Gemstone Information Article
Starting The Hobby Of Gemstone Collecting
By Lee MacRae
Why would anyone collect items like loose gemstones, you ask? Well to begin with they've been sought for their beauty for many centuries. And like their more familiar cousin, natural diamonds, they can become extremely valuable over the years. Many hobbyists love to collect and work with the nearly 150 types of gemstones found today. Follow along as we look at the hobby of collecting loose gemstones.
To begin with your first priority is to visit the library and get some books. You want to know as much as possible about the subject of gemstones. The more you understand 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 purer spectral value the more valuable it is. Remember that the spectral colors include red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Gemstones colors that are paler or darker than the pure color are considered a lower value.
The cut of your gemstone is an important factor to consider in evaluating gemstones. The cut has to be done correctly to reflect light properly. A poor cut will not reflect the light consistently. Color tone, saturation, and hue will always appear inconsistent
Our next consideration is the aspect of gemstone clarity. Clarity refers to the internal flaws (inclusions) or the external blemishes of a stone. Larger flaws can easily be seen with the naked eye with others needing to be magnified 10X
Next to consider are size and weight. Except for corals and pearls, all gemstones are valued by the unit called the carat. One carat is the equivalent of 0.2 grams Be aware however, that weight and size are not always equal and gemstones. The density and specific gravity can differ in stones. Take a diamond that weighs 1.00 carats and you will see that a similar sized ruby or sapphire is 1.20 carats.
Collecting gemstones as a hobby can become an enjoyable pastime and rewarding in the long run. You don't need to spend a lot of money and yet you can buy some very beautiful items. Many people love to set aside vacation or weekend time to go hunting for raw gemstones. Take the example of the United States. In Arizona you can find Agatized wood (Petrified wood), Azur-Malachite, Turquoise, Garnet, Peridot, Jasper and Moissanite And if you like to travel farther you can find opal in Coober Pedy, Andamooka or Mintabie in South Australia, topaz in Killiecrankie, Tasmania or check out raw material in the peridot fields in Chudleigh Park, Queensland, Australia.
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Learn More About best loose diamonds
Citrine is yellow quartz. It has a hardness of 7. Citrine can be easily
scratched. Citrine often permenantly changes color if left in the sunlight for
several hours. Most citrine on the market is heat treated amethyst. Citrine is
found in Brazil, Madagascar, Spain, USA (California, Colorado, Georgia, and
Nevada) and the former USSR.
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Synthetic or "lab-created" stones are grown using the same ingredients as the natural stones. They are chemically identical to natural stones, but more affordable, and its easier to get a large, well-colored lab-created gem than a natural one. Lab-created gemstones frequently have fewer "inclusions", the internal flaws common in precious gems. With technical advances, many high quality lab-created stones can only be differentiated from a natural by a trained professional. Almost any gemstone can be made in a lab, but the precious gemstones - emeralds, rubies and sapphires - are the most common
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In the 1950's the Gemological Institute of America established a system for
grading diamonds based on the four C's. This was a great asset to the diamond
community and it became the standard for grading world wide. While the system
for grading color and clarity removed most redundancies, the standards for
grading the cut left something to be desired. That is not necessarily a
criticism of the GIA; no one has been able to establish a simple a usable system
that would cover all the variables involved.
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