Let's try to be reasonable. Not all gem stones are real gems. Just like all women are not real gems. There are preferences and sizes, shapes, and colors. not all are created equal.
Within each gemstone variety, quality dramatically affects price: a ruby can sell for $10 or $1,000,000. Most experts recommend buying the best quality gemstone you can afford.
If your budget is too small to buy the quality you want, consider buying a higher quality gemstone from an unusual variety. Well-known gemstone varieties like ruby, emerald and sapphire - which have been treasured for centuries - are more valuable than more recently discovered gemstones which are also beautiful and rare. You may be surprised how beautiful and affordable garnets, tourmalines, citrines, and other exotic gemstones can be.
Diamonds are not a dime a dozen. But most people have diamonds. Some colored Gems are worth more than diamonds Carat for Carat.
Value factors: Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat Weight
Gemstone quality and value are evaluated according to the "four Cs": color, clarity, cut, and carat weight.
Color is the key factor. A common misperception in judging gems is people assume that the darker the color, the better the stone. That isn't true: color can be too dark, like some sapphires that look more black than blue. If a gem's color is too dark, it is subdued and lifeless. A much better rule of thumb is the brighter and more rich and vivid the color the better. In general, within each gemstone variety, a clear, medium-tone, very intense and saturated primary color is the most preferred. Look at the color in different kinds of light.
The next most important factor affecting value is clarity, with clear transparent gemstones with no visible flaws being the most valued. Some gemstone varieties, notably emerald and red tourmaline, are very rare without inclusions of some kind so the price structure takes this into account.
Some gemstones are valued for their inclusions! Phenomenal gemstones owe their stars and eyes to inclusions. Tiny inclusions reflecting back light put the eye in cat's eye chrysoberyl and the star in star sapphires. Inclusions can also be a birthmark, telling us where a particular gemstone was mined.
A good cut is something that may not cost more but can add or subtract a lot of beauty.
A well-cut faceted gemstone reflects light back evenly across its surface area when held face up. If the stone is too deep and narrow, areas will be dark. If it is too shallow and wide, parts of the stone will be washed out and lifeless. A well cut Gem will sparkle light when it is moved. Gems are made to be worn upon the human body which is in motion.
A Gem laying upon a table, if you see it without motion looks like a rock with color. .
Gemstones are generally sold by weight not by size. The price will be per carat, which is one-fifth of a gram. Some gems are heavier than others so the same weight stone may be a different size! The carat weight also affects the price: large gemstones are more rare, so the price per carat is higher.
We have shown some of our Gems to Jewelers that have exclaimed "Wow is that real? Let me see it please." Many Jewelers have never in their life seen some of the Gems we have that are so large. We have some Gems over 100 Carats which the Jewelers and the general public that they sell to have never seen. February 5, 2010 Gemfield's announced an exceptional 6,225carat rough Emerald at its Kagem mine in Zambia. The emerald has been named ?Insofu? (or ?elephant? in the vernacular of the Bemba people indigenous to the region.
In general, gemstone pricing within each variety follows common sense: the more beautiful the gemstone, with the final visual effect of all the quality factors, the more valuable it is. Don't be afraid to choose what looks best to you!
One final point about where to shop: "avoid buying a gemstone that you cannot see" for yourself. The internet web is a great place to learn about gems but it is not a very good place to buy them, because you are unable to really see what you are getting. Papers are no guarantee, particularly when you do not know who you are buying from or where they will be tomorrow or the next day. I Know myself what it is to get internet burned.
I have lived in the same home in Parowan, for 35 years, and have already purchased my burial plot here in the Parowan cemetery back when I bought my home here in 1975.
I do have 6 great sons, and 6 beautiful daughters who love Gems. So I have had some experience with beautiful women. And I want you to be proud of your Gem's just like I am proud of mine.
Proverbs 31: 10 "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies."
Gemstones are rated by a number of systems. Gemologists refer to specific gravity, or relative density -- the ratio of the density of a gemstone relative to that of water. Stones are graded on color. Whatever is a good typical of the species. The "4 Cs" Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat weight. Many colored stones are rarer than diamonds. And really are more beautiful, and expensive. Cut properly they exceed anything a diamond can do.
Many gem stones are quartz crystals with various mineral elements which give them their colors. Amethyst when exposed to sunlight begins to fade. Just like the paint on your car. Ametrine was just discovered a few years ago in one mine in Bolivia, in South America. For a short time people supposed that they were man made. Now some people are beginning to realize that they are truely works of nature. Where veins of Amethyst and Citrene have run together in the earth to create a very beautiful combination called Ama-trine.
The mineral hardness characterizes the scratch resistance. German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs created in 1912 the method to test hardness. Hardness of a stone is just one way of judging it's ability to be a good gem stone.
Diamonds are hardest at 10. Ruby, Sapphire, and Alexandrite are at 8.5 to 9 hard.
Topaz is 8 with Emerald and Garnet at 7.5 Quartz and Steel are at 7 Gold and Silver are very soft at 3 so must have other elements added to make them last. 24 Carat Gold is pure Gold and too soft to wear. Then 18 Carat, 14 Carat, 10 Carat Gold is used depending upon the use.
A necklace can be more purer Gold, because of it's location on the neck than a Ring for the wearer when hands get abuse.
A necklace per ounce can cost much more. So a very many factors are involved in the value of every Gem stone.
So be honest with yourself, you are not getting a Gem to sell to someone else. You are getting what appeals to your senses and will give you pleasure and happiness for years to come. So many people have different opinions about any Gem; that is what makes them personal and of value. And not everyone wants the same kind of home to live in.
But certain standards need to be met to make any house into a home. The same with Gems, certain standards need to be met to make any rough stone into a stunning Gem to wear.
If you get a house for just a short time you are not so particular about it. If you just want a party stone then go to some Jewelery store and get it. If you want your own Gem for the rest of your life then come and talk to us about it.
Nature and the real earth have been working the elements we offer for about a few million years. So they will surely last your lifetime. And also for another 100 generations.