| Gem Buying Guide | | | | varieties, assuming good, but not great, quality: ? |
| How to Buy a Gemstone The good news is we | | | | BIG THREE: ruby emerald and sapphire Expect to |
| can teach you about gemstone quality. After you | | | | pay between $250 and $10,000 per carat. |
| read our gem buying advice, you will know more | | | | Emerald and ruby cost more than sapphire, |
| than the average jeweler. The bad news is that | | | | particularly in large sizes. ? NEW CLASSICS: |
| you will have to read ALL our gemstone buying | | | | tanzanite, tourmaline, aquamarine, imperial topaz, |
| advice: gemstones are much more complicated | | | | and tsavorite garnet These gemstones are |
| than diamonds (which is why most jewelers don't | | | | sometimes available in standardized sizes but fine |
| know much about them). So concentrate! | | | | stones are one of a kind and jewelry will have to |
| Diamonds have accepted grades for color and | | | | be made specifically for the stone. Prices range |
| clarity and so it is possible for a price list like the | | | | between $50 to $1,000 per carat, with tsavorite |
| Rapaport Diamond Report to exist. Gemstones | | | | easily reaching $3,000 per carat. ? CONNOISSEUR |
| have no grading system, each variety has | | | | GEMS: black opal, jadeite, pink topaz, chrysoberyl |
| individual value factors, and within each gem | | | | cat's-eye, fancy colored sapphires, demantoid |
| variety, quality dramatically affects price: a ruby | | | | garnet and alexandrite. These gems are sought |
| can be worth $10 or $1,000,000. Everybody | | | | after and prices range from $250 to $5,000 per |
| agrees what the best stone is, that's easy. But | | | | carat, although alexandrite with a good color |
| the best buy? That's tricky. Hold on, we'll get | | | | change will command at least $10,000 even in a |
| there! First, the basics. Like diamonds, gemstone | | | | one-carat size. ? COLLECTOR STONES: spinel, |
| quality and value are evaluated according to the | | | | zircon, moonstone, morganite and other beryls, |
| "four Cs": color, clarity, cut, and carat weight. For | | | | and many rare gemstones. Collector's gems are |
| ruby, sapphire, and to a lesser extent emerald, | | | | not available in quantity to be marketed |
| country or origin also affects value. Unfortunately, | | | | effectively so you get a lot of beauty for the |
| colored gemstones are also commonly treated, so | | | | money. Red and hot pink spinels can command a |
| that also affects value for ruby, sapphire and | | | | few thousand per carat but most of the gems in |
| emerald in particular. Let's start with the most | | | | this category will sell for hundreds not thousands. |
| important gemstone value factors, color, clarity, | | | | ? AFFORDABLE GEMS: amethyst, white opal, |
| and carat weight. Judging Color Color is the key | | | | citrine, ametrine, peridot, rhodolite garnet, blue |
| factor. But don't assume that the darker the | | | | topaz, iolite, chrome diopside, kunzite, andalusite, |
| color, the better the stone. That isn't true: color | | | | and ornamental gemstones such as lapis lazuli, |
| can be too dark, like some sapphires that look | | | | turquoise, onyx, chrysoprase, nephrite jade, and |
| more black than blue. Think grass green, not | | | | amber. These gems combine great color with |
| forest green. Fire engine red, not burgundy. The | | | | reasonable prices and good availability: prices for |
| more bright and vivid the color, the better. In | | | | these gemstone range between $5 and $100 per |
| precise grading terms: clear, medium-tone, intense | | | | carat. Gemstone Treatment Most gemstones are |
| and saturated primary colors are the most | | | | treated. If you want one, you basically have to |
| preferred. Pure blue, not greenish blue. Pure red, | | | | just get over it. Or buy a garnet, peridot, iolite, |
| not purplish red. Muted colors and colors between | | | | spinel, chrysoberyl, or alexandrite, which are |
| hues, which you might find very attractive, are | | | | basically the only gemstones that aren't doctored. |
| usually less expensive. Look at the color in | | | | That being said, the trade distinguishes between |
| different kinds of light Judging Clarity The next | | | | good treatments and bad treatments and so |
| most important factor affecting value is clarity: | | | | should you. Why? Good treatments are the basic |
| clear transparent gemstones with no visible flaws | | | | ones that everyone expects to have happened |
| are the most valued. There is no standardized | | | | unless you can prove otherwise. Everyone in the |
| grading system for clarity: it varies by gem | | | | business basically ignores these when calculating |
| variety. With colored gemstones, if the inclusion | | | | prices. Bad treatments affect value and these |
| doesn't show in the face up position, it generally | | | | gems are "special" products that not everyone will |
| doesn't matter at all. (unlike diamonds which are | | | | carry or buy. They may not hold value as well as |
| graded upside-down at 10x magnification). Some | | | | normal products. They are, in a sense, taboo. |
| varieties, notably emerald and red tourmaline, are | | | | Trade accepted treatments: ? heating ruby and |
| very rare without inclusions of some kind so the | | | | sapphire ? putting organic resins and wax in |
| price structure takes this into account. Pastel | | | | emerald ? heating amethyst, aquamarine, citrine, |
| colored gemstones show inclusions more, so they | | | | tanzanite, tourmaline, precious topaz, and zircon ? |
| generally detract more from the value for pale | | | | irradiating blue topaz (it is all irradiated: if you want |
| stones. In rare cases, inclusions can increase value. | | | | it, accept it) ? waxing jadeite, lapis lazuli, and other |
| Special effects like the star in star sapphire and | | | | ornamental gemstones ? dying onyx black (it isn't) |
