household at the time—the group held secret prayer meetings there. These meetings were the subject of some suspicion and hostility from the village priest and other villagers. It was rumored that female followers were ceremonially washing Rasputin before each meeting, that the group sang strange songs, and even that Rasputin had joined the Khlysty, a religious sect whose ecstatic rituals were rumored to include self-flagellation and sexual orgies. According to Fuhrmann, however, "repeated investigations failed to establish that Rasputin was ever a member of the sect", and rumors that he was a Khlyst appear to have been unfounded.

Rise to prominence
Word of Rasputin's activity and charisma began to spread in Siberia during the early 1900s. At some point during 1904 or 1905, he traveled to the city of Kazan, where he acquired a reputation as a wise starets who could help people resolve their spiritual crises and anxieties. Despite rumors that Rasputin was having sex with female followers, he made a favorable impression on several local religious leaders. Among these were Archimandrite Andrei and Bishop Chrysthanos, who gave Rasputin a letter of recommendation to Bishop Sergei, the rector of the theological seminary at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, and arranged for him to travel to Saint Petersburg.

Upon arriving at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Rasputin was introduced to church leaders, including Archimandrite Theofan, inspector of the theological seminary, who was well-connected in Saint Petersburg society and later served as confessor to the imperial family. Theofan was so impressed with Rasputin that he invited him to stay in his home; he went on to become one of Rasputin's most important friends in Saint Petersburg, gaining him entry to many of the influential salons where the local aristocracy gathered for religious discussions. It was through these meetings that Rasputin attracted some of his early and influential followers—many of whom would later turn against him.

Alternative religious movements such as spiritualism and theosophy had become popular among Saint Petersburg's aristocracy before Rasputin's arrival, and many of the aristocracy were intensely curious about the occult and the supernatural. Rasputin's ideas and "strange manners" made him the subject of intense curiosity among the city's elite, who according to Fuhrmann were "bored, cynical, and seeking new experiences" during this period. Rasputin's appeal may have been enhanced by the fact that he was also a native Russian, unlike other self-described "holy men" such as Nizier Anthelme Philippe and Gérard Encausse, who had previously been popular in Saint Petersburg.

According to Fuhrmann, Rasputin stayed in Saint Petersburg for only a few months on his first visit and returned to Pokrovskoye in the fall of 1903. Smith, however, argues that it is impossible to know whether Rasputin stayed in Saint Petersburg or returned to Pokrovskoye at some point between his first arrival and 1905. Regardless, by 1905 Rasputin had formed friendships with several members of the aristocracy, including the "Black Princesses", Militsa and Anastasia of Montenegro, who had married cousins of Tsar Nicholas II (Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich and Prince George Maximilianovich Romanowsky) and were instrumental in introducing Rasputin to the tsar and his family.

Rasputin first met Nicholas on 1 November 1905, at the Peterhof Palace. The tsar recorded the event in his diary, writing that he and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna, had "made the acquaintance of a man of God – Grigory, from Tobolsk province". Rasputin returned to Pokrovskoye shortly after their first meeting and did not return to Saint Petersburg until July 1906. On his return, he sent Nicholas a telegram asking to present the tsar with an icon of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye. He met with Nicholas and Alexandra on 18 July and again in October, when he first met their children.

At some point, Nicholas and Alexandra became convinced that Rasputin possessed the miraculous power to heal their only son, Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, who suffered from haemophilia. Historians disagree over when this happened: according to Orlando Figes, Rasputin was first introduced to the tsar and tsarina as a healer who could help their son in November 1905, while Joseph T. Fuhrmann has speculated that it was in October 1906 that Rasputin was first asked to pray for the health of Alexei.

Healer to Alexei Nikolaevich
Much of Rasputin's influence with the imperial family stemmed from the belief by Alexandra and others that he had on several occasions eased Alexei's pain and stopped his bleeding. According to historian Marc Ferro, the tsarina had a "passionate attachment" to Rasputin, believing he could heal her son's affliction. Harold Shukman wrote that Rasputin became "an indispensable member of the royal entourage". It is unclear when Rasputin first learned of Alexei's haemophilia, or when he first acted as a healer. He may have been aware of Alexei's condition as early as October 1906, and was summoned by Alexandra to pray for the tsarevich when he had an internal hemorrhage in the spring of 1907. Alexei recovered the next morning. Alexandra's friend Anna Vyrubova became convinced that Rasputin had miraculous powers shortly thereafter and became one of his most influential advocates.

During the summer of 1912, Alexei developed a hemorrhage in his thigh and groin after a jolting carriage ride near the imperial hunting grounds at Spała, which caused a large hematoma. In severe pain and delirious with fever, the tsarevich appeared close to death. In desperation, Alexandra asked Vyrubova to send Rasputin (who was in Siberia) a telegram, asking him to pray for Alexei. Rasputin wrote back quickly, telling the tsarina that "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much." The next morning, Alexei's condition was unchanged, but Alexandra was encouraged by the message and regained some hope that he would survive. His bleeding stopped the following day. Dr. S. P. Fedorov, one of the physicians who attended Alexei, admitted that "the recovery was wholly inexplicable from a medical point of view." Later, Dr. Fedorov admitted that Alexandra could not be blamed for seeing Rasputin as a miracle man: "Rasputin would come in, walk up to the patient, look at him, and spit. The bleeding would stop in no time.... How could the empress not trust Rasputin after that?"

Historian Robert K. Massie has called Alexei's recovery "one of the most mysterious episodes of the whole Rasputin legend". The cause of his recovery is unclear: Massie speculated that Rasputin's suggestion not to let doctors disturb Alexei had aided his recovery by allowing him to rest and heal, or that his message may have aided Alexei's recovery by calming his mother and reducing the tsarevich's emotional stress. Alexandra believed that Rasputin had performed a miracle, and concluded that he was essential to Alexei's survival. Some writers and historians, such as Ferro, claim that Rasputin stopped Alexei's bleeding on other occasions through hypnosis. Still other historians–including memoirist Pierre Gilliard, Alexei's French-language tutor–have speculated that Rasputin controlled Alexei's bleeding by disallowing the administration of aspirin, then widely used to relieve pain, but unknown as an anti-clotting agent until the 1950s.

