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Featured Gemological Article

So You Want To Collect Loose Gemstones

By Lee MacRae

Why collect loose gemstones you ask? Well for one thing they've been sought for their beauty for many centuries. And like their more familiar cousin, natural diamonds, they can appreciate in value over time. Many in this hobby love to collect and show case each and every one of the 150 varieties available. Read long as we examine the loose gemstones hobby.

To start off right you'll need the knowledge on the wide variety of stones available. This knowledge will help you to know what you're buying so you buy the right items. A knowledgeable buyer is a wise one.

First, color is a major part in evaluating a gemstone. The closer the color of the gemstone is to its pure spectral color the more valuable the stone becomes. Traditional spectral colors include violent, blue, green,, orange and red. Colors that tend to be darker or palerthan a pure color are considered a lower value.

Gemstone cut is one of the most important traits in determining gemstone value. The cut has to be done with precision to reflect the light properly. A stone that has a poor cut will not reflect light in a consistent way. The hue, tone and color saturation will always look inconsistent.

Next to look at is the aspect of gemstone clarity. Clarity is the term that refers to the internal conclusions or flaws of the gemstone. Any large flaws you can usually see with your naked eye with the others needing a 10X magnification.

Gemstones are often categorized according to their size aspect because it is more uniform than carat weight. But different gemstones may be of the same size but differ in carat weights and as a result different prices as well. This is due to the difference regarding relative density or specific gravity and depends on the materials chemical composition and characteristic crystalline structure. For example, a one carat round diamond with standard proportions will be approximately 6.5 mm in diameter. A comparable round brilliant ruby of the same size and proportions will weigh approximately 1.55 carats.

Collecting gemstones can be very rewarding hobby. And there is a wide range and variety in precious and semi precious stones that you can collect. You can collect gemstones like Obsidian, Topaz or Zeolite (Thomsonite) for instance. The varieties are nearly endless. And if you like a hands on hobby you can go gemstone hunting and find the raw materials instead of buying them. For example in New York you can find Beryl, Brown Tourmaline, Rose Quartz as well as Fresh Water Pearl.

Buy loose Lapis gemstones or radiant enhanced loose diamonds and a natural green diamond today in our store!

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Hints About loose natural gemstones

An opal is actually what is known as a mineraloid, a shapeless gel with silicium
dioxide that was deposited at a low temperature in crevices and fissures of all
different types of rock. The most common types of rock where they were deposited
are limonite, sandstone, rhyolite and basalt. It can also form original fossils
or replace fossils that have already been formed, and collectors find this
phenomenon very interesting. Opals are relatively young gems, and they are so
fragile they could never have survived early geological upheavals that produced
other types of stones. Opals did occur in volcanic masses of calcite that filled
the veins in lava rock. Hot, briny gel like mixtures would rise up to the
surface from the volcano which decomposed the calcite. What was left behind was
colloidal silica, and this along with water later produced opals.
Buy loose Jasper gemstones today!

Topaz is a very large stone. One giant gem at the Viennese Historical museum is
reputed to weigh 585,000 carats. The rarest topaz is the Imperial Topaz and pink
topaz. Pakistan is the only place today where rose-red tinted topaz can be found
today. All other pink topazes get their color from heat treatments of up to 475?
C. Imperial topaz is has a yellow tint to it while other members of the topaz
family can be completely colorless. Some of the most beautiful examples of topaz
are the famous blue topaz which can have colorful ranges starting with light
blue stones. The very deep blue topaz is artificially produced by heating and
irridation processes. One of the most interesting characteristics about topaz is
that it bleaches in daylight and then renews itself as the light subsides. The
color changes occur because of natural heating and irridation.
Buy loose quartz gemstones today!

The Latest loose natural gemstones News

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Africa - a continent of hope and despair Ceylon Daily News, Sri Lanka - Dec 17, 2008 Some of the world’s largest reserves of fossil fuels, metallic ores and gems and precious metals are found in Africa. Africa has about 30 per cent of the ...

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