The Gemstones Review

Featured Gemological Article

How To Start Gemstone Collecting

By Lee MacRae

Gemology is a term referring to the profession, science, and even art of evaluating and identifying gemstones from natural diamonds to loose gemstones. A number of people taken up this profession as a hobby. They become very interested in starting to collect loose diamonds or loose gemstones. You'll even find some that like to visit various locations close by to look for raw gemstones. Some even tumble or learn to cut their own gemstones. If you have an interest in this hobby follow along as we discuss the things you should know to start this hobby.

The first thing you need to do is to get some books from the library or bookstore. You want to know as much as you possibly can about your new hobby. The more you know about gemstones the wiser will be your purchases. You will know exactly what you are looking at.

Of paramount importance is the color of the gem. Gemstones at the top of the ladder exhibit colors similar to the exact spectral color of violent, blue, green,, orange or red. Muted gemstone colors or on the dark side lowers the value per carat.

Gemstone cut is an important factor to consider when buying a gemstone. The stone has to be cut with precision to reflect the light properly. A gemstone with an improper cut will be muted or washed out. Tone, color saturation, and color hue will be inconsistent.

The clarity in a stone is the next item to consider. When we talk of clarity it relates to the amount of inclusions (trace elements or large particles of other elements or minerals) that a gem has. A gemstones that is normally found to be clean is more valuable. To determine the flaws not seen with the unaided eye requires a 10X gemstone loupe or gemstone microscope. Most hobbyists will buy an inexpensive 10X gemstone or jewelers loup for examining coins, stamps and of course gemstones.

You will often find that gemstones are often listed according to size because it is more uniform than carat weight. But different gemstones may be of the same size but different carat weights and consequently, different in prices as well. This is due to the nature of gemstone difference of specific gravity depending upon the chemical composition and characteristic crystalline structure. For example, a one carat round diamond with normal proportions is approximately 6.5 mm around. A comparable a brilliant ruby of the same proportions in size will weigh in at 1.55 carats instead.

Collecting gemstones can be a great hobby. And there is such a variety in gemstones you can collect. You could try collecting Olivine (Peridot), Citrine or Zeolite (Thomsonite) and then try others. The varieties are nearly endless. And if money is tight you can go gemstone hunting and find the raw materials instead of buying them. Just in the United States in Georgia you can find Ruby, Beryl, Amethyst, Citrine, Garnet and Quartz.

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Hints On natural blue diamonds

The name for the Garnet gemstone is derived from the Latin word for grain because of the rounded crystals. It comes in many colors, except blue. The garnets normally used in jewelry designed by James Avery are generally in the red-violet to red-brown color range. In ancient times, only people of noble birth could wear garnets. Garnets mainly come from the East Coast of Africa. Small deposits are also found in the U.S., Czech Republic and India. It ranks 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness and is the birthstone for the month of January.
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A semi-precious gemstone includes any gemstone other than sapphire, emerald or ruby. The value of semi-precious gemstones can vary depending on the availability of the mineral; natural black opal, for example, is hard to come by and more valuable than most other semi-precious stones. As a rule, however, semi-precious stones are always more plentiful than precious stones. That makes it easier to find large, well-colored, very clean stones appropriate for jewelry. In addition, the wide range of colors available makes semi-precious stones the choice for people who want to create their own look with their jewelry.
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Amber comes in various shades of golden yellow. It is actually petrified pine
resin. Amber helps to allow the energies of love and closeness as mentioned
above while still maintaining the appropriate levels of boundaries in
relationships. There is a fine balance in combining your energy fields with
others. Amber helps maintain a healthy balance by protecting you from energy
vampires. It cleanses your aura. Amber is also a balancer of self-esteem and
self-confidence.
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Some natural blue diamonds Stories

NYC holiday windows: traditional to abstract - Associated Press

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:38:00 GMT
NEW YORK (AP) -- Scenes ranging from the far-out and funky to those of Christmases past are taking shape in the windows of Manhattan's department stores as the holiday shopping ...

