The heart is a very old symbol of love that is used by everyone around the world. Traditionally, in multiple cultures, the heart has been chosen as the seat of love and emotion. Why the heart was specifically chosen as a symbol of love is not entirely clear. Perhaps because the heart is automatically associated with (emotional) life and without the heart (read: love), no life is possible. The heartbeat is also influenced by emotions; for example, our heart beats faster when we are in love. The heart likes to be loved. The heart needs love. It is even claimed that love extends life expectancy, while loneliness has the opposite effect. Everyone knows the saying, "He died of a broken heart."
Gemstones are rare rocks that are usually cut and processed into jewelry and decorative objects. Gemstones possess the following characteristics: Beauty. This includes visual aspects such as color, luster, fire, transparency, and light effects. Durability. This involves examining hardness, brittleness/splittability, and chemical resistance. Rarity. This looks at how often a product occurs in nature. Gemstones can be cut into many different shapes. The basic distinction is made between cabochon, where the gemstone is cut into a convex shape, and faceted, where the surface of the gemstone is cut into various facets. When cutting, various properties of the stone are considered, including color, color distribution, inclusions, special light effects, dispersion, and cleavage and polishing surfaces. They are thus processed into necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and many other pieces of jewelry, but gemstones are also used in the industry for processing. Famous gemstones include diamond, ruby, emerald, sapphire, aquamarine, topaz, tourmaline, amethyst, citrine, carnelian, opal, onyx, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and garnet. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was fashionable to make jewelry that incorporated someone's name or initials. In choosing the gemstones, people were guided by the first letter of the gemstone's name, and thus the gemstone alphabet was created. Similar acrostic jewelry was also made during the nineteenth century, expressing sentiments through gemstones. Most well-known is the English'regard' ring, an engagement ring where the word'regard' (esteem) was formed by the gemstones ruby, emerald, garnet, amethyst, and diamond.