Customer Reviews

Gemstone Buying Guide, Second Edition: How to Evaluate, Identify, Select & Care for Colored Gems

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great introduction for the beginner. Lots of color photographs of both cut gemstones and finished jewelry make this a beautiful book. The author goes over shape and cutting style, carat, color, clarity, cut quality and treatments. She also explains the difference between synthetic and natural stones. The last part of the book has entries for various gemstones with detailed descriptions of the qualities of each. Again with lots of photos. After reading this I do feel comfortable comparing stones and prices.

Now in an updated second edition, Gemstone Buying Guide by experienced and professional gemologist Renee Newman is an authoritative, useful and "user friendly", no-nonsense guide to evaluating, identifying, and caring for colored gems, ranging from pearls and opals, to moonstone, topaz, turquoise, and more. Vibrant color photographs throughout add visualization to the tips, tricks, and techniques skillfully described in the text. If you are buying or selling any kind of gemstone then give Renee Newman's Gemstone Buying Guide is "must" reading.

Renee Newman's "Gemstone Buying Guide" is an introduction to colored gemstones, not a comprehensive or in-depth resource. It presents the basics of evaluating quality in colored gems, avoiding fraud, and can serve as a quick reference to the background and characteristics of most gemstones that you will find in the marketplace. Chapters 2-7 address the major points of gemstone quality with discussions of: shape and cutting style, carat weight, color, clarity and transparency, cut, and a chapter that explains what to look for in star and cat's eye stones. The chapters on shape and carat weight are pretty basic. Those on color, clarity, and cut are more detailed. All chapters include advice on how to go about examining stones for these criteria.

Chapters 8-10 help the reader avoid fraud when shopping for gemstones with descriptions of various treatment procedures, both acceptable and deceptive, a brief discussion of synthetic stones, and practices commonly used to deceive buyers. Chapter 11 is by far the longest, containing the Gemstone Descriptions. 100 different species and varieties of gemstones are described, with information on their origins, characteristics, and vital statistics such as Refractive Index, Specific Gravity, Toughness, Crystal System, Cleavage, Optic Character, and more for each species or group. (Those terms are defined.) There are more than 125 color photographs of mounted and unmounted gems in this chapter. Guidance in evaluating jade and opal are included here rather than with the other chapters on gemstone quality.

The book concludes with a chapter on Caring for Your Gems, emphasizing that colored gemstones are not as durable as diamonds and providing a chart of risks according to stone. To be clear, this "Gemstone Buying Guide" does not discuss diamonds at all, colored or colorless. I enjoyed learning about stones that I've seen at gem shows and never understood. And I got some good tips on judging cut. I cannot say that I would be prepared to run out and buy a colored gemstone after reading only this book, however. It doesn't provide enough detail regarding how many and what type of inclusions constitute poor clarity in which stones or which stones are always heat-treated, sometimes treated, or never. The "Gemstone Buying Guide" does mention these issues but is not sufficiently instructive for my taste. But this book is an introduction and is fine as such.

I found this book fascinating! It is easy to read, easy to learn from, and yet not a text book. You do not have to be a student to become captivated by the beautiful photography and interesting bits of history mixed with scientific data and just a bit of folklore.
At times I was frustrated by the elusiveness about what a particular gem would be worth. The author reminds us selling and trading of gems might well be, if not the second oldest profession, one of the early ones.
I recommend this book to anybody. If you pick it up because of the bright colorful images, you will be caught by the flowing enthusiasm of the author. Many a night, my forehead hit the pages as I realized my reading had kept me up way too late.

As one of three books purchased on this subject, I have to say the images are what makes this book. But the information within is great too, albeit somewhat limited on certain stones. With my geology background, I really enjoyed seeing the categories of gemstones classified in terms of: chemical composition, Moh's hardness scale rating, cleavage, crystal structure and more. The care tips are also useful particularly if you make jewelry and want your customers to be aware of how to properly care for their gemstones (or for you when cleaning your own gemstones!). Some gemstones have many varieties and this is covered quite well (e.g. Garnet - eight species and their names, varieties within species, color(s), and other mineralogical data that is useful to those who really want to understand the detailed identification of the mineral/gemstone. The accompanying photos often cover all the species listed - so a great visual aid. Keep in mind the images are of finished, mostly faceted gemstones. I want to also mention another great image/layout and it is about Jadeite colors as seen on 36 cabachons. I wanted to know about this for some time and now by using this guide, I can get a general sense as to how to determine quality and value of this particular stone.

I would recommend this book for beginner gemstone enthusiasts, but recommend other books, publications, and even talking with a true gemologist to help you understand specific topics in detail. I will refer to this book probably first when seeking an answer on most gemstone questions but will utilize other information when I need an in-depth knowledge review prior to purchase and analysis.

Loads of information, nicely illustrated. More info on origin, judging clarity / transparency / quality and more on pricing than Smithsonian Gemstones, naturally, cause its called "buying guide". Althugh I am not a hound, and cannot afford to buy the stones, I am very happy to have bought the book.

This book is a GREAT resource for gem buying. I'm hooked on the jewelry shows on TV and I think this book has given me the "edge" I need when purchasing gems.

Excellent, colorful, high quality photos of hundred of gemstones, loose and set in jewelry. As a novice, this information has helped me to identify gems I have collected in estate sales and inherited from my family. It's Great Book..highly recommended!Gemstone Buying Guide, Second Edition: How to Evaluate, Identify, Select & Care for Colored Gems

An excellent guide for what to look for in a gemstone, how to identify a gemstone, and lots of info on the listed gemstones throughout the book.

This book is a must have for the beginner collector of gemstones. I refer to it practically everyday.