Hello Precious! All About Gemstones
While I continue to finalize the guide about vintage and second hand jewelry, I thought it would be helpful to do a little deep dive into the world of gemstones. While diamonds are the most popular gem, I prefer semi-precious gemstones. They are just as valuable as diamonds, but extra in all the right ways!
Research & Window Shopping
The most important thing is to do research before you start shopping for gemstones – like reading this mini guide! You can do a deep dive into any gemstone by reading GIA’s gem encyclopedia.
Next up, visit your local jeweler or jewelry district and start looking at gemstones in real life. Start comparing color, carat, and price. Most vendors will either handwrite this information for you (after they weigh the stone in front of you) or they’ll already have a small tag for it. I always take a picture of the stone plus the tag so I can go home and compare notes. I’ve been visiting the jewelry mart for years so I have a good relationship with many vendors and I truly trust them so if I see something I love, I feel confident to buy it with a bit of price negotiation!
Colored Gemstones
Like diamonds, gemstones are exquisite and offer a bit of flair to fine jewelry through their rich color. Fun Fact: colored gemstones have been considered more valuable and used in fine jewelry longer than diamonds! If you’ve been to any history museum, you’ve likely seen Egyptian, Roman, Asian or European artifacts, jewelry and other sacred pieces covered with a variety of gemstones (not diamonds).
There are a variety of gemstones out there. Some of the most notable ones include:
- Aquamarine
- Amethyst
- Emerald
- Citrine
- Alexandrite
- Morganite
- Garnet
- Opal
- Onyx
- Quartz
- Peridot
- Sapphire
- Ruby
- Topaz
- Tanzanite
- Turquoise
- Tourmaline
The most popular are emeralds, rubies, and sapphires and you may be familiar with the others because they may be your birthstone. I think they’re all pretty special in their own way and while some are worth more than others, they are valuable enough to invest in a piece if you truly love jewelry.
4Cs System
We all know about the 4Cs when it comes to diamonds, but does the 4Cs system apply to colored gemstone grading? The short answer is yes…and no.
The 4Cs are prioritized differently and adapted to the criteria for assessing gemstones (including colored diamonds). For example, when purchasing a colorless diamond, what you’re looking for is a stone that shines bright with white light. It is this white light of a colorless diamond that allows it to shimmer, reflecting light between its facets and back into the eye of the beholder. This is quite different in the case of colored gemstones. When searching for a colored stone you must pay particular attention to exactly that – its color. The intensity, even tone, and shade of color is the dominant factor in evaluating the quality of a colored gem. For every stone, the cut quality will also be considered of high importance. The cut quality will have a direct impact on the stone’s symmetry and light reflection which in turn will enhance or dull the vibrancy of color.
Color
There are three factors involved in evaluating color in colored gemstones. These elements are taken into consideration when evaluating the quality of color.
- Hue reflects the basic colors we see. When most people discuss “color,” they’re actually referring to hue.
- Saturation refers to the hue’s intensity.
The Lotus Gemology Saturation Scale. Note that the highest saturations are out-of-gamut, and so cannot be shown on a printed scale such as this. Saturation of faceted gems is, in most cases, judged by reference to the saturation of the average brilliancy flashes.
- Tone refers to a gem’s relative lightness or darkness.
The Lotus Gemology Tone Scale. Note that, unlike saturation, tone is judged by the overall lightness/darkness of the stone.
Color distribution, also known as “uniformity of color,” describes the evenness in color across the entire stone. With color being the number one ranking factor in a colored gems quality assessment, you want a stone where the color is distributed evenly.
Color zoning is the term used when talking about uneven color distribution in a gemstone. What we want is no eye-visible, face-up zoning. This means, when looking at a stone with your naked eye, you don’t want to see any darker areas or splotches of color.
A stone that has what is considered “heavy zoning” will have very clear lighter and darker areas across the surface of the stone. Important to note that color distribution and color zoning is different from color gradient that you may see in a “watermelon” or tricolor Tourmaline.
Origin
A specific gem that has been mined and uncovered from a specific location can oftentimes increase the value of the stone. For example, a turquoise mined from Bisbee Arizona will command a far higher price than one that is mined anywhere else in the world. For example, Persian Turquoise and Sleeping Beauty Turquoise (United States) are sought after and regarded for their brilliant blue stones with no matrix, whereas Lander Blue Spiderweb Turquoise is some of the rarest Turquoise on earth and in high demand with its rich dark blue color and jet black matrix. Some rare and notable gemstones and locations you may be familiar with are: Rubies from Myanmar (formerly Burma), Tanzanite (since it can only be mined in Tanzania), or Sapphires from Kashmir.
