Collecting Prescious And Semi-Prescious Stones
By Lee MacRae
Why collect loose gemstones you ask? For many people it's because 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 in this hobby love to collect and show case the nearly 150 types of gemstones found today. This article will discuss the hobby of loose gemstone collecting.
To begin with your first priority is to visit the library and get some books. You want to learn as much as possible about precious and semiprecious gemstones. The more you understand about gemstones the better off you'll be. You'll know exactly what to buy.
One of the first things you look at is the color of the gem. Top grade gemstones have pure colors there as close as possible in pureness to the spectral colors of violent, blue, green,, orange or red. Muted gemstone colors or too dark are diminished in value.
The cut of your gemstone is an important aspect to consider when buying a gemstone. The stone has to be cut with precision to reflect the light properly. A poor cut can't reflect the light consistently over its surface. Color saturation, hue and tone will always look inconsistent.
The next factor to look at is the clarity. This refers to the purity of the gemstone or the lack of internal inclusions, particles or spots within the crystal. Needless to say, stones with no flaws are hard to find and make your stones very valuable.
You will note that gemstones are categorized according to their size aspect because it is more uniform than carat weight. But two different gemstones may have the same size but differ in carat weights and as a result different pricing structures. This is due to the nature of gemstone difference in specific gravity depending upon the chemical composition and crystalline structure. A one carat round brilliant diamond, for example 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.
Taking up the collecting of loose gemstones can be very rewarding hobby. And there is such a variety when it comes to gemstones. You could try collecting Chrysoprase, Sugilite Zircon and then try others. The opportunities are seemingly endless. And if you like a hands on hobby you can go hunting for raw gemstones. For example in New Mexico you'll find Turquoise, Garnet, Peridot, Rock Crystal and Obsidian
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The 1370-carat �Neelanjali Star Ruby� has been listed in the Guinness Book of
World Records as the largest double star ruby in the world. The enormous star
ruby of Indian origin belongs to the retired lawyer G. Vidyaraj who lives in
Bangalore, India, and claims his descent from the kings of the Vijayanagar
Empire. Vidyaraj inherited the Neelanjali Ruby and the other enormous rubies,
the 3,553-carat �Ravirathna Ruby� and the 2,475-carat �Rajarathna Ruby� from his
father, who had inherited them from his ancestors who were direct descendants of
the Vijayanagar royal family. In fact neither Vidyaraj�s father or his ancestors
would have been aware that they were in possession of such enormously large
rubies, as the large rough stones were actually sacred objects of worship known
as lingams, the symbols of Shiva, called �Saligramas.� Over the years these
objects of worship were covered with layers of grime and soot, and their bright
red colors concealed. No one would dare touch these objects for fear of
desecration, and the secret of the stones remained hidden for centuries, until
Vidyaraj who was not much inclined towards religion, out of curiosity began to
investigate the nature of the stones, by cleaning them with soap and brush. To
his utter amazement the bright red color of the stones were exposed, which were
subsequently identified as rubies.
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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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