GEMSTONE MINERALS
Gemstone
precious or semi-precious stone / fine gem / jewel
– piece of mineral, in cut and polished form
– used to make jewellery or other adornments
– certain other materials (like amber) which are not minerals, used to make jewellery, are also
called gemstones
● Classification
– Traditional classification in the West:
○ Precious (diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald) and Semi-precious
– Chemical Composition:
○ Carbon (Diamond), Aluminum Oxide (Ruby)
● Cutting and Polishing
– gemcutting or lapidary
– rough
○ gems that has not been extensively cut and polished
– cobbed
○ Rough material that has been lightly hammered to knock off brittle, fractured material
● Treatment
– enhance the colour or clarity of the stone
– type and extent of treatment, 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 colour is unstable and may revert to the original
tone.
Diamond
– ancient Greek adámas "unbreakable" is an allotrope of carbon
– Diamond Lattice
carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure
– Excellent optical and mechanical properties, combined with efficient marketing, make
diamond the most popular gemstone
– Most natural diamonds are formed at high-pressure high-temperature conditions existing at
depths of 140 to 190km
– found in US, Southa Africa, Russia, Bostwana, Australia, Congo
– Diamonds can scratch other diamonds, but this can result in damage to one or both stones.
So hardness tests rarely used.
– Most gemologists still rely upon skilled use of a loupe (magnifying glass) to identify diamonds
"by eye'.
– high thermal conductivity
– high refractive index is also indicative
– fairly high dispersion
● Color
– yellow
– brown
– gray to colorless
● Clevage: 111 (perfect in four directions)
● Fracture: Conchoidal
● Hardness: 10
● Luster: Adamantine
● Streak: Colorless
● Diaphaneity: Transparent
● Specific gravity: 3.52
● Optical properties: Isotropic
● Refractive index: 2.418
Optical Properties
● Diamond Thin Section (PP)
○ Colour: Colourless
○ Cleavage: Perfectly Octahedral
○ Relief: Extremely High Isotronic
Corundum
– derived from the Tamil word "kuruntam" meaning "ruby"
– crystalline form of aluminum oxide with traces of iron, titanium and chromium
– mostly found in Greece and US
● Color
– colourless
– gray
– brown
– pink to pigeon-blood red
● Clevage: None, Rectangular Parting
● Crystal habit: Rhombohedral crystals, massive or granular
● Crystal system: Trigonal (Hexagonal Scalenohedral)
● Hardness: 9
● Luster: Adamantine
● Streak: White
● Diaphaneity: Translucent
● Specific gravity: 3.9 - 4.1
Optical Properties
● Corundum Thin Section (PP)
○ Colour:
– colorless
– pale pink
– green
– blue
– yellow
○ Relief: Very High
○ Pleochroism: Yes
○ Uniaxial (negative)
○ Extinction: Parallel
○ Weakly Birefringent
○ Twinning: Yes
Ruby
– "ruber" Latin for red
– pink to blood-red coloured gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum
– brightest and most valuable "red" called pigeon blood-red. commands a huge premium over
other rubies of similar quality
– Found in Myanmar, Thailand, India. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Nepal
Sapphire
– variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide, when it is a colour other than red or
dark pink
– Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give corundum
blue, yellow, pink, purple, orange, or greenish color.
– from Greek sappheiros, meaning "blue stone"
– Found in Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and US
Emerald
– variety of the mineral beryl coloured green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes
vanadium
– derived from either the Hebrew word izmargad meaning "green"
– Found in Afghanistan, Australia, Austria. Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Egypt,
Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain,
Switzerland, Tanzania, United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Emerald (Beryl)
● Color: Blue-green
● Clevage: Very Poor
● Crystal habit: Hexagonal Prisms
● Crystal system: Hexagonal
● Hardness: 7.5 - 8
● Luster: Vitreous
● Streak: White
● Diaphaneity: Translucent
● Specific gravity: 2.7 - 2.9
Optical Properties
● Corundum Thin Section (PP)
○ Colour: Colourless
○ Relief: Low to Moderate
○ Pleochroism: Yes
○ Uniaxial (negative)
○ Birefringence: Low, first order grays
○ Cleavage: At right angles
Tourmaline
– a crystal boron silicate mineral compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron,
magnesium, sodium, lithium. or potassium
– classified as a semi-precious stone and the gem comes in a wide variety of colors.
– from the Sinhalese word "Thuramali". or "Thoramalli", which applied to different gemstones
found in Sri Lanka
– Three most well known are Elbaite,Schrol, and Dravite
– found in Sri Lanka US Czech Republic Brazil Africa and Afghanistan
– Thermochromism
the colour of some Tourmaline can be enhanced through heat treatment
○ some greenish stones can be made deep green,
○ some brownish-red stones can be made red,
○ some light pink stones can be made colorless through heating
– Tourmaline can form in extremely aesthetic slender crystals that are highly valued by
collectors.
