Thinking About Jewels
August 30th, 2010 by Mammy Jenkins
There are two main categories of gemstones: the precious stones and the semi-precious stones. Only diamond, sapphire, emerald, and rub are labeled as precious stones and all the others fall under semi-precious stones category. For a time, amethyst was categorized as a precious stone until the discovery it massive volume were unearthed in Brazil by 19th century. Even if it is not a gemstone, some actually recognized pearl as a precious stone also. Presently, gemstones are widely used to flair up fashion creations and even jewelries but the 4 precious stones are always the more popular of them all
The hardest form of precious stones is diamond, discovered initially about 6,000 years ago, they have always been recognized as a precious stone, from 19th century onwards,diamonds became more and more popular as new techniques of processing are introduced, and more supply are coming up.
Several people also adore ruby as one of their favorite gemstones. Although ruby may come is different shades of red, the most sought after ruby is that with pigeon blood hue. Rubies are by its innate nature, full of minute imperfections that is why most experts use this characteristic as their determinants to spot the genuine ones from the fake ones. Most available rubies are treated and sold at reasonable value while those that are not treated is more expensive.For the rubies, those with higher quality are rubies that are not treated while the treated ones are more common and affordable.
Sapphire, all gem quality (corundum) that is not red is called sapphire, this name is associated with the color blue and is highly prized as a gemstone. Normally ranges from very pale blue to a deep indigo but the most valuable is a clear, deep blue, some stones called “colour change sapphire”, exhibit different shades of blue in natural and artificial light. There are other sapphires that come in other colors like yellow, orange, and even black but these are actually considered only a fancy sapphires. It should be noted that prior to 19th century, only the blue ones were recognized as sapphires.
Sapphires and rubies fall under one classification (corundum) while emeralds belong to a different class (beryl). Emeralds are generally regarded as a special but those with flawless textures and great colors are most highly sought after. To improve its quality, emeralds are commonly subjected to being oiled. To get a genuine expensive emerald however, you must always seek experts advise. All of these gemstones have synthetic counterparts that are make in laboratories a synthetic diamond is a cubic zirconia, and ruby, sapphire and emerald synthetic are called created gems, created ruby, created sapphire and created emeralds. Despite its being synthetic, most people are fond of these replicates because they are free from any inclusions normally found in genuine stones. That is why for most people, synthetic gemstones are also viewed with high relevance. The hardness of these stones are measured in moh’s scale: diamond at 10, ruby and sapphire at 9, and emerald at 7.5. They will stand up to being worn frequently and if cleaned regularly will stay as beautiful as the day you got them. The best way to clean diamonds, ruby, and sapphire is in a ultrasonic jewelry cleaner, but when it comes to emeralds I do not recommend that you use a ultrasonic jewelry cleaner, it may remove the oils that emeralds are treated with to hide the natural inclusions, a little detergent in some warm water and a soft toothbrush will be a little gentler and will not damage the stone. Finally, if you are thinking of investing on something that is truly timeless and elegant, consider buying these gemstones as they will surely retain their ageless brilliance through the years.
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