Three Factors To Consider Before Venturing Into Gemstones Business

The gemstone business is one of the oldest businesses there is, as people believe that gems had held meaning since the early 300 BC when Indians first spoke of diamonds in world history.

It is also one of the businesses known by only a few per cent of people worldwide. Some myths surround the gemstone business, such as one can get rich overnight when dealing with gemstones. It's the kind of business that only rich people can do. 

Gems break curses and can cause good luck in someone's life. I don't know about you, but I believe business needs detailed and understandable research before investing any money. 

Here are three key factors to keep a keen eye on before joining the gems business. Also, there is a wide range of gems, but this article will concentrate on the kind of gemstones that I'm only familiar with. However, the tips I'm going to share here can also apply to any other type of gems available in your area.

Types of Gems that are in High Demand

There are various types of gemstones such as Ruby, Sapphire, Tsavorite, Emerald, Tanzanite, Opal, etc. Their value and worth depend on the quality, style, size, and weight of the gemstone. The finer the quality of the stones, the higher their chances of being costly are. The biggest question to ask yourself is. What are the big three gemstones?

• Ruby: Rubies are pink stones that can also be blood-red coloured; they are from a mineral known as corundum that contains aluminium oxide. They're also one of the most expensive stones worldwide as they are among the "Big Four" on the gems chart.

 With pigeon blood-red topping its list. Ruby's price could be anywhere from $8000 to $10,000 per carat if unheated. The current mines are in places like Pailin and Samlout Districts of Cambodia, Thailand, Afghanistan, Colombia, Brazil, India, Namibia, and Kenya, specifically, in places like Barismoi and Sandai in Baringo county, etc.

• Sapphire: This is also another type of corundum with a crystal structure known as hexagonal. Sapphire stones emerge in blue, yellow, pink, purple, and green, with Padparadscha (pink and orange in colour) being the rarest of them all. 

The most valuable Sapphire stones are the Kashmir variants which are blue. Sapphire stones mining is in Kenya in Turkana County, India (Kashmir), Myanmar (Burma), Rwanda, etc. Their price varies from as cheap as $25 to over $11,000 per carat, depending on the Stone's Quality.

• Tsavorite or Tsavolite: This is a green grossular garnet stone that attained its name from Tiffany and Co-president Henry Platt in honour of the Tsavo East National Park in Kenya. They were discovered in 1967 in Tanzania by the late Campbell Bridges and later in Kenya three years ago. 

The Tsavorite price ranges from $550 to $85,000 based on the size and standard of the Stone. The mines are in Kenya in Taita-Taveta county, Tanzania, with recent deposits discovered in Pakistan Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.

• Emeralds: These are green-coloured stones from the beryl mineral group; they are in most cases found in sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic rocks around the world. They hold a record of being the most desired and valued coloured stones for over 5000 years. Emerald stones are listed among the "Big Four" on the gems chart making them exclusive from the list of semi-precious stones.

 Their price could be anywhere from $200 to $18,000 per carat, determined by the size and original colour. Emerald mining is in places like Zambia, Colombia, and Brazil.

Tanzanite: Tanzanite gemstones are stones from a mineral called zoisite, which only exists in Tanzania. This factor makes them extremely rare and valuable.

 

These precious stones come in colours like purple, green, red, and blue, with prices varying from $600 to $1500 per carat depending on their quality. Tanzanite stone mines are in a place known as Mererani Hills in Tanzania. 

• Opal: This sedimentary Stone contains 3% to 21% of water within its mineral system. It is an amorphous type of silica that is slightly similar to quartz but contains a higher percentage of water. They are classified as semi-precious stones but also costly and highly valued. 

Opal stones are all over the world but specifically in places like Brazil, Australia, Honduras, the US, etc., with prices ranging from $10 to $10,000 depending on the type of Opal. Black Opal is the most expensive and rarest kind of Opal stone, with its price being $10,000 per carat considering its quality.

