The magic of jewels and charms

Long before diamonds became mere engagement rings, humanity invested precious stones with the power to control fate, heal disease, and channel divine forces. George Frederick Kunz, the era's foremost gemologist, spent a lifetime gathering evidence of this ancient fascination: Egyptian priests buried with lapis lazuli to ensure safe passage to the afterlife, medieval monarchs wearing rubies believing the gems would grant them vitality and courage, and astrologers mapping celestial influences onto earthly minerals. This richly illustrated compendium ranges from meteorites fallen from the heavens to crystals credited with electrical healing properties, from stones supposed to make their wearers invisible to those believed to summon storms. Kunz approaches each legend with the precision of a scientist and the wonder of someone who understands that these beliefs, however unfounded by modern standards, reveal something essential about human desire for meaning in the material world. The book endures because it captures a moment when rational inquiry and mystical thinking still occupied the same intellectual territory, and because it reminds us that the impulse to invest inanimate objects with supernatural power has not entirely faded.