An artificial gem comprised of lithium aluminum silicate and made in a variety of colors. Neodymium as a coloring agents yields pink lavender colors. A vivid, laser blue variety blue is colored by copper.
Founded in 1981, the American Gem Trade Association is a group of US and Canadian professionals dedicated to promoting the natural colored gemstone and cultured pearl trade while maintaining the highest ethical standards among its members and within the i
American Gemological Laboratories is a unit of Collectors Universe, the leading provider of value-added authentication and grading services for high-value collectibles and gemstones, which was founded in 1986 and publicly traded since 1999. In 1977, Ameri
Several other well known gemstones, including diaspore, sapphire, garnet and spinel may also change color as a function of the light source but the color change of top alexandrites is distinctive and attractive under any light conditions.
Alexandrite cannot be improved by any kind of thermal treatment. Although some have tried, heat treatment does not seem to affect alexandrite at all. Some lower quality cracked alexandrites are oiled to hide the cracks but beyond that, alexandrite is not
A transparent to semitransparent, cyclo-silicate mineral species. Varieties of beryl are emerald, aquamarine, heliodor or golden beryl, bixbite, goshenite, maxixe, and morganite. Rare spelling: berylline. Sometimes showing chatoyancy and exhibiting star e
A gemstone that has been associated, by superstitions and religious tradition as appropriate to the time or month of one's birth. There are also birthstones for days, hours, signs of the zodiac, and seasons. Also called natal-stone.
An unfaceted, highly polished, cut gemstone, in which the top of the gem forms a dome-shaped or curved, convex surface. The base may be flat, convex or concave. The girdle outline may be round, oval, square, triangular, polygonal, or any other fancy shape
A unit employed in weighing diamonds, pearls, and other gemstones, which formerly ranged from 185.5 to 205.3 milligrams. Now the International metric carat is equal to 0.2 gram, or 200 milligrams and this is the standard in a majority of countries. Abbrev
An optical effect, possessed by certain translucent gemstones in reflecting light, in which a movable, wavy or silky sheen is concentrated in a narrow band of white light that changes its position, when the gem is turned. This is a characterized of cat's
A grayish-white, hard, brittle, non-corrosive metallic element in the Group VIB of the Periodic System, obtained from chromite. One of the eight metallic elements, mainly responsible for green or red color in very important gem minerals such as emerald, r