Polished gems

How to Check Whether a Gemstone is real or fake and its quality

Knowing the quality and substandard of a gemstone is another hassle that has caused tremendous losses to gemstone dealers, especially those who are new in the gems business. People are perpetually conned or buy fake, low-quality, valueless, or even counterfeit stones manufactured in laboratories by men. Here are some tips to know the realness of a crystal before buying it.

• Use gemology tools that will quickly help you determine the quality of your stones, such as a Gemstone Refractometer, Loupe, Jeweler's eye, touch, gems weighing scale, etc.
• There is a wide range of essential tools, but the ones stated above are the most valuable tools you must have.

1. Gemstone Refractometer: This tool measures the refractive index of faceted stones, transparency to near an opaque, whether or not the Stone is loose or mounted up to an R.1 value of 1.81. The process is known as a refractive index. It gives accurate identification of a gemstone.
2. Loupe: They are essential tools in the gemstones business that help us see gemstones at an up-close angle, thus making it easy to discover tiny cracks in gems, blemishes, and imperfections.
3. Jeweller's Eye: It's a tool used to magnify gemstones to a close range of view, making it easy to know the lustre of a gemstone relative to other gems. It also determines the reflectivity on a calibrated scale.
4. Touches: Generally, any type of touch is quite helpful in determining the quality of a gemstone, as it enables you to see how clear the Stone is by touching through it and see if it's transparent.  If the Stone isn't clear, it is of poor quality, and its value is at risk.
5. Gemstone Weighing Scale: As the sound of its name, it is a scale that measures gemstones. Gemstones weighing uses units known as" carats". 1carat is equivalent to 0.20 grams or 200 milligrams. If a gemstone's weight is less than a carat, its weight is considered in units 100 times tinier, called points.

• Scratch the Stone with a Sharp Object to see the Stone's reaction. When a counterfeit gemstone, whether the laboratory synthetic gems or any other kind of duplicate, is scratched by a nail or any other sharp object, it mostly leaves a pale faded whitish sort of crack.
• A natural gemstone doesn't react that way when scratched, and it leaves a shiny clean crack revealing its natural preciousness within itself.
• However, some gemstones, such as diamonds, should be hard enough to resist a scratch. It takes a diamond to scratch a diamond.
• Use sunlight to check for its colour and quality. Colour in gemstones is the main factor most gemstone dealers focus on. Various coloured gems react differently with sunlight. The light helps in revealing the tiny cracks that are hidden deep within the Stone.

Tips for Increasing the Quality of your Gemstone

Since clarity is just another factor among 4C's that should be watched closely in determining the Quality of your Stone, here are a few most essential tips to help you improve your Stone's Quality.

• Heat your gemstone under a temperature of about 1,600 centigrade. It helps to remove the yellow-green colour that could be degrading the colour of your Stone, thus making it more desirable and valuable.

• Use a crucible to carry out this process, but the stones in a crucible will hold them and prevent them from mixing with other stones you might have placed in there before.

• After this step, put them in an electric computer-controlled oven and turn it on to a temperature of about 1,600 degrees centigrade.

• Cut and polish your Stone. This process requires some expert skills and knowledge for it to happen. But in the current world where it's easier to access knowledge or information than ever before, everything is on the internet, so it's not a big deal.

• Cerium oxide, tin oxide, chromium oxide, etc., are just some of the polishes that will make your stones look so precious, and Silicon carbide will aid you in cutting your gemstone.
• Use the Oiling method to seal the cracks in your Stone. Oiling is the process of filling gaps within gems by using colourless oil or a substance known as resin and wax.
• It helps to improve the appearance of the Stone. However, gem experts will always tell a stone with added substances, which could affect its value.
  
  

The gemstone business is fun because the feeling that comes with holding precious natural stones that form deep within the earth's crust is unspeakable. 

It is also adventurous because it requires one to travel worldwide to deal with various types of stones simply because different varieties exist in different parts of the world.