Scrutinizing "LIFE" of a Gemstone

Gemstone standards have greatly facilitated trade and mercantile by formalizing grading and quality benchmarks. However it is not very essential for an ultimate customer to go too technical about it. This mostly applies when one is judging eye-appeal and overall harmony of a gemstone. Parameters such as clarity standards, transparency and color grading are individualistic in nature and therefore you cannot just pick one of these factors to decide a gem's worth. Value of gemstone is outcome of composite aspects and in this case there is no fixed formula to fine quality output.

It is often seen that people get so particular about clarity and color of diamond that they almost neglect its cut and brilliance. As buyers we should never forget that our alliance with gemstones began with a simple notion that they are breathtakingly beautiful and there overall appeal is what they stand for.

So the question here is, how one should rate composite beauty of a colored gem? Color no doubt remains to be the most prominent and primary factor in choosing a gemstone. Determining color mostly depends upon your preference. If you like chaste blue color rather than deep concentrated blue it is perfectly fine. One the other hand if you are not sure you can refer to color grading standards.

After picking the right color comes the stage of evaluating life.
When it comes to clarity, instead of going too deep into clarity and transparency standards, one should look for "LIFE" of gem. Life is a general term used to describe overall brilliance and sparkle of gemstone. There are no set standards to determine life as it is a compound factor that cannot be generalized. However there are certain ground rules that one can apply to ascertain life of a gem.

Transparency: Transparency is a positive factor in deciding gemstone's life. Higher the transparency greater the life. Transparency plays a crucial role in ruling out life of colored gems.

Faceting: Faceting has got a lot to do with utilizing and defining color of a gem as well as its brilliance. Cuts that have more facets like mixed and brilliant cut have more life than those with few facets.

Proportions: Faceting a gem goes to vain if proportions are not taken care of. A poorly cut stone can affect color zoning and can lead to negative effects such a window.

Polish: As we all know, polish enhances luster and thus adds more life to a gemstone. Although level of polish that can be achieved depends upon type and species of gemstone.

Clarity: Inclusions interfere with reflectivity of a gem affecting its light and brilliance.

Gray Masking: Gray saturation reduces life of a gem by destroying its color and tone. It makes a stone look darker and dull.

Tone: Tone determines intensity of gem's color. If color is denser it would make a stone look richer thereby enhancing its life.

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