What is gemstone? define beauty , rarity and durability in gemstone.

What is Gemstone?

Gemstone is a natural, inorganic or organic substance that has substantial beauty, rarity, and durability.

Organic Gems: An organic gem is one that was made by living things, present or past. Examples include pearls, coral, jet, ivory, shell and amber.

Inorganic Gems: Inorganic gems are those which are created by geological process and (usually) dug from the ground.

1.Beauty 2. Rarity 3. Durability

1. Beauty

 To be considered a gem, a material must possess to a large degree this preliminary qualification. Beauty in gemstone may depend on such qualities as color, transparency, luster, brilliance, pattern, optical phenomena and, in some cases, distinctive inclusions.

2.      Rarity

This is a valued attribute of gems. It is natural for man to esteem most highly the things, which are hard to obtain, and this can come about if the gemstone is simply unavailable in the marketplace, or genuinely scarce(limited or short supply) in nature, even if it does not possess qualities above others of similar beauty. A good example of this is taaffeite, which is not especially attractive, (Usually a pale reddish-violet color like some spinels), but will fetch (take) a very high price because of its rarity.

3.      Durability

Durability depends upon on three factors

1. Hardness 2. Toughness 3. Stability

1) Hardness is the ability to resist scratching. Commonly measured on the "Mohs" Scale of 1 - 10. Talc lowest (1), diamond highest (10).

Moh's Hardness scale 

Mohs hardness scale

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2) Toughness is the ability to resist breaking or chipping. This property is measured in relative terms rather than on a numeric scale: sphalerite is fragile, diamond is moderately tough and jade is exceptionally tough. The lower the toughness of a gem the more susceptible it is to damage by the kinds of blows and knocks that are inevitable with frequent wear and use.

3) Stability is resistance to changes caused by environmental factors such as temperature, chemicals and light. Apatite is temperature sensitive, pearls are chemically sensitive, and Kunzite's color is unstable in strong light. Unstable gems exposed to common factors of the natural or man-made environment are likely to break, change color, or lose their luster.