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Here's something which could be called a public service announcement for some, but in reality I'm just sharing with you some interesting information that came to my attention recently. It pertains to diamonds, more precisely green diamonds, believe it or not, there's a small chance that some green diamonds are radioactive.

Diamonds are sometimes irradiated in order to change their color into green. This is an interesting effect which radiation has on diamonds, and in modern days the process of diamond greenification with the help of radiation has been perfected so that green diamonds are not dangerous for the people, but that wasn't the case in the past. In the past, this process created diamonds which themselves were radioactive, their color was changed to green, but they were also radioactive. Once this was discovered, government agencies started to gathering up all green diamonds which showed signs of radioactivity, but who knows maybe there are still some left. Chances for something like that, green radioactive diamonds still existing out there are pretty small, but if you ever find yourself wearing a green diamonds and you're having health problems, then you're probably wearing radioactive diamonds. In that case you should call for help from the appropriate government agencies.

The older green diamonds are, the greater are the chances that they really are radioactive, but like I said, chances that you come across something like this are very small, and if your stones are of newer date you can enjoy you're green diamonds without worrying about them being radioactive. Even if you have older green diamonds, something that has been in the family for long time, and if those who wore them didn't have any major health problems, you also don't have to worry, only if there are some health problems for those who were wearing the stone, then you should look for help.

Cleaning gemstones can be a tricky thing, because they aren't precious metals, they don't have the resistance to cleaning methods that precious metals have. If you're thinking about diamonds, and how they are the hardest substance know to man, then you'll be in for a surprise when I tell you that there are different types of material strengths, and diamonds aren't technically the strongest material that we know. We're going off topic, and even though diamonds aren't the strongest material that we know about, they most certainly are the hardest gemstones, so are diamonds really not more resistant to cleaning techniques that precious metals like gold, platinum and silver are, or even better than them?

Well the answer would be that they are, but not all of them. If we are talking about some low quality diamonds, then they aren't as good when it comes to enduring the cleaning agents that are used on precious metals, and one in particular no gemstone can "handle". Ultrasonic cleaners are to gemstones what kryptonite is to Superman, and it's not advised to clean gemstones of any type using the ultrasonic cleaner. Cracks are a big concern which makes cleaning with sound a gamble, and when we're at it, cleaning with highly abrasive substances isn't such a good idea also. All gemstones have cracks on them, depending on the quality of the stone they can either be very small, so tiny that you need a magnifying glass in order to spot them, or they can be large, so that you can see them with a naked eye. Abrasive cleaner can sometimes cause them, but it's far more likely that they were created when the stone was first being formed. Ultrasonic cleaners work on the principle of vibrations, they emit low frequency sound waves which have very high energy and which penetrate into dirt and simply dissolve it. All of this takes place in water so that the effect of the sound waves is improved, water is a medium. Precious metals have better resistance to tensile stress, which sound vibrations produce once they enter the cracks and crevices that are present on the precious metal surfaces which are being cleaned.

Gemstones aren't as resistant as precious metal to this particular stress, and if you try to clean them with an abrasive cleaner like toothpaste or in an ultrasonic cleaner it can result with the expansion of the crack, or even with complete destruction of the stone if it's in a poor state to begin with. The ultimate mistake would be to use toothpaste on a gemstones, particularly the ones that are non-precious, after which using a ultrasonic cleaner. That way you could cause scratches with the abrasive cleaner and then finish the "job" by cleaning with sound cleaner. By all means when you're cleaning diamonds, avoid using any kind of harsh cleaning substances and also do not use robust cloths which are just as bad. Ultrasonic cleaners have to be avoided, and safe cleaning, like soaking, soft cloths used instead. If you worry that you won't be able to clean your gemstones properly, visit a jeweler, he/she will know how to clean it without causing damage.

There are a few options when it comes to buying gemstones, which one you're gonna go with depends on what exactly you need the stones for, obviously. Each one of these different ways of acquiring gemstones has its advantages and disadvantages and the following will be sort of a tutorial on what these ups and downs would be, so that people who might be interested in some of them can find out and decide which one might be the best one for them. Majority of shoppers are already familiar with some of them, for example buying gemstones in jewelry stores, but don't give up immediately and read this, because there are still some good tips on buying precious stones at jewelers, because it's not the same with every single jeweler.