Relationship with the Imperial Children
Alexei and his siblings were also taught to view Rasputin as "our friend" and to share confidences with him. In the autumn of 1907, their aunt, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, was escorted to the nursery by Nicholas to meet Rasputin. Maria, her sisters and brother Alexei were all wearing their long white nightgowns. "All the children seemed to like him," Olga Alexandrovna recalled. "They were completely at ease with him."

Rasputin's friendship with the tsar's children was evident in the messages he sent to them. "My Dear Pearl M!" Rasputin wrote the nine-year-old Maria in one telegram in 1908. "Tell me how you talked with the sea, with nature! I miss your simple soul. We will see each other soon! A big kiss." In a second telegram, Rasputin told the child, "My Dear M! My Little Friend! May the Lord help you to carry your cross with wisdom and joy in Christ. This world is like the day, look it's already evening. So it is with the cares of the world." In February 1909, Rasputin sent all of the children a telegram, advising them to, "Love the whole of God's nature, the whole of His creation in particular this earth. The Mother of God was always occupied with flowers and needlework."

One of the girls' governesses, Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva, was horrified in 1910 when Rasputin was permitted access to the nursery when the four girls were in their nightgowns. Tyutcheva wanted Rasputin barred from the nurseries. In response to her complaints, Nicholas asked Rasputin to end his nursery visits. "I am so afr(aid) that S.I. [Tyutcheva] can speak ... about our friend something bad," Maria's twelve-year-old sister Tatiana wrote to her mother on 8 March 1910, after begging Alexandra to forgive her for doing something she did not like. "I hope our nurse will be nice to our friend now." Alexandra eventually had Tyutcheva fired.

Tyutcheva took her story to other members of the imperial family, who were scandalized by the reports, though Rasputin's contacts with the children were by all accounts completely innocent. Nicholas's sister, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, was horrified by Tyutcheva's story. Xenia wrote on 15 March 1910 that she could not understand "...the attitude of Alix and the children to that sinister Grigory (whom they consider to be almost a saint, when in fact he's only a khlyst!) He's always there, goes into the nursery, visits Olga and Tatiana while they are getting ready for bed, sits there talking to them and caressing them. They are careful to hide him from Sofia Ivanovna, and the children don't dare talk to her about him. It's all quite unbelievable and beyond understanding."

Another of the nursery governesses claimed in the spring of 1910 that she was raped by Rasputin. Maria Ivanovna Vishnyakova had at first been a devotee of Rasputin, but later was disillusioned by him. Alexandra refused to believe Vishnyakova "and said that everything Rasputin does is holy". Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna was told that Vishnyakova's claim had been immediately investigated, but "they caught the young woman in bed with a Cossack of the Imperial Guard." Vishnyakova was dismissed from her post in 1913.

It was whispered in society that Rasputin had seduced not only Alexandra but also the four grand duchesses. Rasputin had released ardent letters written to him by the tsarina and the grand duchesses, which circulated throughout society and fueled the rumors. Pornographic cartoons also circulated that depicted Rasputin having sexual relations with the tsarina, with her four daughters and Anna Vyrubova nude in the background. Nicholas ordered Rasputin to leave Saint Petersburg for a time, much to Alexandra's displeasure, and Rasputin went on a pilgrimage to Palestine.

Despite the scandal, the imperial family's association with Rasputin continued until his murder on 17 December 1916. "Our Friend is so contented with our girlies, says they have gone through heavy 'courses' for their age and their souls have much developed," Alexandra wrote to Nicholas on 6 December 1916. In his memoirs, A. A. Mordvinov reported that the four grand duchesses appeared "cold and visibly terribly upset" by Rasputin's death and sat "huddled up closely together" on a sofa in one of their bedrooms on the night they received the news. Mordvinov reported that the young women were in a gloomy mood and seemed to sense the political upheaval that was about to be unleashed. Rasputin was buried with an icon signed on its reverse side by the grand duchesses and their mother.

Controversies
The imperial family's belief in Rasputin's healing powers brought him considerable status and power at court. Nicholas appointed Rasputin his lampadnik (lamplighter), charged with keeping the lamps lit before religious icons in the palace, which gained him regular access to the palace and imperial family. By December 1906, Rasputin had become close enough to ask a special favor of the tsar: that he be permitted to change his surname to Rasputin-Noviy (Rasputin-New). Nicholas granted the request and the name change was speedily processed, suggesting that Rasputin already had the tsar's favor at that early date. Rasputin used his position to full effect, accepting bribes and sexual favors from admirers and working diligently to expand his influence.

Rasputin soon became a controversial figure; he was accused by his enemies of religious heresy and rape, was suspected of exerting undue political influence over the tsar and was even rumored to be having an affair with the tsarina. Opposition to Rasputin's influence grew within the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1907, the local clergy in Pokrovskoye denounced Rasputin as a heretic, and the Bishop of Tobolsk launched an inquest into his activities, accusing him of "spreading false, Khlyst-like doctrines". In Saint Petersburg, Rasputin faced opposition from even more prominent critics, including Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin and the Okhrana, the tsar's secret police. Having ordered an investigation into Rasputin's activities, Stolypin confronted Nicholas but did not succeed in reining in Rasputin's influence or exiling him from Saint Petersburg.

