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GemSelect Newsletter - February 2009

In our newsletter this month:
Pink Gemstones
Pink Gemstones
Pink Gemstones Back to Top

We sell about 100 different varieties of gemstones and we've learned from experience that it's impossible to predict what varieties people will want to buy at any given time. So we try to keep an extensive inventory with well over 10,000 gems in stock.

If we can't predict what types of stones our customers want, one thing we've learned is that pink gems are always in demand. Pink is a color that has long been associated with love and with femininity, but also with good health and happiness, as in the English idiom in the pink. The brighter pinks are youthful and exciting, while the vibrant pinks are as sensual and passionate as red. The soft and delicate pinks are romantic and innocent.

So what are your choices in pink gemstones? The rarest are pink diamonds, usually selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars per carat. Fine pink sapphire is much less expensive, though pink is actually one of the rarest sapphire colors. Pink sapphire is usually found only in small sizes and finding a clean stone can be difficult. Pink spinel is an excellent substitute, since it's easier to find larger pieces with excellent clarity. Don't forget to look at ruby as well, since many rubies occur in pink-red. Pink, after all, is just a desaturated red.

Tourmaline is undoubtedly the gemstone most associated with the color pink. If you're looking for a really saturated pink - such as hot pink or a vibrant red pink - you're mostly likely to find it in a pink tourmaline. You'll also find the widest range of pink hues in tourmaline, from pastel pink to rose and pink-violet. You'll also find interesting multicolor pieces including the distinctive watermelon tourmaline.

The pale pink gems kunzite and morganite have a different attraction. Their delicate color and excellent clarity is displayed to best advantage when finely cut. Kunzite occurs in pale pink to lilac hues, while morganite tends more to the salmon pink or orange pink. Both have good hardness and the lighter tones display good brilliance. Kunzite, the pink form of spodumene, can often be found in large sizes as well. Morganite is a rare pink beryl, belonging to the same family as emerald and aquamarine. It is typically found in small sizes but with excellent clarity.

Rare and Unusual Gems Back to Top

Each month we feature a rare and unusual gem from our inventory. This month we would like to show you an outstanding color-change sapphire from Tanzania:

Unheated Color Change Sapphire
Color-Change Sapphire

Some rare sapphires exhibit a color-change under different lighting. Color-change sapphires are typically blue in natural light and violet or purple under incandescent indoor light. All color-change sapphires are rare, but finding them in large sizes is especially difficult. This round, 4.6 carat color-change sapphire from Tanzania is unusual not only for its size, but also because it is completely untreated.

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
Do you sell green amethyst? I don't see it on your website. Thanks for your answer. TP, Australia.
Answer
Amethyst, by definition, is violet to purple colored quartz. So there is really no such thing as green amethyst. The gem sometimes sold as green amethyst is what gemologists call prasiolite, which is a leek-green quartz produced by heating amethyst to about 500 degrees centigrade. Unfortunately the color is known to fade when exposed to strong sunlight, so peridot would be a much better choice in this color range. You may also see green quartz in a vivid mint green or blue-green hue, but this is almost always synthetic material produced by the hydrothermal method.
Question
I've wondered, why do some gems show a color change? What causes it?
Answer
Color change gems have two approximately equal-sized transmission windows. A blue gemstone appears blue because it absorbs all frequencies of light except for blue. A gemstone that absorbs both blue and red light will appear blue when the light is rich in blue wavelengths (e.g.,sunlight or fluorescent light), and red or purple when the light is rich in red wavelengths (e.g., incandescent light).

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Happy Gem Hunting!
Your friends at GemSelect

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