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Collecting Gemstones

By Lee MacRae

Gemology is a term referring to the science, art and profession of identifying and evaluating gemstones from loose gemstones to natural diamonds. A number of people taken up this profession as a passionate hobby. They collect and evaluate items like loose gemstone or natural diamonds. A number of these hobbyists start to visit different areas nearby or in some cases other countries to hunt for raw or rough gemstones. Some of them will even tumble or finish off the gemstones themselves. If this hobby interest you read along as we show you the in and outs of gemstone collecting.

To start off right you need to read up on the various gemstones available. This will help you to know what you're buying and prevent you from wasting your money. Get the answer to questions like how, where and what to buy.

Color is a very important part in evaluating a gemstone. The closer the color comes to its purer spectral value the more valuable the stone becomes. Traditional spectral colors are orange, green, yellow, Violet and blue. Colors that tend to be darker or paler tend to be less valued.

The cut of your gemstone is one of the most important traits when evaluating gemstones. The stone has to be cut correctly to reflect light properly. A poor cut will not reflect light in a consistent way. Color tone, saturation, and hue will always look inconsistent.

The clarity in a stone is the next item to consider. Gemstone clarity relates 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 determine the flaws not seen with the unaided eye you need a gemstone loupe (gemstone clarity magnifier) or gem microscope. Serious hobbyists will get a 10X jewelers were gemstone loup for examining coins, stamps and of course gemstones.

Next item to look at is the duo of size and weight. Due to the fact gemstones can vary in density or specific gravity. Weight and size are not necessarily equal across the board. Take the example of a diamond that weighs 1.00 carats and a sapphire of equal size would weigh 1.20 carats. An emerald stone would be about 0.95 carats and an Alexandrite stone would be about 1.23 carats.

Although gems are frequently used in jewelry, they are a great hobby and pastime as well. In fact, there are many attractive and interesting gemstones that are just too big or fragile to be used for jewelry. Take each gemstone and Think of it as a mini sculpture or piece of art to be highly treasured for its beautiful colors and the finish you apply to it. And unlike some hobbies that require you to pay for your specimens you can actually go hunting for raw gemstones in the field. In the United States in Alaska you can find White Quartz and Jade. And if you travel to Canada you will find rhodonite at various locations in British Columbia or pink and dark blueish spinels in Wakefield, Quebec as well as black spinel in Burgess and bathhurst Townships in Ontario. Think of collecting gemstones as a great hobby and pastime.

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Some of the most important occurrences of sapphires can be found in Sri Lanka,
but sometimes access to them is difficult. Pit and river mining are the most
used techniques in Sri Lanka, but is impeded because the country resists
modernization. Other areas where sapphires can be found are Tanzania, Australia,
Madagascar, and Montana (USA).
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The common opal is quite a departure from the precious opal. There are several
different types of common opals: the milk opal, opals with blue and green tints,
resin opal, and a wood opal. There are also opals that can be found around hot
springs and geysers. They are a clear glass opal made up of geyserite. There are
other varieties of opals most notably the fire opal and Peruvian opal. Mexico
and Mesoamerica is the chief source of the fire opal. They come from the Mexican
high country where they can be found in rock surrounding extinct volcanoes. It
is extracted from open-pit mines in the canyons and valleys there. It should be
noted that more durable fire opals are found in drier region. The drier the
region the more durable the opal will be. While Mexico produces the most fire
opals they can be found in Honduras, Ethiopia, United States, Australia, Canada,
Turkey and areas in former Russian states.
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aventurine cabochonAventurine is a translucent to opaque variety of
microcrystalline quartz. Small inclusions of shiny minerals give the stone a
sparkling effect known as aventurescence. Aventurine ranges in color from green,
peach, brown, blue and a creamy green. Mohs hardness is 6.5. (Pronounced: ah-ven
-shur-ine)
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