There are so many different minerals out there. For a novice jewelry buyer, she can easily be confused.

What should she buy?

One astounding fact about gemstones is that you can find a wide assortment of color.

Here are the colors available and the type of stone available. The color is caused by metal ion impurities such as chromium, iron and copper.

Red - Ruby , garnet , spinel, coral, alexandrite, Tourmaline

Blue - Sapphire, Aquamarine, Topaz, Tourmaline, Paraiba Tourmaline, Tanzanite, Spinel, Zircon, Lapis Lazuli, Iolite, Turquoise

Pink- Ruby, Sapphire, Spinel, Garnets, Kunzite, Morganite Beryl, Topaz, Tourmaline

Green - Emerald, Tourmaline, Tsavorite Garnet, Demantoid Garnet, Peridot, Jade, Sapphire,Chrome Diopside, Chrysoprase, Alexandrite

Yellow- Sapphire. Citrine, Chrysoberyl, Topaz, Zircon, Amber, Andalusite, Tourmaline, Garnets

Violet- Amethyst, Garnets, Sapphire, Spinel, Tanzanite, Jadeite

Orange-Sapphire, Garnets, Mandarin Garnet, Citrine, Topaz, Fire Opal

I know that diamonds are the star but colored gems can share equal billing.

Royalty and movie stars have in their possession treasures which include emerald and sapphires and rubies.

The gemstone which have a distinguish long history are the emerald , ruby and sapphire.

Most importantly, how do you value a gemstone?

It is the same as diamonds which is the 4 Cs. The most important C for diamonds is Cut whereas color is the most important for gemstone.

You should look for pure colors rather than a mixture of two different colors in the gem. The tone should be moderate . It should not be too light or too dark.

The gem should not look dull and lifeless.

Clarity- Try to get a gem without inclusion. However this may be a natural phenomenon. Inclusion may tell the origin of the gem. Sometimes the gem may even be prized for its inclusion such as star in the star sapphire or the eye in the cats eye.

The gem should be cut in such a way as the light is reflected and refracted back to the observer resulting in brilliance and sparkle. If you can see through the gem that means that light has passed through the gem. Also beware of dark areas in the stone.

Durability- Check out whether the gem is hard. The harder the better . Diamond is the hardest substance at all. Next, comes sapphire followed by topaz. The gem should also not be brittle that means easily broken or inability to resist strong impact.

Carat- Gemstone are sold by weight in carat which is 0.2 grammes. However different gems have different densities. So a 1 carat emerald is much bigger than a 1 carat sapphire.

Rarity- actually rubies are even rarer than diamonds but diamonds are harder and cutting makes it sparkle. Sometimes a gem may be rare but the value is not as high as the gem is relatively unknown.

You can break up the price range of the different gem varieties into 4 categories. Ruby, emerald and sapphire are the most expensive but these are the perennial favorites. The next price range consist of connoisseur gems such as black opal, jadeite, fancy colored sapphires, pink topaz, chrysoberyl cat's-eye, demantoid garnet and alexandrite.

The mid range price consists of gems such as tanzanite, tsavorite garnet, aquamarine, tourmaline, red spinel, precious topaz and spessartite garnet. They are relatively new gems but they are in hot demand and are popular.

The affordable gemstone are the following : amethyst, white opal, citrine, ametrine, peridot, rhodolite garnet, blue topaz, iolite, kunzite, andalusite, lapis lazuli, turquoise, onyx, chrysoprase, nephrite jade, and amber.