Gemstones are usually bought by two different types of buyers, either people who are buying them for personal use, or dealers who's only interest in gemstones, most of the time at least is solely based on the desire to resell the stones in order to make a profit. If you fall in category number one, then you are a perfect candidate for shopping in jewelry stores. Times being what they are, it's important to save every cent, for that reason it's important to buy stones at the right shop. Two things have to be taken into account, number one would be quality and number two is price. These two things have to be brought into fine balance, and you have to be careful not to go too low when it comes to prices because that's where trouble starts. In majority of situations you'll find that dealers and jewelers who have extremely low prices are selling low quality stones, or even fake stones. Thing is that even though the price is low, it's a lot more higher than what you'd normally pay for such stones, especially if we are talking about diamonds. Cubic zirconium is very similar to diamonds but they only cost a fraction of the price that diamonds have. That's why if you come across a cubic zirconium which is sold as "cheap" real diamonds you'll lose money. Sellers like these usually have shady backgrounds, and it would be a wise thing to avoid them completely to save yourself some headaches. Keep in mind that if the price is too good to be true, there's a good chance that it's not. Of course don't be quick to rule out genuine stores for being fake just because they have low prices. In any case before you decide to buy anything ask around the people to see what they have to say about the store, if it's for real or not, and if the price is so low, that even if you take a professional appraiser with you it's still cheaper than other places, the definitely do it. An appraiser will be able to tell you best if a store or a dealer is genuine.

Dealers are more suitable for the second type of buyers, resellers, because they'll usually have the items in bulk and with lower prices. But in order to be active on this front, you'll gonna have to have a lot more knowledge about gemstones, so that you can easily detect stones which are not genuine and in general which are misrepresented as something else. Basically don't get into this if you're not planning on dedicating more time to it, and if you don't want to inform yourself all the time on new breakthroughs in the gemstone industry, because there's always something cooking, someone creating a new super synthetic stone to replace cubic zirconium and moissanite. All those who are interested in the dealing with stones on larger scales, there's something interesting on the internet, which can help satisfy your interests. I'm talking about gemstones which can be bought per pound online, yes you've read that correctly. There are actually online shops and auctions sites which are offering different "packs" of mixed gemstones of varying sizes, both stones and the packs. Most popular is the 1 pound packs, which holds numerous stones, how many exactly depends on their size and density obviously, but it's a nice pile when you look at it, it's a pound of gemstones after all. What's more interesting is the fact that sellers usually have some sort of guarantee, that there will be at least this and that number of semi-precious stones, stones of this and that quality. Usually stones are polished, but the chances for you finding something exceedingly valuable in the pile are very slim, which is no surprise considering that the prices for such batches of gemstones range from 20$ to 50$ per pound. For such a low price you cannot expect much, everything was double checked and more valuable stones plucked clean, but if you're lucky, who knows.

Don't count too much on these cheap packs of gemstones to contain something a little bit more valuable, most of the time you'll just get stuff that's normally used for costume jewelry. For more serious buyers and those interested in buying larger amounts of real precious gemstones, you're gonna have to contact production companies overseas, but I doubt that there'll be someone like that reading this. For us who are just part time adventurers, packs like the one that was previously mentioned is more than enough, to search for lost treasures;). If you're interested in stones which are on rings, earrings, necklaces and so on, then you have to visit a jewelry store, just make sure that you take note of that balance that we talked about, the golden middle of quality and price, so that you do not overpay, but also that you do not buy something of poor quality. Visit as many stores as you can to avoid such situations and compare them all before buying, together with reviews from other buyers, and then and only then you should start considering opening the wallet. It would be a great thing that we didn't have to do this, but money is tight these days, and every cent counts, but before you do anything definitely visit our online webshop, where you can find a lot of beautiful gemstone jewelry with assured quality and reasonable prices.

