The Gemstones Scene Review

Our Featured Gemological Writer

Collecting Prescious And Semi-Prescious Stones

By Lee MacRae

Gemology is the science, art and profession of identifying and evaluating gemstones from loose gemstones to natural diamonds. A number of people taken up gemology more as a hobby. They become interested in making a collection of loose gemstones or loose diamonds. You'll even find some that like to visit different areas nearby or in some cases other countries to look for rough gemstones. Some hobbyists will learn to cut or tumble the gemstones they find. If this hobby interest you then follow along as this article discusses the in and outs of gemstone collecting.

The first thing you need to do in starting the hobby of collecting gemstones the right way is by acquiring knowledge about them. By taking a look in your local bookstore you'll find numerous books on gemstones that will make you an informed buyer.

Of paramount importance Is gemstone color. Gemstones at the top of the ladder have colors that are close to the purest spectral colors of orange, green, yellow, Violet or blue. Gemstone colors that are somewhat muted or are too dark lowers the value per carat.

The cut of the stone is extremely important and factors into appraisal of diamonds along with gemstones. A precision cut gemstone highlights the gemstone's color, diminish any inclusions, and highlight the proportions and symmetry of the stone. One excellent method to determine the precision in the cut of the stone is to consider how consistently it reflects the light throughout its surface. If the gemstone is cut to shallow much of the light will refract out of the gem instead of reflecting internally. The gem appears washed out.

The clarity of a gemstone is an important consideration. Gemstone clarity relates to the amount of inclusions (trace elements or large particles of other elements or minerals) that a gem has. Generally speaking, a clearer stone is obviously worth more. To determine the flaws not seen with the unaided eye requires a 10X gemstone loupe or gemstone microscope. Serious hobbyists will use a jewelers diamond gemstone loupe 10X for viewing their coins, beads, stamps or in our case gemstones.

You will often find that gemstones are often listed according to their size because of being more uniform than carat weight. But two different gemstones may be the same size but have different carat weights that result in different in prices as well. This is due to gemstone difference of specific gravity or relative density and depends on the materials chemical composition and crystal structure type For example, a one carat round diamond with standard proportions will be approximately 6.5 mm in diameter. A ruby that is the same size will weigh in at 1.55 carats.

Although gemstones are normally used for jewelry, loose gemstones are great for collecting. In fact, there are many attractive and interesting gemstones that are simply too big and fragile for use in jewelry. Take each gemstone and consider it as a piece of art and value it for its unique nature and vibrant colors. And unlike some hobbies that require you to pay for your specimens you can use vacation time to actually hunt for raw gemstones in stead of buying. In the US in Nevada you can hunt for Rock Crystal, Citrine, Nevada Turquoise and Virgin Valley Black Fire Opal. And in Canada you can hunt for nephrite jade in Mount Ogden, British Columbia or blue spinel from Daillebout, Quebec as well as amethyst from Nova Scotia. Take up gemstone collecting and you won't regret it.

Buy cab rough loose gemstones along with loose cultured diamonds and natural blue diamonds today in our store!

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More Information On natural pink diamonds

Amber has been used for decoration since the stone age. Amber with special
markings such as the intials of ones name was thought to be a great protective
talisman.
Buy cabochon Amethyst loose gemstones today!

Charcas, San Luis Potosi in Mexico is world reknown for it's Danburite the large
clear crystals are easily found on the mineral markets. Topaz is also found here
and can be quite nice. A variety of grossular known as "Raspberry Garnet" is
found in Coahuila and another garnet gem found in Mexico is andradite which
forms iridescent green gemstones. Another green gem is olivine and it is mined
in the Chavira peridot-olivine mines in Chihuahua.
Buy square enhanced loose diamonds today!

The 182-carat Star of Bombay sapphire is from Sri Lanka. It was given to silent
film star Mary Pickford by her husband, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and she
bequeathed it to the Smithsonian Institute in 1981.
Buy natural blue diamonds today!

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