US has Sun King's stolen gem, say French experts - Canada.com

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:56:05 GMT

Canada.com

US has Sun King's stolen gem, say French experts Canada.com, Canada - Nov 18, 2008 New evidence unearthed in France's National Museum of Natural History shows beyond reasonable doubt that the Hope Diamond is the same steely-blue stone once ...

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My Gemstones Reviews

Our Featured Gemstone Article

So You Want To Collect Loose Gemstones

By Lee MacRae

Why would anyone collect items like loose gemstones, you ask? Well to begin with gemstones are extremely beautiful. And like their higher counterpart, natural diamonds their value increases over time. Many people love to collect and work with the wide variety of gemstones available today. This article will discuss the hobby of loose gemstone collecting.

Right at the beginning, what you need is to get some books from the library or bookstore. You want to learn as much as possible about the subject of gemstones. The more you know about gemstones the less likely you are to make a mistake. You'll know exactly what to look for in a quality stone.

First, color is a major part in giving value to a gemstone. The closer the color of the gemstone is to its pure spectral color the more valuable it is. Traditionally, these specter colors include red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Gemstones colors that are darker or paler than a pure spectral color are considered a lower value.

Gemstone cut is easily one of the most important aspects when you consider a gemstone's value. The stone has to be cut with precision to reflect the light properly. A gemstone with the poor cut will not reflect light consistently over its entire surface. The color hue, color tone and saturation will be inconsistent.

Next to look at is the aspect of clarity. The aspect of clarity refers to internal flaws (inclusions) or the external blemishes of a stone being considered. Larger flaws can be seen with the unaided eye with others needing to be magnified 10X

Next item to look at is the duo of size and weight. Due to their nature gemstones can vary in density or specific gravity. Weight and size are not equal for each and every stone. If a diamond of a certain size weighs 1.00 carats then an equal sized ruby would weigh 1.20 carats instead. An equal sized Emerald would be 0.95 carats while an Alexandrite would be about 1.23 carats.

Though you may find gemstones used a lot in jewelry, loose gemstones are great for collecting. Actually there are many interesting and attractive gemstones who that are too fragile or too large to be used in jewelry. Take each loose gemstone and consider it as a piece of art and value it for its unusual nature and for the craftsmanship of the artisan who shaped it. And in this hobby you don't have to always lay out cash because you can use vacation time to actually hunt for raw gemstones in stead of buying. In the United States in Montana you'll find Agate, Sapphire, Beryl, Amethyst, Smoky Quartz, Obsidian, Tourmaline and Garnet. And if you travel to Canada you will find nephrite jade in Mount Sidney Williams, British Columbia or pink and dark blueish spinels in Wakefield, Quebec and even zircons in Sebastopol and Brudnell Townships in Renfew County, Ontario. Think of collecting gemstones as a great hobby and pastime.

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Tips About natural russian diamond

De Beers reigned as the supreme supplier of diamonds until other countries began
successful operations. One country is Australia. Diamond entrepreneurs and
geologists began searching for kimberlite pipes in the Kimberly region of
Western Australia in 1969. The search went on for 10 years and on October 2,
1979 the Argyle pipe was discovered. Once it was decided that the enterprise
would be economical they started to mine the area in 1983, and the Argyle
Diamond Mine was given its commission in December 1985.
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There is the precious opal, the common opal, the fire opal, the Peruvian opal
and then, of course, there is the synthetic opal. The Sanskrit language knew the
stone as upala, while the Greek variation is opallios while the Latin world for
opal is opalus. All of the different word origins refer to the special nature of
the opal. The Sanskrit word literally means "precious stone," and the Greek and
the Roman meanings have a shared outcome. They called the opal "precious stone".
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Quartz will chip and crack rather easily. Brown quartz is often refered to as
Smokey Quartz. Smokey Quartz is often irradiated clear quartz. Smokey Quartz
will fade in the sun. Quartz is found in Brazil, Madagascar, USA (Alabama,
Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina, Rhode Island,
South Carolina and West Virginia), and former USSR.
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Three people shot, one dead, inside Clifton church - Newark Star-Ledger

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:56:00 GMT
John Munson/The Star-Ledger Church member Elizabeth Alummottin of Oak Ridge collects her thoughts following a triple shooting at the St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church ...

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