Outside of the royal court, Rasputin preached that physical contact between him and others purified them; he engaged in drunken revels and extramarital affairs with a wide range of women from prostitutes to high-society ladies. In 1909, Khioniya Berlatskaya, one of Rasputin's early supporters, accused him of rape. Betlatskaya sought aid from Theofan, who became convinced that Rasputin was a danger to the monarchy. Rumors multiplied that Rasputin had assaulted female followers and behaved inappropriately on visits with the imperial family—and particularly with Nicholas's teenage daughters Olga and Tatiana.

During this period the First World War, the dissolution of feudalism and a meddling government bureaucracy all contributed to Russia's rapid economic decline. Many laid the blame on Alexandra and Rasputin. One outspoken member of the Duma, far-right politician Vladimir Purishkevich, stated in November 1916 that he held the tsar's ministers had "been turned into marionettes, marionettes whose threads have been taken firmly in hand by Rasputin and the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna—the evil genius of Russia and the Tsarina… who has remained a German on the Russian throne and alien to the country and its people". (The tsarina had been born a German princess.)

Failed assassination attempt
On 12 July 1914, a 33-year-old peasant woman named Khioniya Guseva attempted to assassinate Rasputin by stabbing him in the stomach outside his home in Pokrovskoye. Rasputin was seriously wounded, and for a time it was not clear if he would survive. After surgery and some time in a hospital in Tyumen, he recovered.

Guseva was a follower of Iliodor, a former priest who had supported Rasputin before denouncing his sexual escapades and self-aggrandizement in December 1911. A radical conservative and anti-semite, Iliodor had been part of a group of establishment figures who had attempted to drive a wedge between Rasputin and the imperial family in 1911. When this effort failed, Iliodor was banished from Saint Petersburg and was ultimately defrocked. Guseva claimed to have acted alone, having read about Rasputin in the newspapers and believing him to be a "false prophet and even an Antichrist". Both the police and Rasputin, however, believed that Iliodor had instigated the assassination attempt. Iliodor fled the country before he could be questioned, and Guseva was found to be not responsible for her actions by reason of insanity.

Death
A group of nobles led by Purishkevich, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and Prince Felix Yusupov decided that Rasputin's influence over Alexandra threatened the Russian Empire. They concocted a plan in December 1916 to kill Rasputin, apparently by luring him to the Yusupovs' Moika Palace.

Rasputin was murdered during the early morning on 30 December 1916 at the home of Prince Yusupov. He died of three gunshot wounds, one of which was a close-range shot to his forehead. Little is certain about his death beyond this, and the circumstances of his death have been the subject of considerable speculation. According to Smith, "what really happened at the Yusupov home on 17 December will never be known". The story that Yusupov recounted in his memoirs, however, has become the most frequently told version of events.

According to Yusupov's account, Rasputin was invited to his palace shortly after midnight and ushered into the basement. Yusupov offered tea and cakes which had been laced with cyanide. After initially refusing the cakes, Rasputin began to eat them and, to Yusupov's surprise, appeared unaffected by the poison. Rasputin then asked for some Madeira wine (which had also been poisoned) and drank three glasses, but still showed no sign of distress. At around 2:30 am, Yusupov excused himself to go upstairs, where his fellow conspirators were waiting. He took a revolver from Pavlovich, then returned to the basement and told Rasputin that he'd "better look at the crucifix and say a prayer", referring to a crucifix in the room, then shot him once in the chest. The conspirators then drove to Rasputin's apartment, with Sukhotin wearing Rasputin's coat and hat in an attempt to make it look as though Rasputin had returned home that night. Upon returning to his palace, Yusupov went back to the basement to ensure that Rasputin was dead. Suddenly, Rasputin leaped up and attacked Yusupov, who freed himself with some effort and fled upstairs. Rasputin followed Yusupov into the palace's courtyard, where he was shot by Purishkevich. He collapsed into a snowbank. The conspirators then wrapped his body in cloth, drove it to the Petrovsky Bridge and dropped it into the Little Nevka river.

In an unsubstantiated claim, Grand Duchess Tatiana, who was earlier alleged to have been raped by Rasputin, was present at the site of Rasputin's murder, "disguised as a lieutenant of the Chevaliers-Gardes, so that she could revenge herself on Rasputin who had tried to violate her". Maurice Paléologue, the French ambassador to Russia, wrote that Tatiana had supposedly witnessed Rasputin's castration, but he doubted the credibility of the rumor.

In a modern analysis of Rasputin's death, published on the 100th anniversary of the event, Dr Carolyn Harris of the University of Toronto notes that the actual circumstances were apparently less dramatic than Yusupov's account. Rasputin's daughter recorded that her father disliked sweet food and would not have eaten the supposedly poisoned cakes. An autopsy account by the official surgeon involved has no record of poisoning or drowning but simply records death by a single bullet fired into the head at close range.

Death and aftermath
News of Rasputin's murder spread quickly, even before his body was found. According to Smith, Purishkevich spoke openly about the murder to two soldiers and to a policeman who was investigating reports of shots shortly after the event, but urged them not to tell anyone else. An investigation was launched the next morning. The Stock Exchange Gazette ran a report of Rasputin's death "after a party in one of the most aristocratic homes in the center of the city" on the afternoon of 30 December 1916.

After two workmen discovered blood on the railing of the Petrovsky Bridge and a boot on the ice below, police began searching the area. Rasputin's body was found under the river ice on 1 January (O.S. 19 December) approximately 200 meters downstream from the bridge. Dmitry Kosorotov, the city's senior autopsy surgeon, examined the body. Kosorotov's report was lost, but he later stated that Rasputin's body had shown signs of severe trauma, including three gunshot wounds (one at close range to the forehead), a slice wound to his left side and other injuries, many of which Kosorotov felt had been sustained post-mortem. Kosorotov found a single bullet in Rasputin's body but stated that it was too badly deformed and of a type too widely used to trace. He found no evidence that Rasputin had been poisoned. According to both Smith and Fuhrmann, Kosorotov found no water in Rasputin's lungs and reports that Rasputin had been thrown into the water alive were incorrect. Some later accounts claimed that Rasputin's penis had been severed, but Kosorotov found his genitals intact.

