Colored gemstones have been popular throughout history for their beauty, rarity, and perceived value. Flashing lights of wonderland! They have the magic combination of inducing power, security and love. Our ancestors had a fascination to possess these beautiful creations of nature. Ancient Egyptians buried treasures of gold, turquoise and emeralds with their honored dead. Early Africans traded beads of colored glass with the adventurers from Europe.
In a way we are no different. What is the lure, which has attracted man to risk his life traveling unchartered paths to seek his fortune gathering stones? Is it the natural beauty of the color, brilliance and clarity that man in spite of all his technical skill has never been able to duplicate? We too have a passion to obtain and adorn ourselves with colorful gemstones of value.
Color is in fashion. The search for a colored gemstone can be a magical experience. With each passing year there are more colored gemstone choices. Some are newly discovered gemstones in electrifying colors, and there are gemstones with innovative cutting styles displaying superb brilliance and life. The fact is if you like color, we are living in the world of colored gemstones. With so many colored gemstones at our disposal, the choices can at times be confusing, if you don’t know how to identify them in terms of durability and cost. There are many factors to consider, and one shouldn’t base his choice on price alone.
Today’s colored gemstone market has more colors, cutting styles and designs but one also finds more synthetics, imitations and enhanced stones. Fine natural gemstones are rare and are getting more expensive. Natural rubies, sapphires, and emeralds that are not treated and enhanced are becoming more and more difficult to find. When you find one, then the size and quality become important factors. Synthetic gemstones can now be created in a laboratory and many colored stones produced thus far are so good they have been misidentified and sold as natural gems.
Price is a sensitive issue. As the availability of untreated natural gemstones of exceptional quality began to decline over the years, more treated and enhanced gemstones have been introduced to meet the demand for quality rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and other colored gemstones. With proper gemological education and given a choice most educated colored stone buyers and consumers would buy a treated gemstone at an affordable price if disclosed appropriately, than spend more money and time looking for untreated gemstones with a gemstone report. So, today most popular colored gemstones sold in jewelry stores are treated. There is nothing wrong with buying treated and enhanced gemstones as long as you know its true status and pay a fair price for it. The fact of the matter is most sales people are unaware of old and new treatments or they don’t have the proper gemological training. As a result, they fail to educate the consumers. Good gem education and product knowledge should work to your advantage.
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