Gemstone information, advice, and buying tips.
How big is a 6mm stud earring? What does a 6mm gemstone look like? Here are some photos of a model wearing 6mm round cabochon and rose cut gemstone stud earrings to help you figure out what all those confusing sizes actually translate to in real life. Also shown here is a comparison between...
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What they are: Real sapphires, mined from the earth, gorgeous, and affordable. What they aren’t: Naturally the color you see. Songea is a place of origin for some pretty, natural sapphires, but has been commandeered by the trade as the name for diffusion-treated sapphires, usually in shades of yellow, orange, and red. Diffusion treating...
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It’s been a busy couple of months here at Distinction Jewelry, and one of the most interesting (and sometimes frustrating) activities I’ve been engaged in is setting up my own little gemology lab. I buy my gems very carefully from trusted, reputable sources. I’ve got a sharp eye with a loupe and I can...
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I’m excited by odd things, being a jeweler! A cool gemstone can actually make my heart beat faster, and it just happened when I opened up my latest gem order and pulled out several varieties of rose cut gemstones to use in my Little Beauties line of stud earrings. You see, the rose cut...
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If you’ve found this article, you probably love the rich, royal color of sugilite and are wondering if that strand of beads you found on ebay for under ten dollars could possibly be the same stuff you’ve seen for sale for far, far more. The short answer is no. Genuine sugilite with good color...
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They’re two different things, right? Or are they? Rubies and sapphires are actually color variations of the same mineral, corundum. Corundum occurrs in a remarkably wide color spectrum including blues, pinks, reds, yellows, greens, blacks, whites, and every shade in between. Traditionally, the red variety has been called ruby while all of the...
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Prices of stones tend to rise exponentially as their size increases. This is because of two factors. First, larger patches of gem-quality material that can be cut into a faceted stone are rarer than smaller ones, so for most stones there is a smaller supply of larger sizes. For example, a .5 carat stone...
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If you love colored gemstones but don’t have a fortune to spend on that cocktail ring in the jeweler’s window, don’t despair. Thanks to some little-explained quirks of the gem trade, you may be able to indulge in the color and sparkle you love without taking out a second mortgage on the house! Ever...
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Okay, I’ll admit it: I have a crush on topaz. This versatile stone is beautiful, durable, and affordable, and it comes in a wide range of lovely blues as well as several other colors. It has a Mohs hardness of 8 (very hard!) and a high refractive index (sparkle/light reflection). It does have a...
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When this gorgeous new material showed up on the market a few years ago, I had a feeling it wasn’t a completely natural stone, but I loved it none the less. I bought a fair amount of it, and I have several items available made with it in my online shop. Back in the...
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