| 
| Author: Renee Newman
Publisher: International Jewelry Publications
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $12.20
You Save: $7.75 (39%)
New (22) Used (11) from $10.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 50740
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 156
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 7 x 0.4
ISBN: 0929975340
Dewey Decimal Number: 736.20297
EAN: 9780929975344
ASIN: 0929975340
Publication Date: April 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND New!
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Introduction to Evaluating Colored Gems with Lots of Colored Photos. June 9, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Renee Newman's "Gemstone Buying Guide" is an introduction to colored gemstones, not a comprehensive or in-depth resource. It presents the basics of evaluating quality in colored gems, avoiding fraud, and can serve as a quick reference to the background and characteristics of most gemstones that you will find in the marketplace. Chapters 2-7 address the major points of gemstone quality with discussions of: shape and cutting style, carat weight, color, clarity and transparency, cut, and a chapter that explains what to look for in star and cat's eye stones. The chapters on shape and carat weight are pretty basic. Those on color, clarity, and cut are more detailed. All chapters include advice on how to go about examining stones for these criteria.
Chapters 8-10 help the reader avoid fraud when shopping for gemstones with descriptions of various treatment procedures, both acceptable and deceptive, a brief discussion of synthetic stones, and practices commonly used to deceive buyers. Chapter 11 is by far the longest, containing the Gemstone Descriptions. 100 different species and varieties of gemstones are described, with information on their origins, characteristics, and vital statistics such as Refractive Index, Specific Gravity, Toughness, Crystal System, Cleavage, Optic Character, and more for each species or group. (Those terms are defined.) There are more than 125 color photographs of mounted and unmounted gems in this chapter. Guidance in evaluating jade and opal are included here rather than with the other chapters on gemstone quality.
The book concludes with a chapter on Caring for Your Gems, emphasizing that colored gemstones are not as durable as diamonds and providing a chart of risks according to stone. To be clear, this "Gemstone Buying Guide" does not discuss diamonds at all, colored or colorless. I enjoyed learning about stones that I've seen at gem shows and never understood. And I got some good tips on judging cut. I cannot say that I would be prepared to run out and buy a colored gemstone after reading only this book, however. It doesn't provide enough detail regarding how many and what type of inclusions constitute poor clarity in which stones or which stones are always heat-treated, sometimes treated, or never. The "Gemstone Buying Guide" does mention these issues but is not sufficiently instructive for my taste. But this book is an introduction and is fine as such.
 GEMSTONE BUYING GUIDE, SECOND EDITION June 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Excellent, colorful, high quality photos of hundred of gemstones, loose and set in jewelry. As a novice, this information has helped me to identify gems I have collected in estate sales and inherited from my family. It's Great Book..highly recommended!Gemstone Buying Guide, Second Edition: How to Evaluate, Identify, Select & Care for Colored Gems
Book April 6, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Very good information. Anyone new to the world of Gemstones will benefit from reading it.
 Gemstone Buying Guide, Second Edition February 6, 2007
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
It has clear pictures and great detail but after short use it is beginning to come apart. I wish it was in hardcover for the constant user...looks for a large rubber band.
Gem Identificaitons January 15, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is Ok but I do not recommend to purchase this book in the beginning for identifying precious gemstones. It is printed all in glossy pages and in full color but I feel it doesn't have enough colored pictures for each gemstone. It is written in detail but I leave it up to you when you want to add to your library.
|
|
|
