Antique Engraved Gems and Renaissance Collectors – The Metropolitan Museum of Art https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/antique-engraved-gems-and-renaissance-collectors
While carved gems frequently functioned as signatures and means of identification for their owners, they were also treasured as magical amulets and used as personal ornaments.
Julius Caesar (100–44 B.C.), himself a discriminating collector, was said to have