Rasputin was buried on 2 January (O.S. 21 December) at a small church that Vyrubova had been building at Tsarskoye Selo. The funeral was attended only by the imperial family and a few of their intimates. Rasputin's wife, mistress and children were not invited, although his daughters met with the imperial family at Vyrubova's home later that day. The imperial family planned to build a church over Rasputin's grave site. However, his body was exhumed and burned by a detachment of soldiers on the orders of Alexander Kerensky shortly after Nicholas abdicated the throne in March 1917, so that his grave would not become a rallying point for supporters of the old regime.

Maria Rasputin
Rasputin's daughter, Maria Rasputin (born Matryona Rasputina; 1898–1977), emigrated to France after the October Revolution and then to the United States. There, she worked as a dancer and then a lion tamer in a circus.

In popular culture

 * Rasputin and the Empress (1932), a film directed by Richard Boleslavsky and Charles Brabin starring Lionel Barrymore as Grigori Rasputin, Ralph Morgan as the Czar, Ethel Barrymore as the Czarina and John Barrymore as Prince Paul Chegodireff.
 * Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966), a Hammer horror film directed by Don Sharp and starring Christopher Lee as Grigori Rasputin, and Barbara Shelley.
 * I Killed Rasputin (1967), an Italo-Franco biographical film directed by Robert Hossein about the death of Grigori Rasputin.
 * Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), a British epic historical drama film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Rasputin is portrayed by Tom Baker.
 * Agony (1973–1975, released only in 1981), a Soviet film directed by Elem Klimov, with a score by Alfred Schnittke.
 * "Rasputin" (1978), a popular song by the German-Caribbean vocal group Boney M.
 * Rasputin, a stage name of British-German rock musician Jon Symon who performed mainly in the 1970s under this pseudonym
 * Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny (1996), a biographical historical drama television film which chronicles the last four years of Rasputin's life. He was portrayed by Alan Rickman.
 * Anastasia (1997), an animated musical starring Christopher Lloyd as Grigori Rasputin.
 * Grigoriy R. (2014), Russian TV miniseries (sometimes marketed under the name Rasputin)
 * The Last Czars (2019), Netflix docudrama miniseries following the reign of Nicholas II. Rasputin is portrayed by Ben Cartwright
 * The King's Man (2021), an action/drama film which includes scenes illustrating the British agent theory of Rasputin's assassination.
 * The Power of the Doctor (2022), Doctor Who special, portrayed by Sacha Dhawan as an alias of The Master

title: Grigori Rasputin


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Gemstone

A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. Certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, and obsidian) and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber, jet, and pearl) may also be used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some softer minerals such as brazilianite may be used in jewelry because of their color or luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. However, generally speaking, soft minerals are not typically used as gemstones by virtue of their brittleness and lack of durability.

Found all over the world, the industry of coloured gemstones (i.e. anything other than diamonds) is currently estimated at around US$ 1.55 billion as of 2023 and is projected to steadily increase to a value of US$ 4.46 billion by 2033.

A gem expert is a gemologist, a gem maker is called a lapidarist or gemcutter; a diamond cutter is called a diamantaire.

Characteristics and classification

The traditional classification in the West, which goes back to the ancient Greeks, begins with a distinction between precious and semi-precious; similar distinctions are made in other cultures. In modern use, the precious stones are emerald, ruby, sapphire and diamond, with all other gemstones being semi-precious. This distinction reflects the rarity of the respective stones in ancient times, as well as their quality: all are translucent, with fine color in their purest forms (except for the colorless diamond), and very hard with a hardness score of 8 to 10 on the Mohs scale. Other stones are classified by their color, translucency, and hardness. The traditional distinction does not necessarily reflect modern values; for example, while garnets are relatively inexpensive, a green garnet called tsavorite can be far more valuable than a mid-quality emerald. Another traditional term for semi-precious gemstones used in art history and archaeology is hardstone. Use of the terms 'precious' and 'semi-precious' in a commercial context is, arguably, misleading in that it suggests certain stones are more valuable than others when this is not reflected in the actual market value, although it would generally be correct if referring to desirability.

In modern times gemstones are identified by gemologists, who describe gems and their characteristics using technical terminology specific to the field of gemology. The first characteristic a gemologist uses to identify a gemstone is its chemical composition. For example, diamonds are made of carbon and rubies of aluminium oxide. Many gems are crystals which are classified by their crystal system such as cubic or trigonal or monoclinic. Another term used is habit, the form the gem is usually found in. For example, diamonds, which have a cubic crystal system, are often found as octahedrons.

Gemstones are classified into different groups, species, and varieties. For example, ruby is the red variety of the species corundum, while any other color of corundum is considered sapphire. Other examples are the emerald (green), aquamarine (blue), red beryl (red), goshenite (colorless), heliodor (yellow), and morganite (pink), which are all varieties of the mineral species beryl.

Gems are characterized in terms of their color (hue, tone and saturation), optical phenomena, luster, refractive index, birefringence, dispersion, specific gravity, hardness, cleavage, and fracture. They may exhibit pleochroism or double refraction. They may have luminescence and a distinctive absorption spectrum. Gemstones may also be classified in terms of their "water". This is a recognized grading of the gem's luster, transparency, or "brilliance". Very transparent gems are considered "first water", while "second" or "third water" gems are those of a lesser transparency. Additionally, material or flaws within a stone may be present as inclusions.

Value
Gemstones have no universally accepted grading system. Diamonds are graded using a system developed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in the early 1950s. Historically, all gemstones were graded using the naked eye. The GIA system included a major innovation: the introduction of 10x magnification as the standard for grading clarity. Other gemstones are still graded using the naked eye (assuming 20/20 vision).

