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GemSelect Newsletter - September 2009In our newsletter this month:
New Tools for Finding Gems Back to Top
As we've increased our inventory of gemstones - now over 14,000 items - we've been working on creating better tools to help our customers find specific gems in our very large collection. We want it to be easy to find simple things, such as all the 6 mm round blue sapphires. But it should be just as easy to find all the spessartite garnet cabochons between 2 and 2.5 carats, or all the violet gems over 5 carats with at least VVS clarity that cost less than $100. Searching needs to be easy, but it should be flexible too. This month we would like to introduce a new navigation system that you'll find on every page where you browse our gemstones. We call it the "shop by" menu, and it looks like this: ![]() Shop By Menu from GemSelect
The nine buttons across the screen (gemtype, color, etc.) are categories from which you can make one or more selections. The five checkboxes above those buttons are ways to limit your selection. Let's run through an example. Let's find all the highest quality orange gemstones between 1 and 2 carats. First we'll click on the color button and select our colors. We'll check orange and then click the submit button. ![]() Shop By Color at GemSelect
This returns all the orange gemstones in our inventory. Since that's more than 1,900 items, let's apply some more filters. We'll click on gemtypes and select sapphire and spessartite garnet to restrict our search for orange stones to just those two fine gem types. Next we apply our weight filter by clicking on the weight button and choosing a range of 1 to 2 carats. That still returns over 400 items, so let's filter the results by removing the lots and pairs and showing just the single stones. We do that by checking the single box to show only single stones. Let's remove the cabochons as well by clicking on the faceted checkbox. Finally, we limit our search to pieces with VVS clarity or better by making a selection from the clarity category. We end up with 63 items as our result, a very manageable number. At each stage our navigation shows us exactly where we are. So after making these selections, it shows us: You Selected: sapphire, spessartite garnet » orange » 1ct to 2cts » VVS or better » single, faceted » order by weight descending We can easily modify this selection without starting over. We can expand our search by searching for pairs as well as single pieces, or we can view only the pear or oval shapes. Once you've created your selection in this way, you can bookmark the page and view it at any time. It will always find all the gems in our current inventory that match your criteria. In effect, you can use this mechanism to create your own custom pages on the GemSelect website. Rare and Unusual Gems Back to Top
Each month we focus on a rare and unusual gem from our inventory. This month we feature a rare color-change garnet from Tanzania: ![]() Color-Change Garnet from Tanzania
Gemstones that display some color change in different types of light are rare. Moreover, gems that exhbit a dramatic color change are very rare indeed. Alexandrite is the most famous of these, but it is almost always found in very small gems. Recently we found some unusual color-change garnet from Tanzania that is greenish-brown in daylight and red-pink under incandescent light. We've taken some videos in which we alternate the light source so you can experience the remarkable color change of these gems. We have a small number of pieces weighing over 1 carat, with the specimen shown above weighing in at 1.81 carats. 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 lace agate? I don't see it on your website. BK, USA.
Answer
There are dozens of trade names that you'll sometimes see applied to agate. Some of them, such as dendritic agate - white or gray agate with dendritic inclusions - have sufficient gemological basis to become widely accepted as distinct varieties. Other names, such as lace agate, have less of a gemological basis and refer to interesting patterns displayed in some agate specimens. We don't try to follow all the trends in marketing names for agate, but we do have specimens that exhibit the delicate lacy pattern typical of lace agate.
Question
What happened to the advanced search on your website? How can I search for gems with IF clarity? Thanks for your help. SM, Canada.
Answer
Our new shop by menu, described in this month's feature article, replaces our advanced search. We think the new search is much easier to use, and is better integrated with all of our gem pages, so it is always available. It is more flexible as well, since it allows us you to search for multiple gem types, colors and shapes in one search. So you can use it, for example, to find all the blue sapphires and spinel in round or oval shapes. Also, it will let you easily search for gems according to clarity.
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!
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Overall Rating -> 10 I found the website easy to work with. The gemstones are lovely. Posted By Sophie-Tiger in September, 2024 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 10 I have started a small gem brokerage. I find stones to meet clients needs. Gemselect has helped me find what people what. Posted By Pirates Bounty in April, 2024 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 10 I have been buying gems for several years off and on and love their selection and great low prices. I started out wanting to get an example of each type of gem but after looking at all the types of gems and reading about them I realize it is almost impossible for me to do. It took me years just to read about them all. Gem Select is the best gem site you can find. For information or to buy. Steve M. Posted By Stevee M. in January, 2025 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 10 GemSelect website simple to use. I recommend it to non-trade clients looking for gems. Posted By GemJocky in July, 2024 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 10 I enjoy doing buisness with GemSelect. It is always a pleasure and you get what you ordered! Posted By Ballpark in December, 2024 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 8 Many gems at reasonable pricing Posted By Skittlebird in May, 2024 Source: Bizrate Overall Rating -> 10 Helpselect accomplished all personal growth goals Posted By Mike in October, 2024 Source: Bizrate Related Articles Sapphire Info Sapphire Gemstone: What is Sapphire? Sapphire Color and more Tourmaline Gem Info Tourmaline Information - The most colorful gem on Earth Aquamarine Info Aquamarine Information - Get the facts, figures and stories behind... 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