– Chatoyant variety used as cat's eye
● Color: Black, brown, green, red, pink, blue, and gray.
● Clevage: Poor
● Fracture: Conchoidal to Uneven
● Crystal habit: Deformed Triangular Prisms
● Crystal system: Hexagonal
● Hardness: 7 - 7.5
● Luster: Resinous
● Streak: White
● Transparency: Transparent to Opaque; usually Translucent
Optical Properties
● Tourmaline Thin Section (PP)
○ Colour: Colourless
○ Pleochlorism: Yes
○ Relief: High
○ Uniaxial (Negative)
○ Cleavage: None but prominent cracks visible
○ Parallel extinction
○ Lower 2nd order to lower 3rd order interference colours.
Quartz
– second-most- abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar.
– There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones.
Especially in Europe and the Middle East, varieties of quartz have been since antiquity the
most commonly used minerals in the making of jewellery and hardstone carvings.
– found in US and Brazil
● Color: Colourless, Milky, Purple, Pink, Yellow, Brown
● Clevage: None
● Fracture: Conchoidal or Brittle
● Crystal habit: Prismatic/Massivel
● Crystal system: Hexagonal
● Hardness: 7
● Luster: Vitreous
● Streak: White
● Diaphaneity: Transparent to opaque
● Specific gravity: 2.65
Optical Properties
● Quartz Thin Section (PP,XP)
○ Colour: Colourless
○ Cleavage: None
○ Relief: Low
○ Uniaxial (positive)
○ Birefringence: Low with first order greys and whites
Tiger's Eyedrfff
– chatoyant gemstone that is usually a metamorphic rock
– golden to red-brown colour
– silky luster.
Olivine
– The mineral olivine (when gem-quality also called peridot) is a magnesium iron silicate. It is a
common mineral in the Earth's subsurface but weathers quickly on the surface.
– Found in Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Russia, Italy and Norway
– Olivine is named for its typically olive-green colour (thought to be a result of traces of nickel),
though it may alter to a reddish colour from the oxidation of iron. 0
– Extraterrestrial occurrence
● Color: Colourless, Olive Green, Greenish Yellow, Grey
● Clevage: poor
● Fracture: Conchoidal
● Crystal habit: Prisms and Dipyramids
● Crystal system: Orthorhombic
● Hardness: 5.5 - 6.5
● Luster: Vitreous
● Streak: White
● Diaphaneity: Translucent
● Specific gravity: 3.1 -3.4
Optical Properties
● Olivine Thin Section (PP,XP)
○ Colour: Colourless to faint green
○ Cleavage: None
○ Relief: High
○ Biaxial
○ Birefringence: High with mostly third order colours
Zircon
– mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates
– chemical name is zirconium silicate
– natural colour of zircon varies between colourless, yellow-golden, red, brown, blue, and green
– colourless specimens that show gem quality are a popular substitute
– for diamond; these specimens are known as "Matura diamond"
● Color: Colourless, Brown, Green, Grey. Red
● Clevage: Poor
● Fracture: Conchoidal
● Crystal habit: Square Prisms, Pyramids or a combination of the two
● Crystal system: Hexagonal
● Hardness: 7.5
● Luster: Adamantine
● Streak: Colourless - White
● Diaphaneity: Transparent-Translucent
● Specific gravity: 4.68
Optical Properties
● Zircon Thin Section (PP, XP)
○ Colour: Colourless to faint green
○ Cleavage: Imperfect
○ Relief: Very High
○ Birefringence: High with mostly third to fouth order colours in Prismatic Sections
○ Uniaxial (Positive)
○ Basal Sections are isotropic
Imitations and Artificial Gemstones
– Imitation - some gemstones are manufactured to imitate other gemstones.
– The imitations copy the look and colour of the real stone but possess neither their chemical
nor physical characteristics.
– Lab created gemstones are not imitations. Synthetic (lab created) corundums, including ruby
and sapphire, are very common and they cost only a fraction of the natural stones.
– Whether a gemstone is a natural stone or a lab-created (synthetic) stone, the characteristics
of each are the same.
– Lab-created stones tend to have a more vivid colour to them, as impurities are not present in
a lab and do not modify the clarity or colour of the stone.
COLOR CLEVAGE
Diamond
Corundum
Ruby
Sapphire
Emerald
Tourmaline Black, brown, green, Poor
red, pink, blue, and Fracture: Conchoidal to
gray. Uneven
Quartz Colourless, Milky, Conchoidal or Brittle
Purple, Pink, Yellow,
Brown
Tiger's Eye golden to red-brown
colour
Olivine Colourless, Olive Green, poor Conchoidal
Greenish Yellow, Grey
Zircon Colourless to faint imperfect Conchoidal
green