| the eye in cat's-eye chrysoberyl are caused by | | | | ? bleaching pearls white Taboo treatments: ? glass |
| inclusions. Inclusions can also be a birthmark, | | | | filling of ruby ? diffusion treatment of sapphire ? |
| proving that a gemstone is from a particular place. | | | | epoxy resin in emerald (the trade is currently |
| So "horse-tail" inclusions in demantoid garnet make | | | | fighting about this one: it's more permanent so in |
| it more valuable because they prove it came | | | | a sense may be better but it offends |
| from Russia. But more about origin later Carat | | | | traditionalists and who knows what these things |
| Weight and Prices Gemstones are sold by weight, | | | | will look like in 20 years.) ? dyeing opal black, lapis |
| not by size. Prices are calculated per carat, which | | | | blue, or any other dye treatment ? epoxy |
| is one-fifth of a gram. Some gems are denser | | | | treatment of jadeite (known as B-Jade in Hong |
| than others so the same weight stone may be a | | | | Kong) Trade-accepted treatment comes into play |
| different size! For example a one-carat emerald is | | | | as a value factor at the very top of the market: |
| a bigger than a one-carat ruby. Just like diamonds, | | | | fine ruby, sapphire, and emerald that is certified to |
| the carat weight also affects the price: large | | | | be untreated will command a premium. Another |
| gemstones are more rare, so the price per carat | | | | value factor that mainly affects the gems in the |
| is higher. But practically, this doesn't make much | | | | top 1% of the market is country of origin, which |
| of a difference with common gems like | | | | we discuss next... Gem Buying Guide Gemstone |
| amethyst, citrine and blue topaz. It really kicks in | | | | Origin Country of origin matters in the prices of |
| for ruby, emerald, sapphire, alexandrite, tsavorite | | | | high-end ruby and sapphire but it doesn't have to |
| and demantoid garnet, Paraiba and rubellite | | | | matter to you. If a major lab says that a ruby is |
| tourmaline, spinel, and pink topaz. Another | | | | from Burma or a sapphire is from Kashmir or |
| important quality factor, which makes a big | | | | Burma, it costs more than an identical stone |
| difference in a gem's beauty, but may not add | | | | without confirmed origin. Are you buying a gem |
| much to the price is cut... Judging Cut A good cut | | | | that is important, say $20,000 or up, with a |
| is something that may not cost more but can add | | | | certificate? Then you need to think about origin. If |
| or subtract a lot of beauty. A well-cut faceted | | | | not, don't worry about it other than the fact that |
| gemstone reflects light back evenly across its | | | | it is kind of cool to know where a gem is from. A |
| surface area when held face up. If the stone is | | | | few things you need to know about origin if you |
| too deep and narrow, areas will be dark. If it is | | | | are thinking of paying for one of these premium |
| too shallow and wide, parts of the stone will be | | | | gemstones: ? GIA doesn't grade origin. The major |
| washed out and lifeless. The best way to judge | | | | labs that do so, in order of preference, are: 1) |
| cut is to look at similar gemstones next to each | | | | Gubelin in Switzerland, 2) SSEF in Switzerland, 3) |
| other. Consider the Gem Alternatives We | | | | AGTA in New York, 4) American Gemological |
| recommend buying the best quality gemstone | | | | Laboratories in New York. ? Origin is guesswork. |
| you can afford. In general, smaller gemstones of | | | | Only some stones show evidence and the limits |
| higher quality appreciate more over time than | | | | of non-destructive testing means almost no |
| larger stones of lower quality. If your budget is | | | | certainty. And geology doesn't respect national |
| too small to buy the quality you want, consider | | | | boundaries. The ruby deposit in Vietnam is |
| buying a higher quality gemstone from an unusual | | | | geologically almost identical to Burma's deposit. ? |
| variety. Mediocre rubies, emeralds and sapphires | | | | Origin became important because it was a |
| cost a lot more than fine garnets, tourmalines, | | | | shorthand for color. If you can get the same |
| tanzanites, and other exotics. In general, | | | | color from a different mine, what's the |
| gemstone pricing within each variety follows | | | | difference? ? Ruby from Burma, to a connoisseur, |
| common sense: the more beautiful the gemstone, | | | | means ruby from Mogok, not Mong Hsu. If you |
| with the final visual effect of all the quality | | | | are going to pay a premium, make sure you are |
| factors, the more valuable it is. Don't be afraid to | | | | getting the real thing. ? For emerald, the color of |
| choose what looks best to you! Different varieties | | | | Colombian emerald and African emerald are |
| have different price ranges. some varieties are | | | | different. You can almost never confuse the two, |
| lower in price because they are readily available, | | | | so the question of country of origin really just |
| some because the color isn't very popular (brown | | | | means color. I hope you enjoyed the Guide, Make |
| and yellow stones, for example), some because | | | | the Right Choice. |
| the material is relatively soft, some because they | | | | In our next book we will talk about different kinds |
| are too rare to create demand and some | | | | of Jade. We will give you the full laydown on this |
| because no one has heard of them or they have | | | | mystical gem. We will teach you how to look for |
| a weird name. You think I am kidding? Why does | | | | the genuine Jade. So keep an eye out for this |
| tanzanite cost more than tsavorite or spinel? A | | | | valuable informative book and don't get taken for |
| pretty name is the only explanation. Here is a | | | | a piece of glass or C class Jade. Visit our website |
| thumbnail guide to prices of different gem | | | | to see natural Jade, most are Certified. |