Gemstone Value

The value of a gemstone is directly related to it's rarity. The size or weight of the stone, it's color and clarity are all valued ultimately on rarity. Colorless diamonds for example, are valued more highly than yellow or brown diamonds, simply because colorless diamonds are more rare. Larger stones are valued higher than smaller stones, simply because larger stones are harder to find than smaller, and generally are more costly per carat. Supply and demand also have an effect on value. Many gemstones are found only in places where the climate(physical, economical and political) is hostile or unstable. This directly affects supply, and as a supply of a gemstone dwindles, it becomes harder to find.

Photographs and descriptions

We make every attempt to ensure that the photographs and descriptions of gemstones are as accurate as possible, however no photographic process is perfect. The photographs however, cannot hope to match the beauty of seeing the gemstone in person. What this means, is that if the gemstone looks good here, it will look great when it arrives at your door. The gemstones as pictured are not to scale.

Color and clarity grading

As part of the description, most of the gemstones listed have a description of it's color and clarity. Color is described in terms of tone (brightness), saturation and one of 31 hue descriptions as used by the GIA.

• Tones (shown here in blue) are described as :

  Colorless	Medium Light	Extremely Dark
  Extremely Light	Medium	Very Dark
  Very Light	Medium Dark	Black
  Light	Dark

• Saturation (shown here in blue) is an indication of how "strong" or "vivid" a color is. Saturation is listed as :

  Gray	Medium Strong
  Grayish	Strong
  Slightly Grayish	Vivid
  Very Slightly Grayish

  The term "Brownish" can be substituted for "Grayish" with colors of a orangish hue :

  Brown	Medium Strong
  Brownish	Strong
  Slightly Brownish	Vivid
  Very Slightly Brownish

• Hues are described as :

  Red	Greenish Yellow	Strongly Bluish Green	Violet
  Orangy Red	Yellow-Green or Green-Yellow	Green-Blue or Blue-Green	Bluish Purple
  Red-Orange or Orange-Red	Strongly Yellowish Green	Very Strongly Greenish Blue	Purple
  Reddish Orange	Yellowish Green	Greenish Blue	Reddish Purple
  Orange	Slightly Yellowish Green	Very Slightly Greenish Blue	Purple-Red or Red-Purple
  Yellowish Orange	Green	Blue	Strongly Purplish Red
  Orangy Yellow	Very Slightly Bluish Green	Violetish Blue	Slightly Purplish Red
  Yellow	Slightly Bluish Green	Bluish Violet	Red

  Some exceptions to these hue descriptions are made with gemstones that are brownish, or pinkish. Orangy pinkish is sometimes described as "peachy".

• Clarity is a subjective term, however the following is how we describe clarity :

  • Opaque, meaning the stone will not transmit light through it.
  • Translucent, or cloudy, meaning that the stone transmits light, but you cannot see clearly through it.
  • Heavily Included, meaning that the stone is transparent, but the stone is littered with inclusions, which are very visible without magnification.
  • Moderately Included, meaning that the stone is transparent, but there are several inclusions, which are visible without magnification.
  • Slightly Included, meaning that the stone has some very minor inclusions which may be visible without magnification.
  • Very Slightly Included, or eye-clean, meaning that the stone has some very minor inclusions that are not readily visible without magnification. Some inclusions may be visible without magnification once you see them under magnification and know exactly where to look.
  • Very Very Slightly Included, meaning that the stone has some very very minor inclusions which are difficult to see under magnification.
  • Loupe clean, or clean, meaning that no inclusions were seen using 10x magnification. However the stone was not examined microscopically. The stone may be internally flawless or flawless.
  • Internally Flawless, meaning that the stone was examined under a microscope of at least 40x magnification, and no inclusions were seen. The stone has some external blemishes.
  • Flawless, meaning that the stone was examined under a microscope of at least 40x magnification, and no inclusions were seen and stone has no external blemishes.

Gemstone Certificates

Unlike diamond certificates, which have an international certification standard (GIA), there is no corresponding internationally recognized certification for colored gemstones. We don't issue certificates with the gemstones we sell. We do guarantee that a gemstone is what we say it is, and we guarantee it's quality. You are free to take any gemstone purchased to a qualified gemologist to have it evaluated, and return it for a refund within 15 days of its receipt if you are not satisfied. If we issued certificates, we would have to pass the cost onto you. If you are purchasing a gemstone as an investment, and plan to try to resell it later, then you can have it certified yourself. We leave the choice up to you.

Common Terms

• Avoirdupois Ounce, a unit of weight equivalent to 28.349523125 grams. This is the common ounce, and it is not used to measure the weight of precious metals. (See Troy Ounce)

• Avoirdupois Pound, a unit of weight, equivalent to 16 avoirdupois ounces. One (1) avoirdupois pound is legally defined to be 0.45359237 kilograms. This is the common pound and not used for the measurement of precious metals.

• Blemish, a defect in a gemstone found at the surface, such as a pit, nick, scratch, chip or even an extra facet where none should be. A blemish differs from an inclusion, which is internal to the gemstone.

• Calibrated, a gemstone whose dimensions are a standard (mm) size, and are cut to fit ready made jewelry pieces.See our list of calibrated gemstones. For more information, consult our metric conversion information.

