25 Facts About Gemstones

1. The most popular and expensive gemstone cut style is a round cut.
2. Cutting stones takes time. For small gemstones it takes 4–5 hours to cut a stone, medium-size gems take about 5–8 hours, and other stone shapes can take two or more days.
3. The first gemstone mined in the U.S. was tourmaline.
4. A round cut gem delivers the most sparkle.
5. The most expensive and rare opal is a black opal.
6. The highest diamond grade is colorless.
7. The most popular faceted style cuts include round, emerald, princess, baguette, oval, pear, heart, marquise, trilliant, cushion and radiant.
8. The softest gemstone is amber.
9. “Eye-clean” for grading colored stones means inclusions are not visible to the naked eye.
10. The rarest color of quartz comes in the color blue.
11. Blue diamonds are among the most expensive gemstones ever sold at auction. Certain fancy vivid blue diamonds have achieved record-breaking prices per carat, making them some of the most valuable gemstones in the world.
12. A diamond is the hardest gemstone in the world.
13. Over the centuries, ruby has been associated with wealth and power.
14. Pearls are gems, not stones.
15. There are about 200 natural gemstones.
16. Tourmalines and opals are among the most colorful gemstones.
17. Red diamonds are among the rarest gemstones on Earth. While diamond is the birthstone for April, red diamonds themselves are not listed as an official modern birthstone.
18. The average cost of a diamond is between $1,800.00–$12,000.00.
19. Sapphires come in eight colors: colorless, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and purple.
20. Australia produces 95% of the world’s most precious opals.
21. The rarest gemstone is musgravite.
22. An amethyst is named for the Greek word for “sober” and was believed to remedy drunkenness. This crystal is credited with relieving stress and promoting peace of mind.
23. Birthstones started back in the deuterocanonical period, but the modern birthstone list was developed in 1912 by the Jewelers of America.
24. An alexandrite appears greenish-blue to dark yellow-green during the day, but in incandescent light it looks pink to red.
25. Gems are measured by a scale called the Mohs Hardness Scale .