At a prominent Shiite shrine in southern Tehran, Qasem Ashgari was buying yet another gemstone ring in the hope it would help his prayers to be answered promptly.
Asghari, in his 30s, who was already wearing several bands on each hand, had a specific ring in mind: a silver one, adorned with yellow agate and engraved with religious scripts.
“The reward of one prayer is multiplied ... if done with an agate ring,” he said, while strolling through the meandering alleys of the market near Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine.
Photo: AFP
Asghari’s appreciation for gemstones is shared by many Shiite Muslims in Iran, where prominent male academics and senior officials often publicly sport similar rings.
Many in the Shiite-majority country attribute high religious significance to gemstones, which they view as a way to ensure divine protection, ward off evil and prevent poverty.
Common beliefs associated with gemstones are largely what motivates people to buy them, said Hassan Samimi, a lapidary at the market.
Photo: AFP
“It is very rare to find someone who wears a ring just for its beauty,” Samimi, 52, said, in his workshop where he carves large uncut gemstones for rings, necklaces, prayer beads and other items.
Inside, one customer, Maryam, browsed through a collection of rings bearing agate, turquoise, topaz, lapis lazuli, emeralds and other stones.
“I get a good feeling from these stones,” the 50-year-old teacher said, after picking a turquoise set comprising a ring, earrings and a bracelet.
Samimi said his sales were mostly from agate and turquoise, the most revered stones, especially among Iran’s religious community.
Turquoise has been mined in the country since the times of ancient Persia, with Iran home to one of the oldest such mines in the world.
Its bluish-green color has inspired artists over the years and features prominently in Persian monuments and artifacts as well as Islamic architecture.
The turquoise from the eastern city of Neyshabur “is the most expensive,” Samimi said. “The smoother and bluer the turquoise is, the higher its price is.”
Hamid Rashidi, another craftsman, said the stone is generally affordable, but depending on the quality a piece could sell for as much as 4 billion rials (US$95,125).
Many Iranians believe it attracts wealth to the bearer and sometimes cite the religious saying “the hand that wears turquoise... will never see poverty.”
It is also believed “to enhance eyesight and calm the nerves,” Samimi said.
Agate, especially from Yemen, is also popular “because it is recommended by imams” who often claim it can boost livelihoods, Rashidi said.
Senior officials including Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have often been spotted wearing rings with agate or turquoise stones, and he has been known to gift them as tokens of his appreciation.
The body of the revered Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps commander general Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a 2020 US strike in Baghdad, was in part identified by the agate ring he wore.
Iran subsequently declared the ring “cultural heritage” and a “national asset.”
Demand for gemstones has remained relatively steady despite Iran’s severe economic challenges, Samimi said.
Inflation in the country has in the past few years hovered near 50 percent, while the rial has sharply declined against the dollar.
“The stones market has become much better” over the years, he said, adding that there had been a significant increase in the number of craftsmen in the market compared with nearly three decades ago.
Its continued success might hang on evolving tastes.
Samimi said that agate and turquoise are not popular among younger generations.
“Young people mostly buy rubies and emeralds and birthstones,” he said. “For them, they are more fashionable.”
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