• Carat (ct.), unit of weight. One (1) carat is equivalent to 0.2 grams. Carat weight should not be confused with the term karat (kt.), which is used to measure the quality of gold, nor carrot which refers to a plant. The abbreviation(cwt.) is used to indicate the total weight of two or more gemstones, such as the weight of a parcel of stones, or a pair of stones often traded as a group. Carat weight should not be used to judge the size of a stone, as differences in cutting and the depth of a stone can allow stones of the same weight to have different dimensions. Also, the density, or specific gravity of different materials can have the same effect. A one carat sapphire for instance is much smaller than a one carat opal. When looking for a setting for a particular gemstone, the stones dimensions in millimeters should be used, not the carat weight.

• Grain, unit of weight, one (1) grain is equivalent to 0.32399455 carats, or 1/24 pennyweight.The term is sometimes used to approximate a quarter carat.

• Gram, unit of weight in the Metric system. One (1) ounce (avdp.) is equivalent to 28.349523125 grams(141.747615625 ct.). Rough(uncut) material is often sold by the gram, whereas cut or finished gemstones are generally sold by the carat.

• Hardness, measured by the Mohs scale (1-10), named after the mineralogist Friedrich Mohs (1773-1839) :

  1. Talc	2. Gypsum	3. Calcite	4. Fluorite
  5. Apatite	6. Orthoclase	7. Quartz	8. Topaz
  9. Corundum	10. Diamond

• Inclusion, an inclusion within a gemstone is an internal flaw, or included crystal, bubble, cloud, graining, fracture, etc.. Inclusions are differnt from blemishs, which are imperfections at the surface of the gemstone. Inclusions are not always bad. Inclusions can be used like a finger print, to identify diamonds and other valuable gemstones. Inclusions can often be used to tell the difference between natural and synthetic gemstones, and in some types of gemstones, the inclusion can even pinpoint the source of the natural stone. In some cases, inclusions can actually increase the brilliance of a gemstone. Beware of emeralds and rubies which do not contain inclusions, as these are extremely rare, and are probably synthetic.

• Karat (K or Kt.), a measure of the amount of gold present in a gold alloy, expressed in 1/24ths. An alloy under 10 Kt.gold is not legally called gold in the U.S. (9 Kt.in England). The number in parentheses in the table below indicates a marking that is found on some foreign manufactured jewelry, expressed in thousandths.

  • 10 kt.is 10/24 or 41.60% gold(416).
  • 12 kt.is 12/24 or 50.00% gold(500).
  • 14 kt.is 14/24 or 58.33% gold(585).
  • 18 kt.is 18/24 or 75.00% gold(750).
  • 24 kt.is 24/24 or 100% "solid" gold(usually 99.999%).

• Kilogram (kg.), a unit of weight equivalent to 1000 grams, or 2.2046226 pounds(avoirdupois), or 32.150737 troy ounces.

• Loupe, a small magnifying lens, usually 10x magnification.

• Melee, also known as an accent stone, a small round gemstone, usually less than 4mm in diameter. Melee stones are placed around a larger center gemstone to accent it, and make the center stone or jewelry piece appear larger.Melee diamonds may have fewer facets than a standard round brilliant cut.

• Millimeter (mm.), a measure of distance in the Metric system. One (1) inch is defined to be 25.4 millimeters. The metric system is the standard used in the jewelry industry, by gemologists, and by science worldwide. For more information, consult our metric conversion information.

• Ounce (oz.), a particularly confusing set of units, used to measure weight and volume. There are two versions of ounces for weight, troy (also called apothecaries) and avoirdupois (common ounce). There are also two versions of the fluid ounce, used to measure volume, the british fluid ounce, and the U.S. fluid ounce. To add to the confusion, a troy pound is 12 troy ounces, whereas the avoirdupois(common pound) is 16 avoirdupois ounces. When measuring the weights of precious metals, the troy ounce is the standard used.

• Pennyweight (dwt.), a measure of weight, used to weigh precious metals. One (1) pennyweight is equivalent to 1/20 ounce (troy), or 24 grains, or 1.55517384 grams, or 7.7758692 carats.

• Point, unit of weight. One (1) point is equivalent to 0.01 (1/100) carats. The term point should not be confused with the number of facets that a gemstone may have.

• Precious Stones, an obsolete term which generally is used to refer to diamond, emerald, sapphire or ruby.

• Semi-precious Stones, also an obsolete term used to describe gemstones which are not diamond, emerald, sapphire or ruby. These terms are misleading as many "semi-precious" gemstones are extremely valuable, and some "precious" gemstones are of such poor quality that their value is very low.

• Troy Ounce, a unit of weight, used to measure precious metals and gemstones. One (1) troy ounce is equivalent to 1.0971429 ounces (avdp.), or 31.103486 grams, or 155.51743 carats, or 20 pennyweight (dwt) or 480 grains.

• Troy Pound, a unit of weight, equivalent to 12 troy ounces.

Pearls and Other Organic Gemstones

Pearl

Our trade is solely in gemstones and some precious metals. We do not deal in any substance that is of organic origin, such as pearls, amber, coral, shells and ivory. Several organic gems are illegal and environmentally unethical to sell, and we prefer to stay away from all organic "gems".