Gemological Article Of The Month
Collecting Loose Gemstones
By Lee MacRae
For many people collecting loose gemstones or loose diamonds is their favorite hobby. They simply love the beauty and the colors of the various gemstones found around the world today. Read long as we look at a number of factors you should understand in starting in this hobby.
To begin with your first priority is to visit the library and get some books. You want to learn as much as possible about precious and semiprecious gemstones. The more you understand about gemstones the better off you'll be. You'll know exactly what to buy.
One of the first things you look at is the color of the gem. Top grade gemstones have pure colors there as close as possible in pureness to the spectral colors of violent, blue, green,, orange or red. Muted gemstone colors or too dark are diminished in value.
Gemstone cut is very important and is used not only to appraise diamonds but along with your gemstones. A precision cut will highlight the natural color of the gemstone, diminish any inclusions, and show off its symmetry and proportions. One excellent method to determine the precision in its cut is to check how consistent and well, it reflects the light over its entire surface. If the stone is cut on the shallow side much of the light will refract out of the gem rather than reflecting internally. Gemstone color will be washed out.
Gemstone clarity is an important consideration. Clarity refers to the amount of inclusions (trace elements or large particles of other elements or minerals) that a gem has. A perfect gemstone is obviously valued highly. To examine flaws not seen with the naked eye requires a gemstone loupe or gemstone microscope. Serious hobbyists will use a 10X jewelers were gemstone loup for viewing their coins, beads, stamps or in our case gemstones.
Gemstones are often listed according to their size criteria because it is more uniform than carat weight. But two different gemstones may be the same size but differ in carat weights and as a result different prices as well. This is due to the difference in relative density or specific gravity depending upon the materials chemical composition and characteristic crystalline structure. Normally a one carat brilliant round diamond with standard proportions will be approximately 6.5 mm in diameter. A comparable a brilliant ruby of the same proportions in size will weigh in at 1.55 carats.
Collecting gemstones as a hobby can be very enjoyable and rewarding in the long run. It doesn't have to be very expensive and yet you can buy some very beautiful items. Many people love to take vacations to go hunting for raw gemstones. Take the example of the United States. In Alaska you can find White Quartz and Jade. Or ou can take a longer vacation and find opal in Opalton, Yowah, Queensland, Austalia, topaz in Mt Surprise or O'Briens Creek in Queensland, Australia or hunt the quartz regions in Beechworth and Mooralla in Victoria Australia.
Buy blue loose gemstones along with loose diamonds and also natural blue diamonds today in our store!
Gemstones For Sale
Tips About where to buy loose diamonds
Tiger Eye Quartz is used in cabochans and beads where it's lovely tiger-like
quality comes out best. Generally, you will not find faceted tiger eye. This
stone is often called "Tiger's Eye" or simply "Tiger Eye". Tiger Eye is black
with iron oxide staining which gives it yellow and golden brown stripes. It is a
type of chatoyant quartz. Tiger Eye has a hardness of 7.
Buy Opal triplets loose gemstones today!
Bloodstone is an inexpensive earthstone. It is often used for bolo ties,
pendants and bead necklaces. Bloodstone (also called Heliotrope) is dark green
with red spots (resulting from Iron Oxides). It has a hardness of 7.
Buy blue loose gemstones today!
where to buy loose diamonds Stories
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