|
All
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
GemSelect Newsletter - August 2009In our newsletter this month:
The Green Garnets Back to Top
When most people think of garnet, they think of the common red garnets like almandine and pyrope. But the garnet family is actually remarkably diverse. Garnets can occur in nearly any color, including brown, yellow, orange, red and purple. The green garnets are among the rarest. Recently we've been lucky in finding some excellent specimens. The garnet group is conventionally divided into 6 species: Pyrope, almandite, spessartite, grossular, andradite and uvarovite. The different garnets share a similar crystal structure, but differ slightly in their chemical compositions. Green garnets are found in both the grossular and andradite types. Grossular garnets include two green garnets - the yellow-green grossularite and the chrome green tsavorite. The name "grossular" comes from the botanical name of the gooseberry, grossularia. The garnet known as grossularite is typically golden green, yellow-green or olive-green. The rarest grossular garnet is tsavorite, which is a rich green to emerald green garnet variety found only in Kenya and Tanzania. The outstanding green of tsavorite is thought to be due to trace amounts of chromium and/or vanadium. Tsavorite has become a popular alternative to emerald, though tsavorite is actually the rarer stone. The more common grossularite has its own attractions. Grossularite displays similar brilliance to tsavorite, due to a refractive index that lies midway between spinel and sapphire. The lighter colors of grossularite tend to have better dispersion (fire). The rarest of all garnets - and one of the rarest of all gemstones - is the green demantoid garnet. Particularly fine examples can command thousands of dollars per carat. Demantoid belongs to the andradite variety of garnet, which is calcium iron silicate with a refractive index of 1.88 to 1.94. The high refractive index makes demantoid the most brilliant of all the garnets; in fact it has a higher refractive index than sapphire and ruby. Demantoid also has remarkable dispersion (fire) that exceeds even that of diamond. Indeed, the very name demantoid means "diamond-like". Most of the green garnets, especially demantoid, are found only in small sizes. Specimens weighing over one carat are uncommon and stones over 2 carats count as very rare indeed. Rare and Unusual Gems Back to Top
Each month we feature a rare and unusual gem from our inventory. This month we feature an unusual black star sapphire from Thailand: 
Black Star Sapphire from Thailand
Black star sapphires with gold stars are found in only one location; our home province of Chanthaburi in Thailand. They are also special because they are completely untreated. Most blue star sapphires have been diffusion-treated with rutile to improve the star, but these black star sapphires tend to have a distinct star without any treatment. The 55.93 ct stone shown above is especially rare because it displays a degree of perfection that is rarely seen. Due to its almost round dimensions (22.36 x 20.53 mm) and its well-centred and vivid 6-ray star, this is a true collector's item. Customer Questions Back to Top
Every month we answer questions of general interest from our customers. Please feel free to send your questions or suggestions to our support team at help@gemselect.com! Question
How important is it to get a certificate of authenticity when one purchases a gemstone? Thank you for your advice. HH, UK.
Answer
If you buy from a reputable dealer, your risk is very low. For example, we test samples of all the gems we buy, and any stone we're not sure of gets sent to a gemological lab to be checked. Some customers want the added assurance of a certificate when they purchase a gemstone, so we offer optional certification from independent gemological labs for many of our gems. Just check the "add gem certificate" box on the detail page when you add a gem to your shopping cart.
Question
What is a gemstone "culet"? I'm not even sure how to pronounce it! DB, Canada.
Answer
The culet is the tiny facet at the very bottom of many faceted gems. Not every faceted gem has a culet. In some gems the culet is closed, meaning that the the tip comes to a sharp point with no facet. Often the culet facet is very small and you need some level of magnification to detect it. Strictly speaking, gemologists say that a gemstone has a culet only in the case where a small facet is cut at the tip of the pavilion. A closed culet really means no culet at all. But many people in the trade still refer to the pointed tip as the culet. Also, by the way, the correct pronounciation is kyoo-lit (from Latin "culus" meaning bottom).
Keep up with our new arrivals before they hit the newsletter by joining our thousands of fans and followers on our social networking pages. We love interacting with our customers - you can visit us on Tumblr, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest! To ensure you can receive our emails, please be sure to add help@gemselect.com to your list of safe contacts, or you add us into your email address book! Please feel free to contact us with any questions, comments and queries! We respond to each and every email we receive. Happy Gem Hunting!
About Us
Overall Rating -> 10 Very wide selection, plenty of accent stones to choose from. Both expensive and inexpensive gems have wide variety. Great website layout too. Posted By Jazz in July, 2022 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 7 I ordered tsavorite garnet. It wasn’t quite as vidid color as I was expecting. Still a nice stone Posted By Babs in October, 2022 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 9 I don't often buy gems online but when I do, you can count on on thing. That's, I'm buying from Gemselect.com Posted By Pink Panther in November, 2022 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 10 Everything was straight forward as always. I've shopped here many times over the years and know where things are. Everything was quick and easy to find. The website is organised well. Great shopping experience. Posted By Konstantin Marchenko in January, 2023 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 7 I love this site, I learn a lot from it. I like the selection and quality, I can't wait to use them in my work. The specimens are phenomenal. Look forward to more business from me in the future.. Posted By Ophii in January, 2023 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 10 It was a nice and easy process throughout! The website is simple and well made I found everything I needed quickly. I needed some emeralds of a certain size for my custom engagement ring but they only had 3 available on the website, So bought the available ones and reached put to customer service to see if they have any more and they messaged me back within minutes with a list of similar sized emeralds that were not on the site! I quickly purchased my remaining emerald and they added it to my first order! I am more than pleased with the experience and I will be recommending them to anyone in the market for gems! 10/10 Posted By Marty in July, 2022 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 10 i made an order in 2007 and was very pleased; it made into a lovely ring. i found a large citrine locally, and now needed some accent stones. Posted By Morgana zanos in March, 2023 Source: Bizrate Related Articles Sapphire Info Sapphire Information - The heavenly blue gemstone of royalty ... Tourmaline Gem Info Tourmaline Information - The most colorful gem on Earth ... Aquamarine Info Aquamarine Information - Get the facts, figures and stories behind this alluring gem ... Fire Opal Info Fire Opal Gemstone - A Mexican sunset captured in a gem ... Iolite Info Iolite Gemstone Information - GemSelect ... Jade Info Jade Gemstone Information - GemSelect ... Kunzite Info Kunzite Gemstones - The must-have pink gem for evenings ... Orthoclase Info Orthoclase Gemstone Information - GemSelect ... Peridot Info Peridot Gemstone Information - GemSelect ... Rhodolite Garnet Info Rhodolite Garnet Information - An elegant rose among thorns ... |
| STAY IN TOUCH |
| *You're signing up to receive GemSelect promotional email. |
Privacy Notice © 2005-2023 GemSelect.com all rights reserved.
Reproduction (text or graphics) without the express written consent of GemSelect.com (SETT Company Ltd.) is strictly prohibited.
1001
|
More Shapes
|
English speaking customer support only
|
|
Toll Free - USA & Canada only: |
Save Money
No shipping Fees for Additional Items!
$8.90 Worldwide Shipping
|
Update Translation
|
||||
|
||||
|
Size and Weight
|
|
Gems are always measured in Millimeter (mm) Dimensions are given as; Select gems by size, not by weight! Note: 1ct = 0.2g  |