A mnemonic device, the "four Cs" (color, cut, clarity, and carats), has been introduced to help describe the factors used to grade a diamond. With modification, these categories can be useful in understanding the grading of all gemstones. The four criteria carry different weights depending upon whether they are applied to colored gemstones or to colorless diamonds. In diamonds, the cut is the primary determinant of value, followed by clarity and color. An ideally cut diamond will sparkle, to break down light into its constituent rainbow colors (dispersion), chop it up into bright little pieces (scintillation), and deliver it to the eye (brilliance). In its rough crystalline form, a diamond will do none of these things; it requires proper fashioning and this is called "cut". In gemstones that have color, including colored diamonds, the purity, and beauty of that color is the primary determinant of quality.

Physical characteristics that make a colored stone valuable are color, clarity to a lesser extent (emeralds will always have a number of inclusions), cut, unusual optical phenomena within the stone such as color zoning (the uneven distribution of coloring within a gem) and asteria (star effects).

Apart from the more generic and commonly used gemstones such as from diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, pearls and opal have also been defined as precious in the jewellery trade. Up to the discoveries of bulk amethyst in Brazil in the 19th century, amethyst was considered a "precious stone" as well, going back to ancient Greece. Even in the last century certain stones such as aquamarine, peridot and cat's eye (cymophane) have been popular and hence been regarded as precious, thus reinforcing the notion that a mineral's rarity may have been implicated in its classification as a precious stone and thus contribute to its value.

Today the gemstone trade no longer makes such a distinction. Many gemstones are used in even the most expensive jewelry, depending on the brand-name of the designer, fashion trends, market supply, treatments, etc. Nevertheless, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds still have a reputation that exceeds those of other gemstones.

Rare or unusual gemstones, generally understood to include those gemstones which occur so infrequently in gem quality that they are scarcely known except to connoisseurs, include andalusite, axinite, cassiterite, clinohumite, painite and red beryl.

Gemstone pricing and value are governed by factors and characteristics in the quality of the stone. These characteristics include clarity, rarity, freedom from defects, the beauty of the stone, as well as the demand for such stones. There are different pricing influencers for both colored gemstones, and for diamonds. The pricing on colored stones is determined by market supply-and-demand, but diamonds are more intricate.

In the addition to the aesthetic and adorning/ornamental purpose of gemstones, there are many proponents of energy medicine who also value gemstones on the basis of their alleged healing powers.

A gemstone that has been rising in popularity is Cuprian Elbaite Tourmaline which is also called "Paraiba Tourmaline". It was first discovered in the late 1980s in Paraíba, Brazil and later in Mozambique and Nigeria. It is famous for its glowing neon blue color. Paraiba Tourmaline has become one of the most popular gemstones in recent times thanks to its color and is considered to be one of the important gemstones after rubies, emeralds, and sapphires according to Gübelin Gemlab. Even though it is a tourmaline, Paraiba Tourmaline is one of the most expensive gemstones.

Grading
There are a number of laboratories which grade and provide reports on gemstones.
 * Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the main provider of education services and diamond grading reports
 * International Gemological Institute (IGI), independent laboratory for grading and evaluation of diamonds, jewelry, and colored stones
 * Hoge Raad Voor Diamant (HRD Antwerp), The Diamond High Council, Belgium is one of Europe's oldest laboratories; its main stakeholder is the Antwerp World Diamond Centre
 * American Gemological Society (AGS) is not as widely recognized nor as old as the GIA
 * American Gem Trade Laboratory which is part of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), a trade organization of jewelers and dealers of colored stones
 * American Gemological Laboratories (AGL), owned by Christopher P. Smith
 * European Gemological Laboratory (EGL), founded in 1974 by Guy Margel in Belgium
 * Gemmological Association of All Japan (GAAJ-ZENHOKYO), Zenhokyo, Japan, active in gemological research
 * The Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (Public Organization) or GIT, Thailand's national institute for gemological research and gem testing, Bangkok
 * Gemmology Institute of Southern Africa, Africa's premium gem laboratory
 * Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences (AIGS), the oldest gemological institute in South East Asia, involved in gemological education and gem testing
 * Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF), founded by Henry Hänni, focusing on colored gemstones and the identification of natural pearls
 * Gübelin Gem Lab, the traditional Swiss lab founded by Eduard Gübelin

Each laboratory has its own methodology to evaluate gemstones. A stone can be called "pink" by one lab while another lab calls it "padparadscha". One lab can conclude a stone is untreated, while another lab might conclude that it is heat-treated. To minimize such differences, seven of the most respected labs, AGTA-GTL (New York), CISGEM (Milano), GAAJ-ZENHOKYO (Tokyo), GIA (Carlsbad), GIT (Bangkok), Gübelin (Lucerne) and SSEF (Basel), have established the Laboratory Manual Harmonisation Committee (LMHC), for the standardization of wording reports, promotion of certain analytical methods and interpretation of results. Country of origin has sometimes been difficult to determine, due to the constant discovery of new source locations. Determining a "country of origin" is thus much more difficult than determining other aspects of a gem (such as cut, clarity, etc.).

Gem dealers are aware of the differences between gem laboratories and will make use of the discrepancies to obtain the best possible certificate.

Cutting and polishing

A few gemstones are used as gems in the crystal or other forms in which they are found. Most, however, are cut and polished for usage as jewelry. The two main classifications are as follows:

 * Stones cut as smooth, dome-shaped stones called cabochons or simply cab. These have been a popular shape since ancient time and is more durable than faceted gems.
 * Stones which are cut with a faceting machine by polishing small flat windows called facets at regular intervals at exact angles.

