Gemstone Buying Guide Series No.2

Gemstones Buying Guide Series No.2

Published only on Monday’s.  Extracted from Gemstone Buying Guide by Renee Newman GG

 

Colored Gem Price Factors :

Following factors can affect the prices of coloured gemstones:

-          Color

-          Clarity

-          Transparency

-          Shape

-          Cutting Style

-          Cut Quality

-          Carat Weight or stone size

-          Treatment status

-          Place of Origin

-          Distinctness of phenomena

 

Transparency:

Transparency is the degree to which a gem is clear, hazy, translucent or opaque. Normally the higher the transparency the more valuable the stone.  There are a few exceptional Rubies and sapphires which microscopic particles which disperse color, may be valued the same or sometimes a bit more than stones with a diamond-like transparency.  For black opal, opaque stones tend to be more highly valued than those with a higher transparency.

Tranparency can have a major impact on the value of a gemstone, especially for emerald, sapphire, opal, jade, star gems adcats eye gems.

Shape:                  

Shape is a gem’s face-up outline (e.g. round or pear shaped).  Color, clarity and transparency normally play a greater role in determining the price of colored gems than shape, cutting style and cut quality.  Nevertheless, these later 3 factors can affect the value of such gem stones.

The effect of shape on price varies depending on the seller, the gem variety, the stone weight, the stone quality and the demand for the shape  A high quality, 1 carat round ruby may cost 10 to 20% more then one with an oval shape because of greater demand and because there is more weight loss from the rough when cutting rounds.  In small sizes and low qualities, the shape may have no effect on the price.  The subject of shape pricing is complex.  Simply remember to compare gemstones of the same shape and cutting style when evaluating gem prices.  The symmetry of the shape outline can also affect the per carat price of large, high quality gems because symmetrical stones are desirable and may require more loss of weight from the rough.