How Do You Identify Semi Precious Stones?
Semi-precious stones (or gemstones) differ from the more expensive precious stones (diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds) primarily in historical and cultural significance. Precious stones have a clearer, more translucent quality than semi-precious stones and carry a romantic mystique. Semi-precious stones, forged from minerals, rocks and plants, originate in the same way as their classier counterparts, but are less expensive and easier to obtain. Gemologists identify and classify semi-precious stones in a number of ways, but an amateur with a fondness for gemstones can easily identify semi-precious stones by subgroup, color, texture and shape. Learn the basic types of semi-precious stones or gemstones. The subgroups, based on the rock formation that created the stone, include quartz, feldspar, beryl and garnet. Spot quartz crystals. Quartz, formed by silicon and oxygen in the Earth’s crust, are found in many colors, shades and transparencies. The black onyx is a type of quartz, as
