The terms 'precious' and 'semiprecious' are no longer widely used in the gemstone industry. They were historically used to categorize gemstones based on their perceived value. Precious gemstones referred to diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds, which were considered the most valuable. Semiprecious gemstones encompassed all other gemstones. However, the current industry practice focuses on evaluating gemstones based on their individual qualities and characteristics rather than categorizing them as precious or semiprecious.