jade

With beautiful green to blue-green colors and interesting patterns, variscite is a popular hobbyist material for cabochons.

Blue is one of the rarest colors in nature. Nevertheless, blue gemstones are always in demand for jewelry. While people have adorned themselves…

Yellow gemstones bring warmth, positivity, and sunshine to any jewelry collection. From bright citrine crystals to rare yellow diamonds, these…

Since ancient times, emerald has been synonymous with “green.” However, there are so many more green gems, giving you plenty of alternatives…

A rare lapidary rock, maw sit sit has been used to make beautiful jewelry pieces and decorative objects. This article will cover everything you…

Some treatments add lab-created material to mined gemstones. The part-natural, part-synthetic nature of these gems has prompted some in the…

A set of color filters is easy to pack for any gem buying trip, but did you know they can be useful in the lab, too? In this article, you’ll learn…

We often recommend that novice gemologists send gems that are difficult to identify to a laboratory for testing. Gemological and mineralogical…

Hot point testing can determine if some gem materials are plastic imitations. It can also reveal if a stone is treated with wax or plastic. By Donald…