Useful Information

Basic gemstone definitions:

  1. Genuine gemstone – Just what it says a real gemstone. No glass or synthetic material – just as nature made it although has to be admitted that many genuine gemstones do undergo some form of treatment eg heat. Most Sapphire on the market has undergone heat treatment but that is accepted as normal.
  2. Synthetic gemstone – These have the same properties as a natural gemstone but are created in a laboratory. Laboratory gems look just like the natural gemstones and can sometimes be just as expensive. Very difficult to tell from what nature made.
  3. Imitation gemstone – Another man made gemstone but it does not have the same actual properties of real gems or even the synthetic gems. Many times they are little more than coloured and hardened glass.
  4. Simulated gemstone – Another word for imitation gemstone and that material can be anything from stone to plastic to glass. An example dyed Howlite (a natural gemstone) passed off as Turquoise.