How to Shop Smarter for Colored Gemstone Jewelry

There is so much variety in color and availability in colored gemstones as opposed to diamonds, I wanted to share with you some useful information when shopping for colored gemstone jewelry.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Good overhead incandescent lighting
• White paper background
• Your eyes!

1. Look at the jewelry with the colored gem stones under a jeweler's incandescent light & against a white background.
2. View the stones face up in their settings.Check for obvious chips on the top surface or "table" of the gem. Next, rock the stones 30 degrees to the left and right to catch any sparkle or brilliance. The more brilliance, the greater the value.
3. Look for inclusions with your eyes only. Inclusions may appear as dark spots or lines inside the stone. In many cases, inclusions indicate a mined gem as opposed to a synthetic stone.Some of the gems you would expect to see inclusions are emeralds, rubies,and sapphires. Gem stones you would not see inclusions in include aquamarine, blue topaz, blue zircon, clear zircon, green tourmaline, and kunzite.
4. Marquise Cut Ruby Ring Emeralds, sapphires and rubies, the most valuable of the colored gemstones, are graded numerically with values based on color tone and saturation. Color tone is the overall color of the entire stone.Saturation is the depth of the color in the stone. These two values, determine the value of one gemstone.
5. Tanzanite = Heated Brown Zoisite Ask your jeweler if the stones have been enhanced with treatments. Jewelers are required to disclose all treatments. Treatments have been used since 200 AD to enhance color. Root beer brown zoisite is heat treated to become beautiful blue tanzanite!
6. Antique 14KT Gold Sapphire Bracelet Ask how durable your gemstones are & if special care should be taken in storage & cleaning. Many colored gemstones require special treatment & are worth taking those extra steps to save your investment!

Tips & Warnings

• 95% of the blue topaz on the market today has been treated
• Avoid inexpensive rubies: there are many showing up in the market that are more glass than gemstone. These stones have very poor durability.
• When someone uses "natural" and "untreated" to describe the gemstone in your ring or bracelet, ask for the written certificate from a reputable lab like GIA.