What is the difference between a precious gem and a semi-precious gem?
Many years ago the terms “precious” and “semi-precious” were used to describe gemstones. Emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and sapphires were precious by definition and everything else, regardless of relative value, was semi-precious. Use of the two terms has now largely fallen into disfavor because of the imprecise and generally meaningless distinction between them. The U.S. government periodically threatens to outlaw use of the terms since they do not properly convey any true indication of value. The trend today is to label any high-quality gemstone as “precious” and to drop use of the term “semi-precious” entirely.
