Gems:
A gem is the piece of mineral crystal which is in cut and polished form to be used in jewelry. It is also known as gemstone. It may include sapphire, emerald, ruby and diamond. It can be found in various colors such as red, green and blue. The price of the gems depends upon the hardness, color, composition, rarity and cut.
Crystals:
Crystals is the pure substances whose molecules are arranged in an ordered pattern. It can be natural as well as artificial. It has well defined geometric shapes. It is classified as hexagonal, cubic, tetragonal, orthorhombic, rhombohedral and monoclinic shapes. It is less expensive. The color of the crystal depends on the light passing through it.
Differences:
| Basis | Gems | Crystals |
|---|---|---|
| Definition (www.oxforddictionaries.com) |
A precious or semi-precious stone, especially when cut and polished or engraved | A piece of a homogeneous solid substance having a natural geometrically regular form with symmetrically arranged plane faces |
| Synonyms | Treasure, emerald, jewelry, paragon, ornament, gemstone | Quartz, transparent, stone, luminous, bright |
| Antonyms | Futile, untrue, cheap, feckless, spurious | Fuzzy, miserable, dreary, blurry, cloudy, foggy |
| Types | Its types are:
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Its types are:
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| Word origin | The word gems was originated Old English gim, from Latin gemma ‘bud, jewel’; influenced in Middle English by Old French gemme. | The word crystal was originated from Late Old English (denoting ice or a mineral resembling it), from Old French cristal, from Latin crystallum, from Greek krustallos ‘ice, crystal’. The chemistry sense dates from the early 17th century. |
| Composition | Rare minerals that are found on the earth. Composition differs according to type of mineral. Some come with mineral bases like diamonds or rubies and with organic bases like amber | Crystals are solids that have atoms, ions and molecules fixed in a regular order, which extend in three dimensions |
| Characteristics | Refractive index, dispersion, specific gravity, hardness, cleavage, fracture, and luster | Shape, atom composition, bonds and defects |
| Classification | Chemical composition and their crystalline structure | Hexagonal, cubic, orthorhombic, tetragonal, rhombohedral, and monoclinic |
| Color | Blue, red, green, etc. | Light reflections through the crystal |
| Price | More expensive | Less expensive |
| Uses | Mainly jewelry | Various uses such as healing, jewelry, dishes, show pieces, vases, etc. |
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