Although most precious and semi-precious gems are usually crafted into beautiful examples of 14K gold jewelry, chains, rings and necklaces it's fairly interesting to note that some gems and precious substances have been used for purposes other than decoration and jewelry over the past centuries. For individuals who believed they might become drunk after imbibing too heavily it was once thought that amethysts would protect the wearer from becoming intoxicated. This idea likely came from the wisdom that a gemstone could modify the wavelengths of light that passed through the gemstone and those different wavelengths would interact with the body through the absorption into the skin and bloodstream.