GEMS

Payaman Lessons with Aeron Chao

p. 290
Gems

■ also called a gem, jewel, precious stone,

or semi-precious stones formed from rock
materials that were subjected to high
temperature and pressure over a long time.
Rare and expensive, they are used mainly for
jewelry and other ornamental purposes.
Gems

■ One of the best example of an expensive gem is the

diamond, which is actually carbon.
■ Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with
its atoms arranged in a crystal structure
called diamond cubic. At room temperature and
pressure, another solid form of carbon known as
graphite is the chemically stable form.
Cutting and Polishing

■ A few gemstones are used as gems in the crystal or other

form in which they are found. Most however, are cut and
polished for usage as jewelry.
■ The two main classifications are stones cut as smooth,
dome shaped stones called cabochons, and stones which
are cut with a faceting machine by polishing small flat
windows called facets at regular intervals at exact angles.
Colors

■ The color of any material is due to the nature of light itself.

Daylight, often called white light, is all of the colors of the
spectrum combined.
■ When light strikes a material, most of the light is absorbed while
a smaller amount of a particular frequency or wavelength is
reflected. The part that is reflected reaches the eye as the
perceived color. A ruby appears red because it absorbs all the
other colors of white light, while reflecting the red.
Treatment
■ Gemstones are often treated to enhance the
color or clarity of the stone. Depending on the
type and extent of treatment, they can affect
the value of the stone. Some treatments are
used widely because the resulting gem is
stable, while others are not accepted most
commonly because the gem color is unstable
and may revert to the original tone.
■ Heat
- Heat can improve gemstone color or clarity. The heating process has been well
known to gem miners and cutters for centuries, and in many stone types heating is a
common practice.
■ Radiation
- Diamonds are irradiated to produce fancy-color diamonds (which occur naturally,
though rarely in gem quality).
■ Waxing/Oiling
- Oiling refers to a filling of surface reaching cracks or fissures in a gem with a
colorless oil or resin, wax or other substance except glass or plastic, to improve the
gemstone's appearance. The purpose is to diminish the visibly of fractures and thus
improve transparency in the stone.
■ Fracture Filling
- Fracture Filling is often referred to as "Clarity Enhancement". It is the filling of
surface breaking fissures in a diamond, and sometimes other stones such as ruby.
Difference between Natural and
Gemstone
Diamond Mine Examples

#1. Mine: Orapa, Botswana

#2. Mine: Jwaneng, Botswana
#3. Mine: Udachny, Russia
Orapa Diamond Mine
Jwaneng Diamond Mine
Udachny Diamond Mine
Gemstones in the Philippines

■ A common gemstone found in the Philippines is nephrite or

jade. Philippine jade, however, is not of common variety.
■ There are two distinct types of mineral that are classified as
jade: Nephrite and Jadeite, both of which are mineral
aggregates but with different compositions. Philippine jades
has been identified as a type of nephrite.
Gemstones

■ Are found in continents that are geologically older than islands. With
passage of time and under high temperature and pressure, corundum
or aluminum oxide, for example, becomes either ruby or sapphire.
■ Rubies and sapphires are often found together in Myanmar, Thailand,
Cambodia, Vietnam, Tanzania, Madagascar, and Australia.
■ Chromium is responsible for the red color in ruby while titanium and
iron together give sapphire its deep blue color.
Emerald

■ A green gemstone is a type of beryl, a mineral

consisting of beryllium and aluminum silicate.
It is found in many countries in Asia, America,
Africa, and Europe.
 World Production Percentage of Gemstones
World Production Percentage of Gemstones
50%

45%

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Russia Brazil Zambia Colombia
Not all Gemstones are Transparent

■ Turquoise is and opaque blue-green gemstone.

Chemically, it is a hydrous phosphate of copper and
aluminum.
■ Historically, they were first mined in the Sinai
Peninsula and China, among other countries, but
much larger deposits were also found in the United
States, Chile, and Australia, among others.