The Origin of Gems precious Stones Diamond and more

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Color Categories of Small Diamonds

These categories are arranged below from the most expensive to the least expensive. Supply and demand are the main determinants of the price structure.
Colorless (also called exceptional white or collection). Completely colorless diamonds are so rare and expensive that jewelers will seldom use them for their regular inventory pieces. Often these diamonds are reserved for custom-made jewelry.

Near colorless (also called white). This is the second most expensive color group for diamonds. When these diamonds are mounted in jewelry, even expert graders may find it difficult or impossible to distinguish them from colorless diamonds. Fine quality stores usually have some jewelry with white diamonds in their inventory. Discount stores generally can't afford to use these diamonds in their jewelry.

Faint yellow (also called top silver). Diamonds with a tinge of yellow are fairly common. Consequently, they are less expensive than colorless diamonds and often used in discount jewelry.

This does not mean they are inferior. Some people prefer a yellow tint because it conveys a feeling of warmth or because it might look good with their skin color. Fine quality jewelry stores also use these diamonds in their jewelry in order to meet the needs of all their clientele.

In order to see the difference between colorless and faint yellow diamonds when they are mounted in jewelry, you will probably have to put jewelry pieces with the two qualities side by side. The yellowish diamonds will blend in more with the gold and the colorless diamonds will provide more of a contrast and probably look brighter.

Light brown (also called brownies). Brownish tinted diamonds are the least expensive color of diamonds used for jewelry. If diamond rings are being promoted at unusually low prices, there is a good chance that brownish goods have been used. This does not mean that these rings are of inferior quality. It only means that the store can afford to offer them at a lower price because it paid less (probably 30% to 50% less) for brownish diamonds than for white diamonds. One promotional term for brownish tinted diamonds is champagne diamonds.

Origin of Gems

Color Categories of Small Diamonds

A rock is made up of one or more minerals. Rocks are classified according to the minerals they contain and the process of their information. Igneous rocks form when molten material cools and solidifies, either at depth or at or near the earth's surface. Sedimentary rocks form at the earth's surface. They consist of the remains of marine organisms that settled and deposited in an ocean or lake, or the compacted and solidified debris of rocks exposed to the erosional forces of wind, water, and ice..

Such erosional fragments are called sediments. Metamorphic rocks are formed when enormous compressional forces, sometimes accompanied by heat, crush, deform, and alter pre-existing rocks of various kinds. Such forces are due to movement in the earth's crust, and the rock alteration process is called metamorphism.

Specific types of minerals and gems are associated with specific rock types. A knowledge of rocks is essential in prospecting for minerals. Quartz, for example, is extremely common. It even makes up most beach sands! But gem quartz occurs only in limited geologic environments. The gem-mining areas of the world are limited in number. The most important sources of the world's colored gemstones are in sedimentary deposits, such as gravel beds. Next in importance is the pegmatite dike, a special type of igneous body in which large crystals may form. Some gems also form in metamorphic rocks, especially marbles. Accurate production statistics are available on diamonds, but not for colored stones. Most gem mines are small compared to diamond mines, and some are worked only when demand creates high enough prices for the gems they yield. These factors prevent a "flood" of colored gems from entering world markets at one time.

Marketing of Gemstones

Gemstones are found on nearly every continent of the world. With few exceptions gem occurrences are in remote areas, and considerable effort is required to bring them to the marketplace. The various stages in 1his enterprise all add their share to the eventual cost of cut gems.

Gems pass through many hands between mine and marketplace. In many parts of the world gem crystals are found by local miners who may or may not be aware of their ultimate market value. These rough gems may be sold to local entrepreneurs who start the stones on their way to retailer. Some of these men are well-educated professionals who have found a niche with high profit potential, but their business is loaded with pitfalls. Gem rough is extremely difficult to evaluate.


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