Gemstones are an important decoration which gives more zest and glamour to jewelry. Without gemstones, precious metals would be alone which is a bit uniform and dull. The most famous gemstone is without a doubt the diamond, but there's actually a few more precious gemstones out there and even more non-precious ones. Sometimes people are unaware of the fact that there's more of them available because better part of the publics eye is focused on previously mentioned diamond. For buyers, there's an interesting piece of information which might be important, depending on where you your merchandise. If you're buying from places which have good reputation and which are known for their honesty, then you don't have to worry about it, but there's another option for buyers which people simply cannot resist and it there where problems start.

I'm of course talking about buying gemstones from buyers who's price is lower, lower at the expense of their honesty that is. As with everything else, same thing goes for jewelry, when you're paying for something and you pay more, it's usually understood that the thing you're buying has assured quality. That's why higher prices are with reputable dealers and jewelers, but if you want to save money you turn to dealers who's reputation might not be that great and who aren't located at what you might call fancy locations, if they even have a location at all. With such sellers we have to accept the risk that they will try to sell us fake gemstones, and one thing in particular that's troubling about dealing with these kind of sellers is that they will sell gemstones which are mixtures of several different types of stones, and they will sell them as if the gemstone is real. For that reason it's a good thing to know that there are gemstones out there which can have several different stone types in them, all rolled up in one.

Something like this happened when the stones were first being formed. Gemstones are as you maybe already know minerals, and they can be made up of various different elements. Back in the past when the stones were being created, it's possible that several different elements collected and became pressurized into a stone. Different parts of it at least. One example of such a thing happening is beryl, a semi precious gemstone which under certain circumstances becomes a precious stone known as emerald. Emerald is a type of beryl only unlike beryl it's considered to be a precious stone because of one important difference. When emeralds where being formed, to the usual composition that beryl has, chromium and vanadium found their way in the mix also, elements, metals who give emerald the green color, color for which this stone is known for. Sometimes though, not enough chromium and vanadium were added to the mix, that's when we have beryl stones which have only one part of it that's emerald, while the rest of it is only considered to be plain beryl mineral. That's where you as a buyer have to be careful, you might buy a stone, thinking that it's entirely an emerald, while in reality it has sections which are of lower quality. Something like that can seriously decrease the value of a stone and if  you're not too careful, you might pay too much for something that's very cheap.

Same thing doesn't only happen to emerald, other gemstones are affected by this very same problems. There's a lot of gemstones out there which are not only riddled with different elements which give it an uneven appearance, but which have various impurities trapped in them. Things like gas bubbles and various other substances trapped on the inside of the rocks. Best way to avoid buying such low quality items is by carefully examining everything that you're buying. Wear with you a good source of light and a magnifying glass at the place where the purchase will transpire. Light up the stone properly and use the  magnifying glass to carefully examine every inch of the stone. Before you do that it would be a good idea to know what to expect in whatever stone it is that you're buying. There's just too many types of stone to tell you what to expect on the inside of each and every one of them. For example when it comes to diamonds, if it's genuine there should be some inclusions present, inclusions are small streaks, if a diamond is prefect without imperfections, then it a good bet that it's fake. Synthetic diamonds are created so that there's very little to no imperfections, and it's a far greater chance that natural diamonds will have some imperfection present. On the other hand, emeralds, which we mentioned before, are known to be filled with inclusions, and make sure that they have a vivid green color, without any white and brown patches. If you see any place where there's color with lower intensity, it's possible that the stone is a combination of several different types, all mixed up in one.

For best results when it comes to avoiding buying low quality gemstones and gemstones which aren't genuine it's advised that you buy from reputable sellers, like us, basically anyone who's been in the business for a longer period of time and who has good reputation with local community in the area that their shop covers. Such shops might cost extra but don't think of it as losing money, look at it like buying security that whatever it is that you buying is in fact genuine and of good quality. Of course if you're feeling adventures you can always have a look at new sellers, and the ones that might not be that safe in order to save some cash, but only do this when you've practiced gemstones detection and you've done you're homework on the stone that you're planing on buying so that you can detect if something is wrong. If you're confident that you can do all those things, then definitely look into fresh faces which even though have lower prices, have them in order to attract new buyers, but definitely use caution and be careful not to pay too much for worthless junk.