What is the difference between precious and semiprecious gems?
Semi precious stones are stones that are considered valuable butundervalued compared to gem stones. Sometimes semi-precious stones arefound AROUND the gemstone in the earth. For example, ioliteis the semi-precious stone that can be found when mining for sapphire.Both semi and precious stones are used in jewellery making.
The historical “ranking” of gems – that Diamond, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, and Pearl were considered “precious” and all others “semiprecious” – is not valid in the modern world for several reasons. First, of the many new gems discovered in the last 100 years, most are quite beautiful, rare and durable. Gems such as Tanzanite or Tsavorite can easily sell for thousands of dollars, so who is to say they are not precious? Furthermore, a high quality Garnet or Tourmaline can be much more valuable than a low quality Ruby or Emerald.
