Gemstone Buying Guide

Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds and other color gems added amazing colors to any collection of jewelry. Gemstones (Colored Stones) jewelry is a great gift for a birthday or anniversary, cost effective (than diamonds) yet have the pride of a precious gift.

How to select a Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald gemstone:

Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald are the most recognized non diamond gemstones among other gems. These gemstones generally have mineral traces called as inclusions. But in gem and jewelry industry, these inclusions are acceptable and is very difficult and rare (and very expensive) to find a flawless or even slightly included gemstone.

Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire are generally treated to enhance color and remove inclusions. Gemstones like Emerald are used to treat with oils and resins while Sapphire and Ruby frequently heat treated. If the seller doesn’t mentioned about the treatments, you must ask from the seller and obtain a recognized gem certificate to avoid purchasing of treated gemstones for the price of untreated ones. These treatments are accepted as a standard procedure in the gem and jewelry industry. Also there are untreated gemstones, but these are highly priced and rare.

* Emerald – Emeralds comes in a large range of colors from yellow-green to
blue-green, but most valuable Emeralds are those with pure green color. Emerald is the birth stone of May and consider as an anniversary gemstone of 20th, 35th and 55th years of marriage.

* Ruby – Rubies are the most valuable gemstone of all. Ruby is the birthstone of July and comes in orange-red to purple-red colors range. Blood-Red color rubies are considered as the most valuable.

* Sapphire – Like Ruby, Sapphire are also highly priced and not second to Rubies. The most famous colors are Cornflower Blue and Pure Yellow. Sapphires color ranging from colorless (white sapphire), yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue to black with all shades and mixes of these colors. Sapphire is the birthstone of September and 5th, 45th wedding anniversary gemstone.

Gemstone Color:

The color of a gemstone is the most important factor you should consider when choosing a gemstone. A small gemstone with very good color could be highly priced than a poor color heavier stone. Also a good color hides inclusions and brings a bright shine which is called as the luster. When you looking at the color of a gemstone, there are three factors to be considered;

* Hue – The unique color of the stone (as an example pure red, pure blue) without mixing of other colors.

* Tone – Indicates whether the gemstone is a lighter color or darker color, generally scale from light to medium to dark. The most preferable tone is either medium-light or medium-dark.

* Saturation – The purity of the color. If the color mixes more gray the saturation is low, and high saturated mean the color is more pure and brighter.

Cut and Polish is also another factor to be consider of when you choosing a gemstone. A good cut and well polished gemstone with leaner surface gives a bright luster (shining under light) and hide inclusions.