The ruby encloses the brilliant red of the clouds of evening… – Charles Blanc, Art in Ornament and Dress, 1875, translated from French

[T]he diamond and other precious stones are focuses of light, and essences of colour which seem expressly created to ornament on a small scale the human body with all the splendours which adorn the universe on a large scale. – Charles Blanc, Art in Ornament and Dress, 1875

There are many sham diamonds in this life which pass for real, and vice versa. – William Makepeace Thackeray