What is a gemstone?

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Precious stones

Jewelry has been decorated for centuries with the most dazzling gems. From luxurious diamonds to classic pearls and rich emeralds. Also with Diamond point We use beautiful gems for our refined jewelry. But what exactly are gems?

Ontstaan van edelstenen

Precious stones are minerals, rocks or organic materials that are cut, polished. Precious stones are formed in different ways. Based on that, archaeologists have made a distinction of the various gems. The three categories are as follows:

  • Magmatic precious stones: these precious stones are created by the solidification of melted rock. An example of a magmatic rock is peridot.
  • Sedimentary gems: These are rocks that have been created by weathering and erosion. An example of such a rock is opal.
  • Metamorphic precious stones: these precious stones are formed under great pressure and high tempratures under the earth's surface. For example, diamond is a metamorphic rock. 
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Precious stones and semi -precious stones

In addition to archaeological categorization, the gems were split into 2 categories based on quality, beauty and rarity in the 19th century.

  • Precious gemstones (precious stones)
  • Semi-Precious Gemstones (semi-precious stones)

In the Precious Gemstones category, the four precious stones are diamond, sapphire, ruby ​​and emerald. They are also known as the "Big Four" precious stones. These gems were seen as the most valuable and most sought after precious stones. Do you want to know more about these four precious stones? Then read here further.

Everything that does not fall into the Precious Gemstones category was seen as semi-precious gemstones, or a semi-precious stone. Think of quartz, grenade, pearl and much more. The name of semi -precious stone is actually no longer of this time and does wrong with these precious stones. Some semi -precious stones can now also be worth much more than the "big four" precious stones. Now you definitely wonder how that is possible. That is because of how a gem scores on a number of factors. When determining the value of a gemstone, the following factors are considered:

  • Colour
  • Purity
  • Shark
  • Carat weight
  • Rarity
  • Origin
  • Sustainability
  • Optical properties
  • Half -pace

We have further explained the first four factors for you. 

Jewelry with precious stones

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Yellow gold ring, 0.05 ct blue sapphire, joy
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White gold ear jewelry, 0.06 CT Diamant, Joy
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Yellow gold ring, 0.05 ct Robijn, Joy
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Colour

Every gem is unique and so does the color. The color determines the final value of a gem. This looks at the color tone and saturation. For example, the most desired color of an emerald light blue -like green with a strong lively saturation and a medium -down tone. 

Purity

Precious stones are often formed under a huge natural disasters which can cause small inclusions in the precious stones. Including can best be seen under a microscope or a loop. The number of inclusions and the place determines the purity of a gem. The higher the purity of gemstone, the higher the value. The Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) has subdivided colored gems into purity:

  • Very clearly visible inclusions
  • clearly visible inclusions
  • Visible inclusions
  • Hardly any visible inclusions
  • clean before the eye

In addition, there are gemstone species that contain more inclusions than others. This is also taken into account when determining the value. The GIA has categorized a number of gems based on how probably the gems contain inclusions:

Type I: precious stones that usually do not contain any inclusions that are visible to eye. Aquamarine is one of them.

Type II: gems that contain some inclusions that are visible to the naked eye. For example Robijn.

Type III: gems that usually contain many inclusions that are visible to the naked eye. Think of emerald.