Simon and Schuster's Guide to Gems and Precious Stones"Simon & Schuster's Guide to Gems and Precious Stones" provides both the connoisseur and the casual collector with a compact, easy-to-use volume describing more than 100 rare varieties of minerals whose beauty and mystery have possessed our imaginations from time immemorial. More than 450 brilliant photographs accompany profiles of each gem, covering such aspects as appearance, physical properties -- density, hardness, refraction -- occurrence, and how to judge quality and value. Additional sections describe the process of cutting gemstones and the techniques professional gemologists use to evaluate a stone's weight and optical properties. Detailed and comprehensive, this book is essential for anyone interested in the study of gems and precious stones. |
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Appearance artificial attractive beryl birefringence blue Brazil bright brilliant brown cabochon called carats century characteristic chemical cleavage color colorless comes common consisting containing coral corundum crystals cubic dark density deposits diamond display Distinctive features distinguish edges emerald example facets fact fairly garnet gems gemstones given glass green hardness highly imitated inclusions indices Italy jade jadeite known lapis lazuli layer less light liquid look lower luster mainly material means method mineral minute natural normally Occurrence opal ornamental oval pale pearls Physical properties pieces pink pleochroism polish possible precious produced quantities quartz rare rays reflection refractive index rocks round ruby sapphire seen shape similar Simulants and synthetics slightly sometimes specimens spinel Sri Lanka star stones strong structure substance surface topaz tourmaline transparent typical United usually valuable varies variety violet visible weight widely yellow zircon