One of the most elegant games in the Chessmen Museum´s collection is the gemstone chess set. The pieces of this set are gracefully shaped and are made of shiny metal and green stones. Why do we feel so attracted to gemstones?
This set is a real eye-catcher, even if the gemstones are an imitation. The two sides are distinguishable by a blue or white marble-like stone inlay and the game board also has a marble look to it. The metal of the pieces is so shiny that it looks like silver. And when the green stones catch the sunlight you could be fooled into thinking that they are real emeralds. When I look at this chess set, I feel like a magpie… why do we like shiny objects so much? Is it purely because of aesthetic reasons?
Healing powers
When you look at the use of gemstones throughout history, it is remarkable that they weren´t only used as decorative pieces. Naturally, the rich loved using precious stones in their jewellery, weapons and clothes. Gemstones were expensive, which made them an exclusive item. You could use them to separate yourself from the common people. At the end of the Middle Ages it was determined by law who was allowed to wear which type of gemstone (or luxury fabrics or certain colours) or not: the luxury laws were introduced.
Jewelry on Simonetta Vespucci by Botticelli, 1475 (Getty Images)
Even if you could afford to buy gemstones, you weren´t allowed to wear them if you didn´t belong to the right social class. The luxury laws were introduced with the arrival of the Reformation in the 16th century, to counteract the excessive use of gold and gemstones among others: exaggerated luxury was a sin.
Gemstones were not only used for decoration or as a luxury product though. They were attributed healing powers and were even used as an aphrodisiac. What better way to seduce a potential lover than with an emerald? Or, as French writer François Rabelais (1494-1553) put it: “This stone has the erecting and fortifying powers of the natural member”. When you consider the healing power of the emerald, this green gemstone appears to have carried out certain tasks, even way back in ancient cultures. According to heathen magicians, emeralds worked best if they were set in silver or copper, and old Hindu scripts order the wearing of an emerald on the body to stop bedwetting.
The Romans associated the emerald with their god Mercury, the messenger of the gods but also the god of the roads and sleep. The emerald served as a lucky charm during travels and provoked divine inspiration to come to you in your dreams. The emerald was also used in ancient times as a cure for ocular disease and in the Middle Ages it was attributed general healing powers. For amorous purposes the gemstone had to be worn close to the heart and in case of eye disease, it had to be worn as an earring. The eyes would also improve by watching the stone or by putting it on the eyes.
Angular crystals
Apart from the beautiful colours and hues of gemstones, there is something else that makes them so attractive to human beings: their shape. Rough crystals have a distinctly even shape which causes the angles between the different sides to always be identical. The evenness and beauty of the emerald had people thinking for ages that the gods must have had a hand in their creation. Because of this, the stones were awarded great value and distinctive powers. By now, we know how crystals were formed – without divine intervention- but that doesn´t change the fact that many people still believe in the healing powers of precious stones.
Emeralds are one of the most expensive gemstones on the market and we know that the round, green stones in the chess pieces of our game are not real emeralds, for the sole reason that these gems have an angular shape. They wouldn´t be polished into a round form because this gem´s sparkle is at its best in an angular and often oblong shape. The pretty, round green spheres don´t look any less majestic because of their shape though, and they certainly deserve a visit!