Precious and Semi-Precious Stones
August 16, 2010 by cattleto
Filed under Jewelry Tips
In ancient times, precious stones were ruby, diamond, emerald, pearl, sapphire, and at times the opal also fell in this category of precious stones. All other stones were considered semi-precious. Among these semi-precious stones, which were further considered to be less expensive than their precious counterparts are amethyst, aquamarine, turquoise, opal, peridot, alexandrite, tourmaline, topaz, and the garnet. Note however that the green garnet can cost you more. Generally though, these terms are commonly used in the world of jewelry.
The first initial understanding you may have is that precious stones are highly priced, are of greater importance and greater quality when compared to their semi-precious counterparts which are thought to be of less commercial value and are of less quality. Be advised that precious and semi-precious are mere marketing terms and can ultimately confuse and mislead you. This is because many semi-precious stones e.g. the beautiful but rare Tanzanite can cost you as much as $1000per carat. Therefore, you should never be deceived to think that just because a stone is called semi-precious it means it is less expensive.
On the other hand, you can buy a diamond for as little as $200 a carat while a garnet which has always fallen under the semi-precious category could go for over $500 per carat. With that said, the labels precious and semi-precious should be completely neglected because whether a gemstone is thought as precious or semi-precious has very little to do with how much the gemstone will cost. The labels as mentioned can be very misleading as they are very inaccurate.
As the example above of the beautiful Tanzanite gemstone, many other gemstones today could easily fall under the precious gemstone category because of their high price and increase in scarcity. One of the major factors that determine the cost of a given gemstone is rarity. Therefore, the value of the same shouldn’t increase or decrease just because the gemstone is categorized as semi-precious or precious.
Generally, semi-precious and precious are simply labels that help buyers and sellers of gemstones to categorize them, but in no way determine their value or importance. Here are a few terms you should familiarize yourself with as far as terminology in the world of gemstones is concerned.
1.Gem –this is a naturally occurring mineral/material that has already been cut and well polished
2.Gemstone – it is a piece of the gem i.e. the cut stone
3.Jewel – it is gemstone which has been put in a metal so that it can be worn i.e. the combination of gemstone and metal
4.Synthetic – as the name would suggest, this is a man-made/artificial material that is in no way equal to a gem/mineral
5.Simulant – this is a material that looks like another material. For example, glass when used to substitute emerald or ruby
Those are the common terms you are highly likely to come across when looking for gemstones. Therefore, the next time you go out to look for stones, be advised that the value isn’t determined by how precious or semi-precious thereof, a stone is. It is determined by how rare the stone is.
