Fantastic Finds Info

In college I minored in clarinet performance. As a music minor I performed in many concerts throughout each semester. Concert dress for women is pretty drab: all black, floor length dresses. You want to look your best during a performance without compromising your playing ability.

I found that wearing bracelets was very distracting as they would slide down my wrists and move too much while I was playing. As a result, I started wearing several fashion rings. They stayed in place during the performance and didn’t hinder my playing abilities at all. Plus, the fashion rings that had gems in them really sparkled from the stage lights.

Gold everywhere! There is a little known gemstone in the quartz family called rutilated quartz. It is a unusual stone. The gem itself is clear (or sometimes light yellow) with golden rods passing through it, criss-crossing in all directions. These rods are  bright gold and reflect beautifully on the clear background of the stone.

It occurred to me that with enough of these stones I could affect the gold market! What a prize! However, my fantasy came to a swift end when further study revealed  that these beautiful rods were only fools gold! What a disappointment!

One thing was saved out of my fantasy.  Let’s think about this a little bit more!  There are not many gemstones that are completely unique.  There are never ever two of them alike. Also, they are quartz!  Quartz is plentiful. That means that in terms of  gemstone prices, rutilated quartz will remain one of the lowest priced gemstones.  None of that distracts from  the beauty  of the golden clad gem that still makes up into gorgeous jewelry, unique gemstone rings, pendants and earrings.   So maybe I really have struck gold!

There are a few pieces of rutilated quartz rings and pendants in the Gemstone Creations Collection. When I find the right settings, I will be making more. So keep an eye on the websites!

In determining real gemstone values for unique gemstone rings, pendants or earrings, absolutely nothing can take the place of a expert human being eye-balling the gemstone in question.  When this information is not reasonably available, there are ways of establishing probable values of the stone you are interested in (+ or – 10% to 15%).

A Google search will guide you to all kinds of confusing sites regarding gem evaluation.  Most offer the services of a gemologist.  Some offer information about what to look for in doing an evaluation.  But I have found one service to be very useful and dependable:  www.gemval.com.

This group of gemologists use various factors about the stone you are concerned with, such as carat weight, color, clarity, cut and shape to determine the gem’s value.  The website is www.gemval.com.  Be cautioned, its accuracy depends on the accuracy of the information that the user feeds to the program.

GemVal Guide to Gemstone Prices Sep 1, 2010 … Online guide to gemstone prices for industry professionals. Gemstone current market values, pricing charts and trends, free online appraisals…

If you read the reactions of users to the data from this site you will find it is generally very favorable.  The site also offers other information about the gem, such as, refractive index, specific gravity, hardness on Koh scale, etc.  Of course, any subjective process working with statistical data and probabilities  such as GemVal does  cannot be 100% perfect.  But it has a good track record.

In the gem data offered by Gemstone Creations,  we use GemVal as the appraisal price.  But we point out that it is an approximation.  We also add a disclaimer to each of our sales stating that we are not  gemologists and we state the source of our gem data.  If we make an error (heaven forbid!) as an honest seller, we are anxious to satisfy the customer. Our contact info is available on the website as well as instructions for returning unsatisfactory merchandise.

I reached my limit on words!  Stay turned for more information on gemstones, their origin, value, care and treatment.  Be sure and visit our website often.  Our merchandise changes constantly. All items are one of a kind and sell out quickly.