Romancing the stone: Gemstone focus

One  of  the  key  changes  jewelers  should  be  aware  of  is  that gemstone  think  definitions  Gemstone  Beads  are  shifting.  While  the  likes  of  emeralds,  rubies,  sapphires,  diamonds  and  pearls  have  traditionally  been  accorded  the  lofty  accolade  “precious” and  other  gemstones -  sometimes  regardless  of  their  beauty  or  rarity - labeled ‘semi-precious’,  it  has  more  recently  been  accepted  by  most  people  in  the  trade  that “semi-precious”  is  an  undeserved  title,  which  unfairly  positions  stones  thus  labeled  as  poor  relations.

Numerous  new  discoveries  of  gemstones  and  peaks  and  troughs  in  their  supply  and  demand  have,  over  the  years,  pointed  up  the  shortcomings  of  the  term “semi-precious”.  Jason  Holt,  managing  director  of  Holts  Lapidary  stone  cutters  and  the  founder  of  Holts  Academy,  points  out  that,  whereas  10  years  ago  stones  such  as  tourmaline  were  Gemstone  Beads  more  plentiful,  therefore  cheaper  and  considered “semi-precious”,  most  tourmalines  are  now  in  limited  supply  and  highly  sought-after,  so  the  label  no  longer  applies.

“These  are  precious  stones,  because  there  is  a  desirability about  them  and  there  is  a  limited  supply,”  he  says.  GIA  London  director  Edward  Johnson  explains  that  GIA  follows  World  Jewelry  Confederation (CIBJO)  and  US  Federal  Trade  Commission (FTC)  guidelines  and  advises  against  the  terms “precious” and  “semi-precious”.  “‘Semi’  is  immediately  a  negative  term,”  he  says.  “If  people  are  trying  to  sell  a  Gemstone  Beads  valuable  item  it  is  not  helpful  think  to  describe  it  as  half  the  value  of  something  else,  describing  it  in  negative  terms.”

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