24 Feb 2008 12:33:29 | Gregg Lyell
Hello,
My name is Gregg and I would like to tell you about the "secret" life of gemstones and diamonds. Many people may believe the beautiful ring or pendant they are wearing came from the ground the way it looks now and believe me that is the farthest thing from the truth. If you were to see a rough diamond you may throw it out with the trash as it can look anything from a perfect octahedron to a flat pane of glass and anything in between.
The "colors" can be anywhere from "white"(which is mis-leading by the way as the "paper" color this is typed on is white and white in a diamond means a clear glass like color), to yellow to yellowish brown, blue, pink and even red at times. Red and Blue and Pink are the rarest colors and the most costly as well.
There are over 100,000 combinations in the rough and polished diamonds with 17,000 combinations of shapes, colors, sizes and prices in the rough diamonds alone.
In the colored gemstones your rough unpolished gems look like colored pieces of glass a lot of the times and some do have definate crystal structure and you can tell the gem by the shape of the crystal but it is not a 100% sure with a lot of them. Wear and tear will make them look like marbles and broken points and so on.
Also, any gemstone worth a lot of money, is made in the lab now so you need to know how to seperate the synthetic from the real genuine gemstones. The synthetics are much cheaper then the genuine Natural ones but a lot of people want the "real thing", when in fact the synthetics are the real thing only made in a lab and sell for far less.
I have been in the gem and diamond business since 1972 and have seen a lot and am still learning more all the time. Gemstones can be a life time of love and devotion so you never know all there is to know.
If I may answer any of your questions please let me know and I will gladly do so. Have a good and Godly day and thank you for taking the time to read this information.
You may check out my blog at:
http://thelyellreport.blogspot.com/
I will be adding more information as time goes on to the blog on various other gemstones that are interesting and profitable.
Gregg
About Author :
I began the gem business in 1972 as a diamond dealer and antiques sales. Took the GIA course in Diamonds and Colored Gemstones. Attended AIGS, Bangkok, Thailand for colored gemstone training in 1975. Main love is colored gemstones such as Ruby,Emerald and Sapphire with some of the more rare ones(Tsavorite garnet, Pai-Lin Sapphire, Alexandrite and Demantoid garnet as well) as a side business. Have been in the rough diamond business since 1994.
