Stone hunter

HomeStone hunter

Treasures of nature, gems are Mazet Joaillerie’s inspiration. Since the seventies, Jacques Mazet has developed an entirely original facet of his profession. Passionate about stones and their vast diversity in terms of color, brilliance and hardness, he became a stone hunter.

He travels the world on the hunt for the rarest and finest specimens. Exceptional tones, atypical shapes, extraordinary weights… he selects unique gems directly from the mines and brings them back to the creative studio in Paris. This allows the stone hunters and jewelers Jacques and Charles Mazet to offer you some 30 families of gemstones on a permanent basis, a selection that is virtually one-of-a-kind in France.

Depending on their hardness, gems vary with regard to their resistance to scratching. This property also influences the ease or complexity of the jewelers’ work, especially when it comes to setting the stones. It is evaluated from 1 to 10 on the Mohs scale. A hardness of 10 makes diamond the hardest natural substance in the world.

These fine jewelry treasures fall into three categories. The four precious stones are well known: diamond, emerald, sapphire, and ruby. Their weight is appraised in carats (1 carat = 0.20 g). Fine stones, previously known as “semi-precious stones,” group together other translucent colored stones. Decorative, ornamental stones or hardstones are also colored, but their appearance is almost always opaque.

Diamond

Renowned for being the hardest natural substance, diamond is one of the four precious stones. On its own or combined with other stones, it is a must in fine jewelry. Its ability to concentrate and reflect …

Sapphire

A member of the corundum family, sapphire is one of the four precious stones. It owes its famous blue color to the iron and titanium in its composition. Out of its range of shades, the most highly sought …

Emerald

Warm and flamboyant, the green of emerald is renowned. A member of the beryl family, this precious stone is one of the most highly prized in jewelry. It takes its characteristic color from the …

Ruby

Ruby is considered to be the queen of precious stones. Always red and extremely rare, it is one of fine jewelry’s privileged resources. From the corundum family, it owes its characteristic color …

Aquamarine

Aquamarine is renowned for its magnificent transparent blue color. Belonging to the beryl group, this fine stone owes its singular hue to the iron that it contains. Particularly prized in deep blue, it also …

Amethyst

Amethyst comes in a broad palette of violets. The iron that partially composes this fine stone gives it different shades: light violet, deep violet, lilac, lavender, etc. Along with rock crystal, it is one …

Citrine

Citrine sports a yellow shade ranging from lemon yellow through orange to brown. Its color comes from the iron oxides in its composition. The most orange-toned citrines are called “Madeira …

Ametrine

Ametrine is a rather rare fine stone. It presents two tones at once: the mauve of amethyst on one side and the yellow of citrine on the other. The stone’s beauty is due to the intensity of its colors …

Rock crystal – Quartz

Rock crystal takes the form of colored, colorless or smoky crystals. A member of the quartz family, this fine stone comes both in magnificent blocks of natural quartz that can weigh several tons and in …

Tourmaline

Tourmaline presents a multitude of colors. Red, yellow, blue, green, black or multicolored, this fine stone is highly prized in jewelry. Much sought-after, red tourmaline owes its color to lithium. It is …

Topaz

A fine stone appreciated by jewelers, topaz presents different colors. The most common is blue topaz. Extremely rare and therefore sought-after, imperial topaz displays a color ranging from golden to orange red.

Peridot

Peridot owes its green color to the iron in its composition. Varying in depth depending on the amount of iron, its shades range from yellow green, through olive green, to brown. This fine stone …

Morganite

Morganite is a pink-colored fine stone. The manganese that it contains gives it this hue, which varies in intensity and mauve shading, and is fully displayed on stones of a certain size. Relatively …

Garnet

Red, brown, and sometimes purplish blue, garnet is a fine stone much appreciated by jewelers. Used for over 2,000 years, garnet goes by the name of pyrope, almandine, spessartite or grossular depending on …

Kunzite

Discovered in 1902, kunzite is a recent fine stone in the jewelry world. A member of the spodumene family, it ranges from violet pink to light purple. It owes its fabulous shades to the manganese in its …

Spinel

Spinel enjoys a broad range of natural tones. Long confused with ruby due to its intense red hue, it also comes in blue, violet, brown and orange. Green spinel can be so dark that it reaches an almost …

Tanzanite

Tanzanite owes its name to its sole country of extraction: Tanzania. Discovered in 1967, this fine stone from the zoisite family is a newcomer to the jewelry world. Nonetheless, it is highly …

Natural zircon

Zircon reveals a real range of colors. In yellow, brown, orange, red, green or violet, zircon is a natural gem. This fine stone is not related to the synthetic stone cubic zirconia. Much appreciated …

Opal

Opal is a wealth of diversity in itself. Surprising and mysterious, it offers a play of color like no other stone. Depending on the rock of which it is made and the architecture of its elements, the reflection …

Coral

Like pearls, jet, ivory and amber, coral is an organic product. This animal, which grows by only one millimeter a year, lives in warm seas in the Mediterranean, north-eastern Australia, the seas …

Jade

Considered as a sacred stone in Asia, jade has been used on this continent since before 3,000 BCE. Priceless for the Chinese, it forms many ornaments and items of jewelry. It is also used to depict …

Chalcedony

More than a stone, chalcedony encompasses non-translucent quartzes: agate, cornelian, jasper, onyx, etc. Common chalcedony is readily used in fine jewelry for its characteristic color ranging from …

Lapis-lazulis

Indigo blue flecked with spots of gold: lapis lazuli’s color is unforgettable. The finest specimens of this ornamental stone display an intense ultramarine blue sprinkled with pyrite. Rich in history, lapis …

Turquoise

Turquoise is renowned for its blue, or even slightly green, color. This ornamental stone is sometimes marbled with black veins. Used since 4,000 BCE, it is one of the oldest known stones. In jewelry …

Pearl

Pearl is actually a lime concretion produced by mollusks in reaction to a foreign body. This organic product comes in a wide variety of colors: white, creamy white, silver-toned, yellow, brown, pink …