inclusions, gems

Gübelin examines the nature and significance of mineral inclusions in gemstones, treating inclusions as evidence of the geological conditions and processes under which their host crystals formed. He discusses the morphology, identification, orientation, and genetic relationships of included minerals and shows how inclusion assemblages and their relationships to other internal features can assist in gemstone identification and provide information on genesis and, in favorable cases, origin. Particular emphasis is placed on systematic microscopic observation and on interpreting inclusions as records of a gemstone’s crystallization and subsequent geological history.