Stones which are opaque or semi-opaque such as opal, turquoise, variscite, etc. are commonly cut as cabochons. These gems are designed to show the stone's color, luster and other surface properties as opposed to internal reflection properties like brilliance. Grinding wheels and polishing agents are used to grind, shape, and polish the smooth dome shape of the stones.

Gems that are transparent are normally faceted, a method that shows the optical properties of the stone's interior to its best advantage by maximizing reflected light which is perceived by the viewer as sparkle. There are many commonly used shapes for faceted stones. The facets must be cut at the proper angles, which varies depending on the optical properties of the gem. If the angles are too steep or too shallow, the light will pass through and not be reflected back toward the viewer. The faceting machine is used to hold the stone onto a flat lap for cutting and polishing the flat facets. Rarely, some cutters use special curved laps to cut and polish curved facets.

Colors
The color of any material is due to the nature of light itself. Daylight, often called white light, is all of the colors of the spectrum combined. When light strikes a material, most of the light is absorbed while a smaller amount of a particular frequency or wavelength is reflected. The part that is reflected reaches the eye as the perceived color. A ruby appears red because it absorbs all other colors of white light while reflecting red.

A material which is mostly the same can exhibit different colors. For example, ruby and sapphire have the same primary chemical composition (both are corundum) but exhibit different colors because of impurities which absorb and reflect different wavelengths of light depending on their individual compositions. Even the same named gemstone can occur in many different colors: sapphires show different shades of blue and pink and "fancy sapphires" exhibit a whole range of other colors from yellow to orange-pink, the latter called "padparadscha sapphire".

This difference in color is based on the atomic structure of the stone. Although the different stones formally have the same chemical composition and structure, they are not exactly the same. Every now and then an atom is replaced by a completely different atom, sometimes as few as one in a million atoms. These so-called impurities are sufficient to absorb certain colors and leave the other colors unaffected. For example, beryl, which is colorless in its pure mineral form, becomes emerald with chromium impurities. If manganese is added instead of chromium, beryl becomes pink morganite. With iron, it becomes aquamarine.Some gemstone treatments make use of the fact that these impurities can be "manipulated", thus changing the color of the gem.

Treatment
Gemstones are often treated to enhance the color or clarity of the stone. In some cases, the treatment applied to the gemstone can also increase its durability. Even though natural gemstones can be transformed using the traditional method of cutting and polishing, other treatment options allow the stone's appearance to be enhanced. Depending on the type and extent of treatment, they can affect the value of the stone. Some treatments are used widely because the resulting gem is stable, while others are not accepted most commonly because the gem color is unstable and may revert to the original tone.

Early history
Before the innovation of modern-day tools, thousands of years ago, people were recorded to use a variety of techniques to treat and enhance gemstones. Some of the earliest methods of gemstone treatment date back to the Minoan Age, for example foiling, which is where metal foil is used to enhance a gemstone's colour. Other methods recorded 2000 years ago in the book Natural History by Pliny the Elder include oiling and dyeing/staining.

Heat
Heat can either improve or spoil gemstone color or clarity. The heating process has been well known to gem miners and cutters for centuries, and in many stone types heating is a common practice. Most citrine is made by heating amethyst, and partial heating with a strong gradient results in "ametrine" – a stone partly amethyst and partly citrine. Aquamarine is often heated to remove yellow tones, or to change green colors into the more desirable blue, or enhance its existing blue color to a deeper blue.

Nearly all tanzanite is heated at low temperatures to remove brown undertones and give a more desirable blue / purple color. A considerable portion of all sapphire and ruby is treated with a variety of heat treatments to improve both color and clarity.

When jewelry containing diamonds is heated for repairs, the diamond should be protected with boric acid; otherwise, the diamond, which is pure carbon, could be burned on the surface or even burned completely up. When jewelry containing sapphires or rubies is heated, those stones should not be coated with boric acid (which can etch the surface) or any other substance. They do not have to be protected from burning, like a diamond (although the stones do need to be protected from heat stress fracture by immersing the part of the jewelry with stones in the water when metal parts are heated).

Radiation
The irradiation process is widely practiced in jewelry industry and enabled the creation of gemstone colors that do not exist or are extremely rare in nature. However, particularly when done in a nuclear reactor, the processes can make gemstones radioactive. Health risks related to the residual radioactivity of the treated gemstones have led to government regulations in many countries.

Virtually all blue topaz, both the lighter and the darker blue shades such as "London" blue, has been irradiated to change the color from white to blue. Most green quartz (Oro Verde) are also irradiated to achieve the yellow-green color. Diamonds are mainly irradiated to become blue-green or green, although other colors are possible. When light-to-medium-yellow diamonds are treated with gamma rays they may become green; with a high-energy electron beam, blue.

Waxing/oiling
Emeralds containing natural fissures are sometimes filled with wax or oil to disguise them. This wax or oil is also colored to make the emerald appear of better color as well as clarity. Turquoise is also commonly treated in a similar manner.

Fracture filling
Fracture filling has been in use with different gemstones such as diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires. In 2006 "glass-filled rubies" received publicity. Rubies over 10 carats (2 g) with large fractures were filled with lead glass, thus dramatically improving the appearance (of larger rubies in particular). Such treatments are fairly easy to detect.

Bleaching
Another treatment method that is commonly used to treat gemstones is bleaching. This method uses a chemical in order to reduce the colour of the gem. After bleaching, a combination treatment can be done by dying the gemstone once the unwanted colours are removed. Hydrogen peroxide is the most commonly used product used to alter gemstones and have notably been used to treat jade and pearls. The treatment of bleaching can also be followed by impregnation, which allows the gemstone's durability to be increased.

Socioeconomic issues in the gemstone industry
The socio-economic dynamics of the gemstone industry are shaped by market forces and consumer preferences and typically go undiscussed. Changes in demand and prices can significantly affect the livelihoods of those involved in gemstone mining and trade, particularly in developing countries where the industry serves as a crucial source of income.

