GemSelect Newsletter - December 2008

• Gift Ideas for the Holiday Season
• Shipping Advice for December
• Rare and Unusual Gems
• Customer Questions

Holiday Gifts

At this time of the year we receive many requests for gift suggestions. So we've collected some of our best ideas for this month's newsletter. We hope this makes your holiday shopping just a little easier.

If you're looking for a very special gift, a good place to start is with our Top Grade Gems. Our staff selects the finest pieces from our inventory for this group, so if you want our personal recommendations, you'll find them here. This special group features our very best gems, selected for color, cut and clarity.

A personalized gift is always appreciated, so you may want to consider a birthstone or anniversary stone. You can make your choice by month or by signs of the zodiac. There are recognized alternative choices for many months as well.

Another nice gift idea is a matched pair of gems. Well-matched pairs are actually quite difficult to find, but we buy our gems in volume and our staff spends a lot of time going through parcels of gems to put together matched pairs. We've made it one of our specialities and we typically have as many as 900 matched pairs in our inventory, with around 50 gem types represented. Click here to see all our matched pairs.

If you'd like to purchase a large gemstone but are looking for something fairly inexpensive, have a look at our huge selection of cabochons. These are popular with collectors and make nice momentoes as well as stunning jewelry. We currently have 60 different types of cabochons in our stock, with more than 2,700 pieces in all.

Finally, we are often asked what are the best values in fine gemstones today. Everything seems to get more expensive every year, but in our opinion the finest gems for the price are tourmaline, spinel, spessartite garnet and zircon. This year we're recommending kunzite and morganite as well, since we recently found some very fine pieces at excellent prices.

At this time of year we take special care to make sure our customers receive their orders promptly and reliably. We've shipped gemstones to more than 90 countries and we've become experts at international shipping. So here's some advice to take the worry out of ordering an important gift online.

We strongly recommend FedEx for all holiday gifts. It's fast -- 3 to 4 days to nearly anywhere in the world -- and you can track your shipment online so you'll know exactly when it will be delivered. It is remarkably reliable as well. Just make sure your give us your correct street address (no post office boxes, please) and provide a telephone number in case of any problems with delivery.

Please note that loose gemstones may be imported duty-free to the USA, but FedEx shipments to other countries may be subject to tax and duty. If you're unsure about the situation in your country, please email us and we'll advise you about the quickest and cheapest shipment method.

FedEx ships nearly everywhere in the world, but there are a few countries where we must use registered mail instead of FedEx, due to local customs regulations. Please see our Shipping Info page for the details.

Finally, please note that if you order a gemstone certificate we may need a few extra days to get your gem tested at the lab. But we'll always tell you exactly when your order will ship.

Each month we feature a rare and unusual gem from our inventory. This month we feature a very rare large sphene from Sri Lanka:

Sphene's claim to fame is its remarkable brilliance and fire, rivalling that of diamond. While always in demand, sphene has been a rare gem on the market. But very large sphene with excellent clarity are extremely rare. This 12.18 carat heart-shaped piece is the largest sphene we have ever been able to buy, but also one of the cleanest. Sphene tends to be included, but this piece is so clean we've graded it VVS. The brilliance and fire of this sphene is difficult to capture in a photograph, but we've recently taken a video that conveys just how stunning sphene can be. Click here to see for yourself.

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!

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Happy Gem Hunting!
Your friends at GemSelect