Some stones look as fragile as glass and are incredibly rare, but hey have an inherent strength. Stone Crystals may take millions of years to form, or may form as you watch. They may have been formed in rocks deep beneath the Earth’s surface, or they may be survivors of mountain building episodes or devasting volcanic eruptions, or they may have been washed into rivers and streams to be retrieved may be millions of years after their formation. These survivors are nature’s treat: perfect and brightly coloured crystals formed in dark deep rocks.
But for a gemologist, what are the special attributes of gemstones? For gemstones to be used in jewellery, ideally they should have three main attributes: beauty, durability and rarity. However not all gemstones possess all three. For example, some may be insufficiently durable (hard and tough) to use as a cut gemstone in a ring, but may be good for fashioning as a piece within a brooch, protected from damage by the mounting. Beauty and rarity have a direct impact on the value of a gemstone, the more beautiful and rare, the greater the price that will be paid.

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