A situation that arises as a result of this is the exploitation of natural resources and labor within gemstone mining operations. Many mines, particularly in developing countries, face challenges such as inadequate safety measures, low wages, and poor working conditions. Miners, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, endure hazardous working conditions and receive meager wages, contributing to cycles of poverty and exploitation. Gemstone mining operations are frequently conducted in remote or underdeveloped areas, lacking proper infrastructure and access to essential services such as healthcare and education. This further contributes to the pre-existing socio-economic disparities and obstructs community development such that the benefits of gemstone extraction may not adequately reach those directly involved in the process.

Another such issue revolves around environmental degradation resulting from mining activities. Environmental degradation can pose long-term threats to ecosystems and biodiversity, further worsening the socio-economic state in affected regions. Unregulated mining practices often result in deforestation, soil erosion, and water contamination thus threatening ecosystems and biodiversity. Unregulated mining activity can also cause depletion of natural resources, thus diminishing the prospects for sustainable development. The environmental impact of gemstone mining not only poses a threat to ecosystems but also undermines the long-term viability of the industry by diminishing the quality and quantity of available resources.

Furthermore, the gemstone industry is also susceptible to issues related to transparency and ethics, which impact both producers and consumers. The lack of standardized certification processes and the prevalence of illicit practices undermine market integrity and trust. The lack of transparency and accountability in the supply chain aggravates pre-existing inequalities, as middlemen and corporations often capture a disproportionate share of the profits. As a result the unequal distribution of profits along the supply chain does little to improve socio-economic inequalities, particularly in regions where gemstones are mined.

Addressing these socio-economic challenges requires intensive effort from various stakeholders, including governments, industry executives, and society, to promote sustainable practices and ensure equitable outcomes for all involved parties. Implementing and enforcing regulations to ensure fair labor practices, environmental sustainability, and ethical sourcing is essential. Additionally, investing in community development projects, such as education and healthcare initiatives, can help alleviate poverty and empower marginalized communities dependent on the gemstone industry. Collaboration across sectors is crucial for fostering a more equitable and sustainable gemstone trade that benefits both producers and consumers while respecting human rights and environmental integrity.

Synthetic and artificial gemstones
Synthetic gemstones are distinct from imitation or simulated gems.

Synthetic gems are physically, optically, and chemically identical to the natural stone, but are created in a laboratory. Imitation or simulated stones are chemically different from the natural stone, but may appear quite similar to it; they can be more easily manufactured synthetic gemstones of a different mineral (spinel), glass, plastic, resins, or other compounds.

Examples of simulated or imitation stones include cubic zirconia, composed of zirconium oxide, synthetic moissanite, and uncolored, synthetic corundum or spinels; all of which are diamond simulants. The simulants imitate the look and color of the real stone but possess neither their chemical nor physical characteristics. In general, all are less hard than diamond. Moissanite actually has a higher refractive index than diamond, and when presented beside an equivalently sized and cut diamond will show more "fire".

Cultured, synthetic, or "lab-created" gemstones are not imitations: The bulk mineral and trace coloring elements are the same in both. For example, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds have been manufactured in labs that possess chemical and physical characteristics identical to the naturally occurring variety. Synthetic (lab created) corundum, including ruby and sapphire, is very common and costs much less than the natural stones. Small synthetic diamonds have been manufactured in large quantities as industrial abrasives, although larger gem-quality synthetic diamonds are becoming available in multiple carats.

Whether a gemstone is a natural stone or synthetic, the chemical, physical, and optical characteristics are the same: They are composed of the same mineral and are colored by the same trace materials, have the same hardness and density and strength, and show the same color spectrum, refractive index, and birefringence (if any). Lab-created stones tend to have a more vivid color since impurities common in natural stones are not present in the synthetic stone. Synthetics are made free of common naturally occurring impurities that reduce gem clarity or color unless intentionally added in order to provide a more drab, natural appearance, or to deceive an assayer. On the other hand, synthetics often show flaws not seen in natural stones, such as minute particles of corroded metal from lab trays used during synthesis.

Types
Some gemstones are more difficult to synthesize than others and not all stones are commercially viable to attempt to synthesize. These are the most common on the market currently.

Synthetic corundum
Synthetic corundum includes ruby (red variation) and sapphire (other color variations), both of which are considered highly desired and valued. Ruby was the first gemstone to be synthesized by Auguste Verneuil with his development of the flame-fusion process in 1902. Synthetic corundum continues to be made typically by flame-fusion as it is most cost-effective, but can also be produced through flux growth and hydrothermal growth.

Synthetic beryls
The most common synthesized beryl is emerald (green). Yellow, red and blue beryls are possible but much more rare. Synthetic emerald became possible with the development of the flux growth process and is produced in this way and well as hydrothermal growth.

Synthetic quartz
Types of synthetic quartz include citrine, rose quartz, and amethyst. Natural occurring quartz is not rare, but is nevertheless synthetically produced as it has practical application outside of aesthetic purposes. Quartz generates an electric current when under pressure and is used in watches, clocks, and oscillators.

Synthetic spinel
Synthetic spinel was first produced by accident. It can be created in any color making it popular to simulate various natural gemstones. It is created through flux growth and hydrothermal growth.

Creation process
There are two main categories for creation of these minerals: melt or solution processes.

Verneuil flame fusion process (melt process)
The flame fusion process was the first process used which successfully created large quantities of synthetic gemstones to be sold on the market. This remains the most cost effective and common method of creating corundums today.

The flame fusion process is completed in a Verneuil furnace. The furnace consists of an inverted blowpipe burner which produces an extremely hot oxyhydrogen flame, a powder dispenser, and a ceramic pedestal. A chemical powder which corresponds to the desired gemstone is passed through this flames. This melts the ingredients which drop on to a plate and solidify into a crystal called a boule. For corundum the flame must be 2000 °C. This process takes hours and yields a crystal with the same properties as its natural counterpart.

