Collecting Prescious And Semi-Prescious Gemstones
By Lee MacRae
The term gemology refers to the science, art and profession of identifying and evaluating rocks known as natural diamonds or loose gemstones. A number of people taken up this profession as a passionate hobby. They become very interested in starting to collect loose diamonds or loose gemstones. Some people even begin to visit different areas nearby to look for rough gemstones. Some of them will even tumble or finish off the gemstones themselves. If you have an interest in this hobby then read along as we discuss the things you should know to start this hobby.
To start off right you need to learn all you can on the various gemstones available. You'll find it very helpful to know the properties of each stone and prevent you from making mistakes. A knowledgeable buyer is a wise one.
The chief thing you need to look at will be gemstone color. You want the stone to be as close as possible to the pure colors of the spectrum. This means blue, green, yellow, orange, red and violet. The prices for very pale or very dark stones are lower in value.
Gemstone cut is an important factor to consider in determining gemstone value. The gemstone must be cut correctly to reflect light properly. A gemstone with the poor cut will never be able to reflect light consistently. Color tone, saturation, and hue will be inconsistent.
Gemstone clarity is our next factor. Gemstone clarity relates to the amount of inclusions (trace elements or large particles of other elements or minerals) that a gem has. The gemstone without flaws is more valuable. To examine flaws not seen with the naked eye requires a 10X gemstone clarity magnifier or gem microscope. Many hobbyists will get an inexpensive 10X gemstone or jewelers loup for viewing stamps, coins, beads as well as gems.
Next comes size and weight. All gemstones [except for pearls and corals] are valued by the unit called the carat. A carat is equal to 0.2 grams. You should know however that size and weight and gemstones are not the same. Density or specific gravity can very. Take a diamond that is 1.00 carats in weight and you will find that a similar sized sapphire or ruby would weigh 1.20 carats.
Although gemstones are normally used for jewelry, loose gemstones are great for collecting. In fact, there are many attractive and interesting gems that are just too big or fragile to be used for jewelry. Look at each loose gemstone and think of it as a piece of art, a miniature sculpture to be treasured 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 US in Wyoming you can find Agate (including Moss Agate), Jade, Ruby, Jasper, Bloodstone as well as Star Sapphire. And if you travel to Canada you will find opal in the Okanagan, British Columbia or sodalite and rose quartz near Bancroft, Ontario and even hessonite garnet in Asbestos, Quebec. Take up a hobby of loose gemstone collecting and enjoy yourself.
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Hints On loose blue diamonds
Fluorite, which was once known as fluorspar, is a mixture of calcium and fluoride. This beautiful stone can be seen in a variety of colors, often more than one color occurring simultaneously in the same crystal. This is called color zoning. This stone can be heated to produce a bi-colored effect, but this is a tedious and costly procedure that is not often used. Therefore, most bi-colored fluorite is natural.
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Tourmaline is one of October's birthstones and comes in many colors - but
primarily in pink and green. It is beautiful in rings, necklaces, and pendants.
Chemically tourmaline is an extremely complicated group of stones. They are
silicate minerals which contain silicon and oxygen and then it is mixed with
aluminum and boron. It is also may contain sodium, calcium, iron, magnesium,
lithium and a host of other elements that may be found in its structure. The
most common variety of tourmaline is schorl and may account for 95% or more of
all tourmaline in nature. Schorl is black tourmaline.
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Today, some of the finest emeralds can be found in South America. They can be
found in other parts of the world with the most important sites being in Africa,
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Madagascar. The Mines of Cleopatra were the earliest
emerald mines on earth. There was emerald mining as early as 2000 B.C. These
early mines were abandoned in 1750, briefly revived, and then finally left to
nature in the 1920.s.
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