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Gemstones can be classified by category, manufacture, or preciousness. Categories include diamonds, corundum, chrysoberyl, quartz, and beryl. Manufacture categories are genuine, created, and synthetic. Precious stones include diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. Semi-precious stones include tourmaline, peridot, garnet, aquamarine, jade, and amethyst. Organic stones are typically pearls, jet, coral, and amber. Other ways to evaluate gemstones include hardness, color, rarity, and popularity. The most important factor is how well they will hold up when used in certain ways.
There are many different ways to classify gemstone types. Sometimes they are identified by category. Alternatively, gemstone types can be categorized based on their manufacture. Another way to classify gems is by describing them as precious, semi-precious, or organic.
When gemstones are identified by category, the following categories may apply:
Diamonds: considered the most precious stone in the world.
Corundum: contains precious stones such as sapphires and rubies.
Chrysoberyl: Alexandrite and Cat’s Eye are two common stones of this type.
Quartz: amethyst, onyx, citrine and carnelian are part of this group.
Beryl: Related to quartz and contains stones such as emeralds and aquamarines.
Gemstones are sometimes identified by the way they are made. The categories can be divided into three groups of genuine, created and synthetic. These groups help determine the price and rarity of the stones.
Genuine stones are those made by nature and extracted from the earth. This may include stones made by organic means. Pearls and amber, for example, are genuine stones in this classification.
Created stones refer to lab-created copies of genuine stones, and are actual chemical copies. They are simply not obtained through gathering or mining. These stones generally do not cost as much as genuine stones, and may lack the blemishes of mined stones.
The third group, synthetic stones means that they do not share the same chemical composition or crystallization of genuine or created stones. Synthetic does not refer to a material. Different synthetic materials include crystal, glass, and even plastic. High-quality synthetics can be pretty and ideal for use in certain types of jewelry.
An alternative classification of gemstones is precious, semi-precious, and organic. Precious stones are as follows: diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and sometimes pearls (although they are also organic). Semi-precious stones are numerous and some popular ones are tourmaline, peridot, garnet, aquamarine, jade, and amethyst. Organic stones are typically pearls, jet, coral, and amber.
There are other ways to evaluate gemstone types. People can classify them by hardness on the Mohs scale, by color, by rarity, or by popularity. What is really more important when considering different types is how attractive they are and how well they will hold up when used in certain ways. For example, emeralds can be very beautiful, but they are somewhat soft. They may not be ideal for rings that are worn constantly, especially if people do a lot of heavy lifting while wearing them.
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