Gemstones in India date back thousands of years There are several reasons why Indian gems are so inexpensive. For starters, there are large amounts of high-quality stones available for mining; which means there's no shortage of raw materials for processing.

The nine stones consist of diamond, pearl, coral, hessonite, blue sapphire, cat's eye, yellow sapphire, emerald, and ruby in its center, as it is associated with the Sun.

Diamond, the most precious and fascinating mineral, is known as Vajra and Hirak in Sanskrit and Hira in Hindi. Diamond is a transparent crystal of tetrahedrally bonded carbon atoms. Diamonds have been known and treasured as gemstones since ancient times.

Ruby is the July birthstone – and it's one of the most coveted of gems. Called the “King of Gems” since it gained status in Ancient India, today it can command the highest per-carat price of any colored stone.