Gemstones

A gem, better known as a gemstone is actually a piece of a mineral that is cut and polished. This common or not so common gems and precious stones are attached to jewelry or other forms of adornments to create a masterpiece. Some of the rocks and organic materials are not actually considered being minerals like amber. These pieces are also used to make jewelry and are sometimes referred to as gemstones. Most gemstones are actually hard, but there are some that are soft minerals.

All stones and minerals will have certain traits and characteristics that will grade the level of the stone or gem. All of the stones and gems will be translucent in color while in its purest forms. This is all except for the colorless diamond, which is extremely hard with the hardness level of 8 to 10. This level is graded by the Mohs scale. All others are classified by the color, hardness, and translucency.

Some of the most common precious stones and gems are the diamond, a ruby, sapphire, and the emerald. These are classified as precious while other gemstones are semi-precious.

All gemstones are classified into their own set of groups. These groups are divided into species and varieties. This for example takes a red ruby and places it into a corundum species. This only applies to the ruby while all others are sapphire. Mineral species of the beryl gems include the emerald, aquamarine, heliodor, and morganite.

A gem is going to be characterized in terms of their refractive index. The gems and minerals will also be specific in gravity, hardness, fracture, and dispersion. The gem or minerals might exhibit pleochroism and double refraction. Some will have a luminescence while others carry a distinctive absorption spectrum for the stone or gem. A gem or mineral that has a flaw or material flaw will carry an inclusion. A gemstone can also be classified by the term of the water of the gemstones. This would be where the gems are graded by the gems luster and the transparency and brilliance of the gem. The clear see-thru gems are called or referred to as first water. The stones or gems with lesser transparency are known as third water or second water.