2017 Rare Beauties! Extraordinary Gemstones - Pair of Booklet Stamps

2017

Rare Beauties! Extraordinary Gemstones

Pair of 2 Booklet Stamps

Throughout human history gemstones have been valued and used for personal adornment and ritual practice. As well as being objects cherished for their intrinsic beauty, gemstones have been – and continue to be – valued as symbols of wealth and status. Over the ages, the cutting of gemstones has evolved from a limited practice into a complex art that uses sophisticated technology to reveal a mineral’s hidden beauty.

To be transformed into gemstones, minerals must possess hardness (resistance to scratches and general wear), measured on the MOH’s scale; beauty, defined by colour, clarity, lustre; and rarity. Some arresting minerals that are too soft or fragile for wearing as jewellery are faceted into “collector stones”, in which the art of the expert cutter has overcome the constraints of the mineral to present the stones as aesthetic objects for collectors.

The gemstones shown in the stamp designs are in the collection of the Australian Museum, in Sydney. The golden sapphire and the pink diamond represent precious gemstones that are cut and polished as possible centrepieces for exquisite jewellery. The rhodonite and the fluorite exemplify stones that are valued as collector stones, rarities transformed by lapidaries into singular specimens for the pleasure of gem specialists.

Technical details

• Issue date:   30 March 2017
• FDI withdrawal date:   27 April 2017
• Denominations:   2 x $1, 2 x $2
• Stamp illustration:   Gary Domoney, Visua
• Product design: Sonia Young
• Printer:   RA Printing
• Printer (rolls):   Pemara
• Paper (gummed):   Tullis Russell Red Phosphor
• Paper (self-adhesive):   C100,RAF Unik
• Printing process:   Offset lithography
• Stamp size:   26mm x 37.5mm
• Perforations:   14.6 x 13.86
• Sheet layout:   Module of 50
• FDI postmark:   Gembrook, Vic 3783
• Issue withdrawal date:   30 September 2017