Loose Gemstones
While diamonds are predominantly traded in well-structured markets in Tel Aviv, New York and Antwerp, Loose Gemstones are sourced from much smaller operations that are scattered throughout the world. Most of these sources are small scale mining operations in developing countries, which is what makes them less expensive when compared to diamonds. These loose gemstones come is a wide variety of colors and are called by different names based on their composition and color. We will briefly look at the different gemstones and the names that they are called by.
Sapphires are basically derived from a mineral called Corundum, which is an aluminum oxide. In its natural form, Corundum is red in color and the stones in their native form are called rubies. So a ruby is nothing but a Corundum crystal in its natural state. But Corundum can also occur in various other colors and they are called sapphires. Although people mostly associate sapphires with the color blue, they do occur in a wide variety of colors apart from blue. Some of the other colors in which sapphires can be found include pink, yellow and opaque black. When traces of elements like chromium, iron or titanium are found in Corundum, the crystal changes to these various other colors. The presence of titanium and iron in Corundum in fact give it the blue color and this gives rise to sapphires.
Among loose gemstones, the emerald is probably the most glamorous stone due to its beautiful and rich green color. It is very rare to see a perfect emerald, which is claimed to be of more value when compared to a diamond. Emeralds are formed from a mineral called Beryl, which is a silicate of glucinum and aluminum. An emerald is much softer than a diamond or other stones and needs to be handled and worn carefully. It is also considerably light in weight when compared to other gemstones.
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