What makes a gemstone Precious?
The simplest answer would be a combination of its popularity and rarity. Today if Pink Sapphire is the ultimate ‘must have’ gemstone, its value increases due to pressures from the world market. Pink Sapphire is not ‘new’ it has simply been ‘rediscovered’, demand rising as the availability of Pink Diamond is too small for demand. Of course there are genuinely rare gemstones, but these too can change in an instant with the discovery of a new mine or source. Culture also plays a large part. Jadeite, or ‘precious Jade’ is highly prized throughout Asia for its protective and healing properties, and some of the top colours fetch large sums of money. Here in Australia, most think of Jade as the New Zealand variety which is called Nephrite – or commonly ‘Greenstone’. Neither have a large following in Australia which has a love for the more traditional ‘Precious’ stones of Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. Are Coloured stones graded the same way as Diamonds? In some part, yes. Each item is e
