Quo diligentius artifex gemmas in armillam ponit, eo pretiosius ornamentum videtur.

It is the standard Latin way to express the more ..., the more ... or the more ..., the less ....

So:

• quo diligentius ... = the more carefully ...
• eo pretiosius ... = the more expensively / the more precious ...

A very literal sense is something like:

• by which amount more carefully ...
• by that amount more expensively ...

But in natural English, you should understand it as a correlative comparative:

• The more carefully the craftsman sets the gems into the bracelet, the more valuable the ornament seems.

This is a very common Latin pattern.

Because they are comparative adverbs.

Here is the idea:

• diligens = careful
• diligentius = more carefully

and

• pretiosus = costly, precious
• pretiosius can function adverbially here in the comparative idea: more expensively / more splendidly / more preciously

In this sentence:

• diligentius modifies ponit (puts/sets), so it clearly works as an adverb.
• pretiosius goes with videtur and describes how the ornament appears: it seems more valuable.

English speakers often expect a separate word like more, but Latin often builds the comparative directly into the word.

In this construction, quo and eo are old ablative forms used adverbially with comparatives.

You do not need to translate them separately every time, but it helps to know what they are doing:

• quo = by which amount, the more
• eo = by that amount, the more

So the pattern is:

• quo + comparative
• eo + comparative

This gives the meaning:

• the more X, the more Y

Even though they come from pronouns, in this construction you should mostly recognize them as part of a fixed comparative pattern.

Artifex is nominative singular.

Its job is to be the subject of ponit:

• artifex ... ponit = the craftsman sets/places ...

So in the first clause:

• Quo diligentius artifex gemmas in armillam ponit = The more carefully the craftsman sets the gems into the bracelet ...

Gemmas is accusative plural.

It is the direct object of ponit:

• ponit gemmas = he places the gems

This is very straightforward Latin syntax:

• subject = artifex
• verb = ponit
• direct object = gemmas

Because in with the accusative usually shows motion toward / into something.

So:

• in armillam = into the bracelet

By contrast:

• in armilla would usually mean in/on the bracelet in a location sense, not movement into it.

Since the craftsman is putting the gems into the bracelet, the accusative makes sense.

This is a very important Latin rule:

• in + accusative = into, onto
• in + ablative = in, on

Ornamentum is nominative singular because it is the subject of videtur.

• ornamentum videtur = the ornament seems

This can feel slightly unusual to an English speaker because English often focuses on the person perceiving something, but Latin commonly uses videor = seem with the thing that seems as the subject.

So:

• eo pretiosius ornamentum videtur = the more valuable the ornament seems

Latin videor, videri often simply means to seem or to appear.

So:

• ornamentum videtur = the ornament seems / appears

It does not need an expressed viewer here. Latin is happy to say that something seems in a general sense.

If Latin wanted to specify the observer, it could add a dative, such as:

• mihi videtur = it seems to me

But here no observer is stated, so the meaning is general: the ornament seems more valuable.

This is a good question, because it can feel ambiguous to an English learner.

In sense, pretiosius tells us how the ornament seems: it seems more valuable. With videtur, Latin often uses a predicate word with the subject.

Since ornamentum is neuter singular nominative, pretiosius can be understood as matching it in form as a predicate adjective:

• ornamentum pretiosius videtur = the ornament seems more valuable

So although it may look adverb-like because of the -ius ending, here it is best understood with ornamentum in the predicate:

• pretiosius = more precious / more valuable

That is why the sentence is naturally translated with valuable rather than valuably.

Latin word order is flexible, but this order is very natural for a correlative comparative sentence.

Latin often puts the quo clause first:

• Quo diligentius ... = The more carefully ...

and then follows with the eo clause:

• eo pretiosius ... = the more valuable ...

This mirrors the logic of the sentence:

1. first condition or degree
2. then resulting degree

English does the same thing very often:

• The more carefully he works, the better it looks.

Functionally, yes.

A more literal breakdown would be:

• quo = by which amount
• diligentius = more carefully

So the phrase is something like:

• by how much more carefully

But that is not how you should normally translate it into English. In real reading, treat it as:

• the more carefully

That will help you recognize the pattern quickly and read naturally.

Ponit comes from pono, ponere, which basically means put, place, or set.

Here, because it is about gems and jewelry, sets is often the most natural English choice:

• artifex gemmas in armillam ponit = the craftsman sets the gems into the bracelet

So while the basic meaning is simply puts, context suggests the more specialized idea of setting stones in a piece of jewelry.

Yes. Armilla usually means bracelet, armlet, or sometimes a band worn on the arm.

In this sentence, bracelet is a very natural choice. The exact English word may depend on context, but grammatically nothing changes:

• in armillam = into the bracelet / armlet

It sounds like a general truth or gnomic statement:

• The more carefully a craftsman sets gems into a bracelet, the more valuable the ornament seems.

Latin often uses the present tense this way, just as English does.

So even though the verbs are present:

• ponit
• videtur

the sense is not necessarily right now. It can mean something like:

• whenever this happens, this is the result
• as a general principle

A good step-by-step parsing is:

• Quo diligentius = the more carefully
• artifex = the craftsman
• gemmas = the gems
• in armillam = into the bracelet
• ponit = sets/places
• eo pretiosius = the more valuable
• ornamentum = the ornament
• videtur = seems

So the structure is:

• The more carefully the craftsman sets the gems into the bracelet, the more valuable the ornament seems.

That is the clearest way to understand both the grammar and the flow of thought.