Jewelry has a broad sense and a narrow sense. Jewelry in a narrow sense refers to jade products. Broadly speaking, jewelry should include jewelry, handicrafts or other treasures made of gold, silver and natural materials (minerals, rocks, organisms, etc.). ) and has certain value. Therefore, there was a saying of "gold and silver jewelry" in ancient times to distinguish gold and silver from jewelry.

With the development of social economy, the concept of jewelry should be extended to include gold, silver and jewelry besides natural gems and artificial products. The industries involved in these terms are collectively referred to as "jewelry industry". The scope of "jewelry" is much larger than that of "gem" in a broad sense. Gems in a broad sense generally refer to those raw materials suitable for polishing or carving into jewelry or handicrafts.