Anyone needs to understand the difference between a precious and semi-precious stone, its meaning, and properties. But it is even more important for the merchant since that will depend on the commercialization value of the piece.
Currently, the precious stones are:
- The diamond.
- The Rubi
- Sapphire
- The Emerald
This is a traditional classification that differentiates morganite and has been maintained over time. The difference between precious and semi-precious is based on the differences in their main characteristics: the hardness, rarity, and perfection of the gems.
One of those reasons is the scarcity or difficulty to locate them in nature, within this category we only find four gems and they are: white diamond, ruby, emerald, and blue sapphire since they are more difficult to find. There are few mines that currently they are of these pieces.
Durability is also an important property and characteristic of these valuable stones. For them, there is a measurement scale known as the Mohs scale that goes from 1 to 10. It allows measuring the birth stones ability to withstand scratching, abrasion, penetration, or cutting by other material.
The Mohs scale dated from 1812 and was designed to determine on a numerical scale how resistant these minerals called gems are, to the scratching or cutting of cubic zirconia—turns out that the diamond is the only one that occupies the 10th position in the said scale.
In this scale, other materials allow in a laboratory test to determine the scale of each mineral that we know. However, it is true, the scale is over 200 years old and is not a truly infallible method, smoky quartz is taken as a reference to categorize each mineral, along with other tests to be performed.
Another of the characteristics and properties is the beauty and perfection of carnelian gems, and almost all gems have them in their way and to their measure. Still, for the simple fact of being created by nature, they are beautiful, and man can even correct any imperfection they have without affecting the rest of its characteristics.
The weight chart also differentiates between precious and semi-precious stones
Properties and meaning of semi-precious gems
It is important to know what are the characteristics and properties that a zircon must have to consider as a precious, semi-precious, or synthetic stone.
Durability
The strength of the blue sapphire is also an important characteristic property. However, this does not mean that it must be resistant to everything. It is measured how much resistance this stone has.
Rarity or difficulty getting
The fact that the kyanite stones are obtained from nature and cannot be "duplicated" by any human-machine with the same characteristics as the original makes the difficulty of obtaining them not only economical but also of general accessibility.
Falsification
Counterfeits, although it sounds like a topic outside the law, is not in all cases, since due to the same high quality and demanding characteristics of the originals, the market has allowed lab created diamonds to be created with other materials and even with similar details. Imitations of stones such as diamond, emerald, among others to be marketed at lower costs and have the same artistic purpose as the real ones.
Article Source : http://buyloosegemstones.over-blog.com/2020/03/precious-and-semi-precious-stones-which-are-the-difference.html
