Gemstone

A gemstone or gem (also called a fine gem, jewel, or a precious or semi-precious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli) or organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber or jet), are also used for jewelry, and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity is another characteristic that lends value to a gemstone. Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity engraved gems and hardstone carvings, such as cups, were major luxury art forms. A gem maker is called a lapidary or gemcutter; a diamond worker is a diamantaire.

The carvings of Carl Fabergé are significant works in this tradition.

Characteristics and classification

Gem (disambiguation)

A gem is a cut rock or mineral.

Gem may also refer to:

Literature and television

Music

Places

United States

9Gem

9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 26 September 2010 at 6am. The launch, originally planned for 24 September at midday, was rescheduled due to "technical issues" at Nine's playout centre. It is a General Entertainment and Movies channel, the phrase from which the original name "GEM" is derived.

The channel is transmitted in regional and remote areas of Australia by the Nine Network's affiliates, WIN Television, NBN Television, Imparja Television and Southern Cross Austereo.

History

Nine Network CEO David Gyngell stated "GEM is part of Nine's strategy to create a cluster of complementary channels to cover all key audiences." The channel is aimed at everyone, including lifestyle programs and movies, with additional programming drawn from a combination of new shows and other shows previously aired on its sister channels Nine and GO! (now 9Go!). The launch of GEM followed the success of GO!.

2015 rebrand

On 26 November 2015, the Nine Network introduced a network-wide rebrand of all of its digital channels with GEM being renamed "9Gem". Additionally, due to the rebroadcast of 9HD on channel 90, 9Gem was moved to channel 92 and converted from HD to SD. On 16 December 2015, 9Gem's on-air theme was changed for a continuous design across all of its channels. This included a new look for program listings, program advertisements and promos.

Pure

Pure may refer to:

Computing

Companies and products

Literature

Pure (The Lightning Seeds album)

Pure is a compilation album by pop band The Lightning Seeds, released in 1996 and reaching #27 in the UK Albums Chart.

The first of what would turn out to be five compilations Ian Broudie released from 1996 to 2006, Pure, The Lightning Seeds' first release by Virgin, is almost a reissue rather than a compilation, since it consists of all but three of the songs released by Epic on the first two albums, Cloudcuckooland from 1990 and Sense from 1992; the only songs missing are one song from the first album ("Control the Flame") and two from Sense: ("Where Flowers Fade" and "Marooned").

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Ian Broudie; except where indicated. 

Charts

Certifications

References

Pure (Hayley Westenra album)

Pure is the first internationally published album by Christchurch, New Zealand soprano Hayley Westenra. Her previous albums were released only in New Zealand and nearby Australia. This album also received professional consultation from the legendary Sir George Martin who helped to create its "unique appeal". In 2004, it was the highest selling New Zealand Album and so it privileged Hayley with an award from the New Zealand Music Awards of 2004. It was published by the Decca Music Group label in 2003. It was distributed in the United States by Universal Classics in 2004. During its first week of sales it sold 19,068 copies. As of 2007, Pure is the best selling classical album for the 21st century in the UK.

Pure gives a new freshness to well known classical repertoire, as well as exploring the world of pop and traditional Maori choral singing, including renditions of "Who Painted the Moon Black?", "Hine e Hine" (a song of the Māori, the natives of New Zealand), "In Trutina", from Orff's Carmina Burana, "Wuthering Heights" (a cover of the Kate Bush hit), and the perennial spiritual classic "Amazing Grace". Sir George Martin co-wrote the track "Beat of Your Heart" just for the album. Also on the album is "Pokarekare Ana", a New Zealand love song which has enduring popularity, and has become Hayley's signature song.