Newly published in the fourth edition, this definitive guide takes the mystery out of appreciating, buying and selling gemstones. It covers everything from the romance and history of more than 1800 gemstones to their geographic locations; scientific, physical and colour properties; and the way they are formed, structured and mined. The book also fully covers the optical features of gems - light and colour, luminesence, refraction and inclusions - key information about the densities and chemical elements of each stone, with fancinating details on different cuts, polishing, gems, hardness, cleavage, classifaction, trade names, rarity and more. There are also many charts and diagrams as well as magnificent colour photographs of the stones with data about them on the facing page. If you only want one book on gemstones in your library, this would be the one!

Aurthor; Walter Schumann