A Customer's Guide to Gemstones
GEMSTONES (The photos used in this article are of my own gemstones and jewelry). Some people ask me about precious and semi-precious gems. I don't use those terms because I believe those words to be judgments, not definitions. The International Gem Society's working definition of gemstone is "Minerals that have been chosen for their beauty and durability, then cut and polished for use as human adornment...By definition, a mineral must be created inside the Earth." So lets talk rocks. Hardness The Mohs index is a system from 1-10 that indicates the hardness of the particular type of stone, the hardest being 10 (Diamonds). The hardness of the stone is important to know for the gem cutter and gem setter. Harder stones...
