Gemmology and precious stones

Gemstones have always fascinated me and over the last years I have used more and more precious stones. With that I felt a strong need to know more about the precious stones, and in spring me and two of my colleagues took a course in gemology. We learned the techniques used to differentiate the stones, their different qualities and what to look for when purchasing gemstones. What stroke me most was the complexity of the field of gemmology; a stone is not always what it appears to be so having reliable and trustworthy suppliers is absolutely crucial!

I had the pleasure of making a great commission for a customer; a gold ring in the coral collection with a large ruby and five spinels. For those not familiar with spinels I can recommend this article about the rather overlooked precious stones, that comes in a great variety of intriguing colours: http://www.guldsmed.dk/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/filemanager/files/AuClock_2009_10_Spinellen.pdf