Evaluating Natural Gemstones

You're planning to buy your friend some gemstone jewelry but you have no idea which stones are of good quality.  You don't want to purchase a ring or bracelet just because the salesperson says its good quality.  How do you know what to buy?  Read our suggestions below and hopefully it will help you next time you walk in a store to purchase natural gemstone jewelry. 

Different laboratories have different methodologies for evaluating natural gemstones.  However, here are some of the basic categories used to judge a stone's quality: 

• Color - Even the same gem can reflect different shades of color with different lighting.  On average, though, the more vivid the color, the better the grade.  A darker, richer green gemstone would usually rate better than a duller, paler green.  The same holds true for other colors - a vivid purple hue would rate higher than a dimmer purple stone.  An exception would be if you were specifically looking for a near colorless natural gemstone.  Keep in mind, however, that the final determinant might be your own personal preference.  If you prefer light green instead of the darker shade of green, then choose the natural gemstone color you like the most.
• Tone - Closely related to color, tone describes the overall stone's lightness or darkness.  That's important because you don't want too light of a tone because that would sacrifice richness of color; on the other hand, if the stone is too dark, you lose its transparency.
• Clarity - This refers to the stone's inclusions, or inherent flaws.  The fewer amount of inclusions that a natural gemstone has, the higher the clarity.  However, there are cases where inclusions can be favorable as in the natural occurring inclusions 'Jardins' in emerald gemstones. 
• Cut/finish - Cut refers to the overall appearance of the stone.  Stones are either cut as smooth, dome shaped designs, or as facets (small flat windows).  Finish refers to the polish of the natural gemstone. 
• The Symmetry in a color Gem stone is not important, because in many cases, the color is in one certain point in the stone, and that point may not be cut, otherwise the stone can lose it's color.

So in many cases the stone is not symmetric in the bottom. 

• Brilliancy - Although usually associated with diamonds, brilliancy, or the amount of white light that reflects back to you, is important.  The greater percentage reflection, the better the stone.