Since the beginning of time, man has gone to the greatest lengths to procure for himself these magical, precious treasures of the earth. The ancient Pharaohs worked thousands of laborers in their turquoise mines. They also enslaved the people of St. John's, an island in the Red Sea, forcing them to dig for Peridot. The avaricious rulers valued these shiny green stones so highly that they posted guards and ordered them to kill any unauthorized persons approaching the island.
Ancient mines also included the diamond mines of India, the opal mines of Hungary, sapphires in Ceylon and Sri Lanka, the valley of rubies in Burma, and many pockets across the vast continent of Africa. A large array of gemstones specifically opals that were mined in Mexico, Peru, and Honduras, emeralds in Colombia and other magnificent crystals, including amethyst and citrine that were dug out in Brazil.

Catherine the Great of Russia loved amethysts so much, she sent thousands of laborers to work in the Ural mountains to find these sparkling, purple stones for her. She then had an entire room made of this precious gem.

When an eighteenth-century prospector happened upon a mountain in Brazil with pockets of gleaming, amethyst quartz crystals, there was an immediate frenzy of activity as people began flocking there to mine the newfound treasure.

And after all these years, man's fascination for gemstones has only grown.

Even today, for example, opal workers in Australia, choose of their own free will to endure the hardships involved in attaining these shimmering stones. Living in very dry, high temperature zones, they work alone using small tools - even pocket knives - to loosen opals from the sandstone and claystone in which they are embedded. The heat gets so bad that the opal worker has to dig himself an underground shelter to protect himself.

Yet he goes ahead with it.

Like millions of men before him, he goes to any lengths to get hold of another glittering, brilliant, alluring stone.