The journey of gemstones
One may think of rocks as static, immovable objects that silently observe the world slowly changing around them. And yet their story is actually one of constant change and movement: From their birth in Earth’s core, to globe spanning journeys, and becoming artistic inspirations.
It is strange to think when we see them glinting in elegant jewelry creations that gemstones like diamonds, emeralds or tourmalines are inorganic, crystalline solids formed over millennia, deep within the Earth. Made of carbon brought to Earth by asteroids (in the case of diamonds), or from boron and other molecules boiling in magma mixed with rainwater (in the case of tourmalines), their birth is tumultuous and dramatic. They then travel through the Earth’s outer layers, through faulting or even volcanism, to nestle in the Earth’s crust. It is here that their journey takes an even sharper diversion, as these natural masterpieces are discovered, and sent across the globe.
With the rise of global mobility and trade routes, many gemstones travel far from their places of origin. Until the early 18th century, most of the world's diamonds came from India’s Golconda mines, where gem merchants, such as Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, purchased them before trading them along extraordinary routes that spanned continents and oceans—and often led to European courts. It was on these journeys that gemstones began to expand their cultural and symbolic meanings. Each stop invited new cultures to lay meaning onto them. Ancient Mesopotamians believed them to be gifts from the gods; Greeks and Romans felt they held powerful magic; and in Medieval Europe, they took on spiritual and divine significance as religions spread.
As these beautiful creations from Earth became more sought after and desired, gemstones undertook their next transformation. Craftsmen in almost every culture brought them into workshops to maximize their beauty and refraction of light. For centuries, lapidaries (craftsmen who cut, polish or engrave gems) learned that a fraction of a millimeter cut can transform a gemstone, revealing what nature has already created to its highest potential. Ancient techniques, such as glyptic (carving images into stones) and marquetry (inlaid arrangements of small pieces of stone), continue to shape how gemstones are interpreted today.
Stones, minerals, and gemstones reveal their beauty not just through human craftsmanship, but also sometimes as natural masterpieces. These raw forms profoundly inspire art, literature, and many other creative expressions. The unplanned silhouette of a ruined city hidden within a cross section of Tuscan marble led 20th-century writer Roger Caillois to interpret these specimens as mouthpieces of the sublime—for those with the imagination to recognize their messages.
Founded in 2012, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts, supported by Van Cleef & Arpels, aims to share and transmit the jewelry culture to all. In 2026, L’ÉCOLE proposes a global program around gemstones, illuminating how they are both the ultimate gifts from nature and testaments to savoir-faire. The program explores this relationship through a wide range of educational and cultural activities worldwide, from exhibitions, to courses, talks, kids’ workshops, books and podcasts.
The new exhibition, Journey with Minerals, in Shanghai, runs until March 29, 2026, and invites visitors to contemplate gemstones as both natural masterpieces and
conduits of the planet’s most ancient memories.
The Lesotho Legend: From a Rough Diamond to a High Jewelry Collection, a fascinating course presented on Hong Kong and Paris campuses, traces the story of the fifth-largest rough diamond ever mined—from its geological origins to its setting in precious creations in Van Cleef & Arpels High Jewelry workshops.
In Dubai, the exhibition Poetry of Birds, running until April 25, 2026, explores transcendence through 150 pieces inspired by birds, while in Paris the exhibition Stones and Reveries: The Poetry and Minerals of Roger Caillois (until March 29, 2026) gives pride of place to the relationship between nature and poetry through 20th-century writer Roger Caillois’s aesthetic stone collection.
For more information: L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts celebrates the world of gems | L'ÉCOLE School of Jewelry Arts