To produce corundum, a pure aluminium powder is used with different additives to achieve different colors.

 * Chromic oxide for ruby
 * Iron and titanium oxide for blue sapphire
 * Nickel oxide for yellow sapphire
 * Nickel, chromium and iron for orange sapphire
 * Manganese for pink sapphire
 * Copper for blue-green sapphire
 * Cobalt for dark blue sapphire

Czochralski process (melt process)
In 1918 this process was developed by J. Czocharalski and is also referred to as the "crystal pulling" method. In this process, the required gemstone materials are added to a crucible. A seed stone is placed into the melt in the crucible. As the gem begins to crystallize on the seed, the seed is pulled away and the gem continues to grow. This is used for corundum but is currently the least popular method.

Flux growth (solution process)
The flux growth process was the first process able to synthesize emerald. Flux growth begins with a crucible which can withstand high heat; either graphite or platinum which is filled with a molten liquid referred to as flux. The specific gem ingredients are added and dissolved in this fluid and recrystallize to form the desired gemstone.This is a longer process compared to the flame fusion process and can take two months up to a year depending on the desired final size.

Hydrothermal growth (solution process)
The hydrothermal growth process attempts to imitate the natural growth process of minerals. The required gem materials are sealed in a container of water and placed under extreme pressure. The water is heated beyond its boiling point which allows normally insoluble materials to dissolve. As more material cannot be added once the container is sealed, in order to create a larger gem the process would begin with a "seed" stone from a previous batch which the new material will crystallize on. This process takes a few weeks to complete.

Characteristics
Synthetic gemstones share chemical and physical properties with natural gemstones, but there are some slight differences that can be used to discern synthetic from natural. These differences are slight and often require microscopy as a tool to distinguish differences. Undetectable synthetics pose a threat to the market if they are able to be sold as rare natural gemstones. Because of this there are certain characteristic gemologists look for. Each crystal is characteristic to the environment and growth process under which it was created. Gemstones created from the flame-fusion process may have

 * small air bubbles which were trapped inside the boule during formation process
 * visible banding from formation of the boule
 * chatter marks which on the surface which appear crack like which are caused from damage during polishing of the gemstone

Gemstones created from flux melt process may have

 * small cavities which are filled with flux solution
 * inclusions in the gemstone from crucible used

Gemstones created from hydrothermal growth may have

 * inclusions from container used

History
Prior to development of synthesising processes the alternatives on the market to natural gemstones were imitations or fake. In 1837, the first successful synthesis of ruby occurred. French chemist Marc Gaudin managed to produce small crystals of ruby from melting together potassium aluminium sulphate and potassium chromate through what would later be known as the flux melt process. Following this, another French chemist Fremy was able to grow large quantities of small ruby crystals using a lead flux.

A few years later an alternative to flux melt was developed which led to the introduction of what was labeled "reconstructed ruby" to the market. Reconstructed ruby was sold as a process which produced larger rubies from melting together bits of natural ruby. In later attempts to recreate this process it was found to not be possible and is believed reconstructed rubies were most likely created using a multi-step method of melting of ruby powder.

Auguste Verneuil, a student of Fremy, went on to develop flame-fusion as an alternative to the flux-melt method. He developed large furnaces which were able to produce large quantities of corundums more efficiently and shifted the gemstone market dramatically. This process is still used today and the furnaces have not changed much from the original design. World production of corundum using this method reaches 1000 million carats a year.

List of rare gemstones

 * Painite was discovered in 1956 in Ohngaing in Myanmar. The mineral was named in honor of the British gemologist Arthur Charles Davy Pain. At one point it was considered the rarest mineral on Earth.
 * Tanzanite was discovered in 1967 in Northern Tanzania. With its supply possibly declining in the next 30 years, this gemstone is considered to be more rare than a diamond. This type of gemstone receives its vibrant blue from being heated.
 * Hibonite was discovered in 1956 in Madagascar. It was named after the discoverer, French geologist Paul Hibon. Gem quality hibonite has been found only in Myanmar.
 * Red beryl or bixbite was discovered in an area near Beaver, Utah in 1904 and named after the American mineralogist Maynard Bixby.
 * Jeremejevite was discovered in 1883 in Russia and named after its discoverer, Pawel Wladimirowich Jeremejew (1830–1899).
 * Chambersite was discovered in 1957 in Chambers County, Texas, US, and named after the deposit's location.
 * Taaffeite was discovered in 1945. It was named after the discoverer, the Irish gemologist Count Edward Charles Richard Taaffe.
 * Musgravite was discovered in 1967 in the Musgrave Mountains in South Australia and named for the location.
 * Black opal is directly mined in New South Wales, Australia, making it the rarest type of opal. Having a darker composition, this gemstone can be in a variety of colours.
 * Grandidierite was discovered by Antoine François Alfred Lacroix (1863–1948) in 1902 in Tuléar Province, Madagascar. It was named in honor of the French naturalist and explorer Alfred Grandidier (1836–1912).
 * Poudretteite was discovered in 1965 at the Poudrette Quarry in Canada and named after the quarry's owners and operators, the Poudrette family.
 * Serendibite was discovered in Sri Lanka by Sunil Palitha Gunasekera in 1902 and named after Serendib, the old Arabic name for Sri Lanka.
 * Zektzerite was discovered by Bart Cannon in 1968 on Kangaroo Ridge near Washington Pass in Okanogan County, Washington, USA. The mineral was named in honor of mathematician and geologist Jack Zektzer, who presented the material for study in 1976.

In popular culture
French singer-songwriter Nolwenn Leroy was inspired by the gemstones for her 2017 album Gemme (meaning gemstone in French) and the single of the same name.

title: Gemstone