Table of Contents
What is the study of gems and minerals?
Gemology or gemmology is the science dealing with natural and artificial gemstone materials. It is a geoscience and a branch of mineralogy. Some jewelers (and many non-jewelers) are academically trained gemologists and are qualified to identify and evaluate gems.
What was the first gem?
zircon
The oldest gemstone formed on Earth is zircon. In 2001, researchers found a piece of natural zircon in Jack Hills, Western Australia and dated it back to around 4.4 billion years.
What makes gemstones special?
Physical characteristics that make a colored stone valuable are color, clarity to a lesser extent (emeralds will always have a number of inclusions), cut, unusual optical phenomena within the stone such as color zoning (the uneven distribution of coloring within a gem) and asteria (star effects).
How do I start a rock and mineral collection?
- Do the research. Start close to home, by exploring your area’s geology – what minerals and rocks are present in your current locale?
- Join a club.
- Gather the tools.
- Catalog your collection.
- Keep the labels.
- Use reliable reference sources.
- Limit the size of your mineral collection.
- Develop your relationships.
How can I learn gemology?
A gemology career requires no formal college degree. However, you’ll need to take some trade classes to receive your certification. The International Gem Society offers an online Professional Gemologist certification course. The Gemological Institute of America offers a Graduate Gemologist program.
Who discovered the first gem?
Zircons First Discovery It was one of the first twelve gems worn by the high priests of Israel. Later in 1789, Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743-1817) a German chemist discovered the element zirconium in it while studying a sample of Zircon from Ceylon, present day Sri Lanka.
How are gems found?
Rock is worn down, and fragments of mineral rich water and wind seeps down into the cracks and cavities in the Earth’s surface, depositing layers of minerals which are then compressed over time, forming gemstones.
How do you label rocks and minerals?
To label and catalog a rock and mineral collection, write information about each specimen on a card label. Include the mineral species name(s), location it’s from, who collected it and when, and an approximate value. If necessary, mark each specimen with a number and keep the cards in a safe place.
How do you collect stones?
Stones can be obtained by mining rock Nodes or setting up a Mining Quarry over a stone yielding area. They can also be obtained by gathering small, loose rocks, typically found on the ground. Rocks gathered this way will reward the player with 50 Stones.
Where can I find information about gemstones?
Our Gemstone Encyclopedia has information on over 300 gemstones, from traditional and popular jewelry standards to collector’s stones that rarely appear for sale. Each entry has photos and detailed information about the gem’s properties. Entries for jewelry stones also have price guidelines and discussions of their most important value factors.
Can you really make money investing in gemstones?
It’s possible to make money investing in gems, but your cost basis in a given gem has to allow for a built-in profit the day you acquire the gemstone. You must have a margin of safety. Paying the right price is the single largest determining factor in whether you’ll generate a good return on investment.
Are lab-created gemstones as good as natural gemstones?
Lab-created or synthetic gemstones have the same optical and physical properties as their natural counterparts. They’re grown from the same chemical ingredients and under the same physical conditions as mined gems, except at a greatly accelerated rate. Lab-created gems aren’t fakes.
Is it possible to find gemstones below current prices?
Sometimes, you can find gems considerably below current values from these sources. However, you must have the expertise to identify gems and distinguish between natural and synthetic stones. Plus, you must be prepared to do a lot of legwork. Those who love “the thrill of the hunt” will enjoy this method.