Clarity Scaling System
The GIA created three different categories in order to classify colored stones for their clarity. As you’ll notice below, one of the more popular gemstones, the emerald, will always feature heavier inclusions that do NOT affect the value. This is important to note when you’re sourcing loose gemstones or shopping for jewelry with any of these stones.
Type 1 Gemstones are usually what we can consider as “eye clean” meaning that there are no visible inclusions when looking with the naked eye.
Includes: beryl gems such as aquamarine, blue zircon, tanzanite, smoky quartz, citrine, pale-colored amethyst, yellow and green chrysoberyl, and spodumene.
Type 2 Gemstones are often included although some can be considered eye-clean. Minor visible inclusions mean that these are still often used for jewelry purposes.
Includes: amethyst, garnet, peridot, spinel, ametrine, andalusite, alexandrite, ruby, sapphire, tourmaline (excludes green, pink and watermelon) and zircon that is not blue.
Type 3 Gemstones almost always feature heavier inclusions and rarely rate higher than an IF in clarity rating.
Includes: green emerald, varieties of tourmaline, and red beryl.
Carat and Size
Non-diamond colored gemstones use the same carat metric system to weigh each stone as is used for colorless diamonds. While a larger stone is rarer and more desirable, the criteria for determining its value are slightly more complex than that. As noted above, the color and cut are most important. From there, it’s up to you how large of a stone you prefer!
Gemstone Sizing for Jewelry Design
The suggested sizing below is based on the most common sizes used for jewelry. If you’re custom making your own jewelry, this doesn’t matter as you can make your piece as big as you want!
Rings – If you’re looking for something small, you can easily mount a 3mm – 7mm stone into a ring. If you’re extra like I am, look for something larger in the 10mm – 13mm range.
Earrings – Common gemstone sizes for earrings are from 5mm – 7mm on the smaller end and between 10 mm – 14 mm on the larger end. Remember to shop by pairs!
Pendants – Common gemstone sizes for pendants can range on the smaller end from 5mm – 14mm range depending on what aesthetic you’re going for.
Buying a Gemstone for Custom Jewelry
As you’ll notice during your jewelry mart visit, there are some vendors who exclusively deal with gemstones, while others only sell the gold jewelry which you set the stone in. Finally, there is the craftsman that will do the work of setting the stone and sizing the ring for you. Some vendors will do all of it for you. This is why you need to schedule some time to walk around, meet vendors, ask about pricing and get all of these different vendors, services and costs lined up. While this seems overwhelming and expensive, it’s not! (1) it’s cheaper than buying retail and (2) while you’re doing the work (instead of a retailer), you’ll be surprised at how exhilarating it is to become a quick expert at this jewelry business when you source the items and design your own piece.
You may be asking why this option is cheaper than retail. Well, you’ll likely be paying wholesale pricing especially if you pay cash. Plus, you’ll only pay a little above the actual price of gold for the day (for example $65/gram). Retail includes a lot of markups which can add upwards of 300%!
Find as many vendors as you can when you’re getting your ducks in a row. You’d be surprised at how much business is going on at a jewelry mart and some vendors may not be able to take on a single project like yours. Plus, you can always price compare – I still do even though I buy on the spot.
While there are vendors that will sell the gold frame so you can place the gemstone in a ring, pendent or earrings, there are vendors who will help you custom design a piece. This process is a bit more time consuming because there is an actual creative process. With this option, you’ll hand sketch a design of what you’d like with the vendor. For this, you’ll need to have your gemstone, an idea of your budget, and what kind of gold you’d like to use for the project (white, gold or rose, 14, 18 or 21 carat). Next, the vendor will have their designer work up a 3D rendering (yup, similar to architectural designs). The design process and rendering will cost about $200+ but this way you’ll know exactly what you want before they create the mold and go into production.
There is a lot of information to unpack here and if you’re overwhelmed, that is normal! It’s taken me years to get comfortable with shopping for fine jewelry and spotting a great value. It’s very similar to thrifting! If you’re ready to dive in and have questions, please feel free to reach out to me with questions. Plus if you’re LA based, send me a note for a list of my favorite vendors!
