Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but colored stones are good pals, too. Not only are these baubles big, bright and budget-friendly, but they seem less likely to catch a thief's eye.

Semi-precious stones include tourmaline, spinel, garnet, amethyst, peridot, alexandrite, topaz and tanzanite – and European royals love them In Asia, pieces by contemporary designers like ...

The terms “precious” and “semi-precious” first came about in the mid-19th century in the West, which explains why jade, despite being enormously important and valuable in China, was never ...