The "Big Four" Gems

If you were to ask most people what gemstones they could name, many of them would probably come up with at least three of what are called the Big Four stones.

What Are The Big Four?

The big four gemstones are:

Diamonds

Emeralds

Rubies

Sapphires

These are the four forms of precious stones that have been most consistently prized over the centuries. Strictly speaking there are only three types of mineral in the Big Four - ruby can be thought of as red sapphire. Within the Big Four themselves there is of course a wide variety of quality and hence of price.

It's interesting to note that ruby, emerald and sapphire cover the three primary colour of red, green and blue - the RGB of the gem world.