Hardback, 272 pages
Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
Publication date: August 1,1997 -- NEW EDITION!
Dimensions (in inches): 7.84 x 5.15 x .76
ISBN: 0806994614
Availability: This item usually shipped within 2-3 days.
OWL Services Review:
This book is considered a must for any collector or buyer of gemstones. It is a modern classic and is offered here at a 40% discount. We only have a very few at this price that were purchased from a bookstore that was going out of business.
This guide first starts with a discussion of the properties that make each gemstone unique. They discuss hardness, refractive index, specific gravity, and other terms in a manner that everyone can grasp. Discussions are then made of gemstone cutting and mining.
A brief discussion is then made on gemstone imitations and synthetic gemstones. This section tries to make the potential buyer aware of what cam be done to fool him or her. This section only touches the surface of this problem.
The largest section of the book is a discussion of every major
type of gemstone. All gemstones are arranged in six groups:
1) Precious Stones (Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires, and Emeralds)
2) Semi-Precious Gemstones (Most everything else)
3) Gems for Collectors (Uncommon gemstones and minerals)
4) Rarities for Gem Collectors (Scarce gemstones)
5) Rocks as Ornamental Material (Material for carving and inlay)
6) Organic Gem Materials (Coral, Jet, Amber, Pearls)
While this arrangement is a little artifical, the well made
index makes it easy to find any gemstone.
Within each group the gemstones are arranged in order of
hardness.
For each gemstone there is a complete discussion that includes chemical composition, appearance, colors, physical properties, occurance, and a list of gemstones that appear similar to that gemstone. The discussions of appearance and physical properties are excellent.
A series of tables follows the gemstone discussions. These include tables of birthstones and zodiac stones. A large table that follows these is a table for identification of gemstones based first on color, specific gravity, and refractive index. Other properties are then used to complete the identification were a group of gemstones have similar properties.
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