Gemstones.... known for their enthralling sparkle, cuts and astrological relevance..

The sheen, glitter and charismatic features of gemstones attract everyone's attention. They look marvelous when used with precious and semi precious metals including gold, silver and platinum. We can easily discover ladies flaunting gemstone jewelry in almost every corner of the world. These minerals or combination of minerals, are gaining importance among all age groups. Gemstone jewelry like gemstone studded earrings and necklaces, are a hit among college going girls and young women. Whereas, bracelets studded with gemstones, are quite popular among young boys. Renowned for their durability, gemstone jewelry are sturdy enough to be enjoyed by generations. Gemstones like Aquamarines, Diamonds, Emeralds, Opals, Pearl, Ruby, Sapphires, Spinels, Topaz, etc. are used worldwide by jewelers in designing their collection.

Before jumping towards Gemstone Jewelry, let's clear up the haze from the word 'gemstone.' A gemstone or simply a gem, is a portion of an attractive mineral, which when cut and polished, displays a high degree of sparkle, rarity and durability. The stunning beauty of this small and tiny, yet seductive piece of minerals, is capable of stealing the heart of everyone, right from an ordinary housewife to the heart of celebrities. The most important aspect of a gemstone is its 'rarity'- means the economical value of these precious and semi-precious stones is measured in terms of its rarity in appearance. Several stones including the diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, etc. have high economic value because of their rarity or appearance.

Generally, gemstones are categorized as naturally found and the human made stones. Gemstones falling under the former category are procured naturally, whereas synthetic gems are created artificially. The basic unit for weighing gemstones is the carat, which is equal to one-fifth 91/5th of a gram. Since jewelry without gemstones looks incomplete, there is a huge demand for gemstone jewelry like gemstone studded rings, necklaces, gemstone studded bracelets, earrings, rings and other jewelry products in the entire market.

After collecting raw minerals, polishing and cutting is done to make jewelry or other adornments. The value of a gemstone is identified by gemologists, who possess mastery in 'gemology or gemmology', a separate branch of mineralogy that deals in identifying and evaluating gemstones. Generally, most gemstones are hard, but they are used with some soft materials while designing jewelry. For centuries, gemstones have been widely used by various cultures for specific reasons. Some used them for their beauty, whereas in some cultures they were used for their healing and astrological properties. According to Maria Leach's Standard Dictionary of Folklore, "Belief in the supernatural properties of precious stones goes back beyond recorded history". Historical writings throw light on various uses of these semi-precious and precious pieces of minerals. They were used as medicines, for creating good luck, financial gains or even for finding a soul mate.

Even today, many people of the world, particularly the Indians use gemstones for their astrological and healing powers. According to the Vedas, the nine planets have been assigned nine different gemstones; for instance Ruby (Manik) for Sun, Pearl or Moti for Moon, Red Coral (Moonga) for Mars, Emerald (Panna) for Mercury (Budha), Yellow Sapphire (Pukhraj) for Jupiter (Guru), Diamond (Heera) for Venus (Shukra), Blue Sapphire (Neelam) for Saturn (Shani), Gomedha for Rahu and Cat's Eye (Lahusunia) for Ketu.

Earlier, India was the primary market of gemstones and gemstone jewelry. But their luster and beauty coupled with healing properties and astrological significance have made them a highly demanded item all across the world. Jewelry embedded with gemstones like rubies, emeralds, sapphires, swiss/london blue topaz, lemon/smoky quartz, amethyst, citrine, aquamarine, tourmaline, etc. are in high demand all across the globe.

But to find an authentic gemstone is not at all an easy task. Though many online stores offer a range of gemstones and gemstone studded jewelry items, but only a few are reliable. While surfing on the Internet, I came across a portal named www.tradeindia.com. This portal contains a large data of gemstone suppliers, manufacturers and exporters of gemstones, gemstone jewelry, loose gemstones, precious gems, precious gemstones, semi precious gemstones and semi precious stones. One of the suppliers of semi-precious and precious gemstones was offering the widest selection of raw gemstones and gemstone studded jewelry. That was really a marvelous experience for me.