A gem or gemstone is known as a precious or semi-precious stone that is a part of some attractive mineral and used after cutting and polishing to make jewelry and other ornamentation. There are also some rocks and natural materials that are not minerals but still they are used to make jewelry and other ornamentation, i.e. lapis lazuli or amber and jet. These kinds of materials are also considered gemstones. A large number of gemstones are consisted of hard substances but some of them are soft minerals too. A gemologist has to test a wide range of materials as to confirm it as a gemstone. According to some estimates there are almost 270 varieties that have been identified as gemstones.

Gemstones have been using in jewelry and other ornamentation for centuries. Gemstones always have a great amount of attraction in themselves for the people in almost every part of the world. Below is a list of some well-known gemstones with their brief description:

Agate

A kind of chalcedony quartz (a translucent or grayish form of quartz) and it takes a nice shape in concentric layers in a very wide range of colors and look.

Amethyst

It is considered one of the most precious gemstones in the group of quartz. A wide range of colors from deep reddish to pale lilac is found in it.

Ametrine

A kind of quartz that is found in a group of yellow and purple it is somewhat a mixture of the colors of amethyst and citrine.

Almandine Garnet

It is considered the most common garnet and found in purplish red and dark brownish .It has a noteworthy hardness and brilliance in itself.

Amazonite

It was named after the Amazon River in Brazil but it is very astonishing that no deposits of   Amazonite are found there, a kind of green microcline gemstone and a silica mineral as well.

Andalusite

When it is examined from different angles, it gives different colors, a strong pleiochroic gem.

Apatite

A rare gemstone that is available in jewelry store but once in a blue moon .It has different colors and shapes and it’s always admired by the collectors

Azotic Topaz

While applying a tech process to colorless topaz, Azotic Topaz was developed by a company and we name it “Azotic” after the company who introduced that process.

Aquamarine

There is a stunning rang of blue colors is found in it and it is known as a cousin of emerald .It is also colored with hinted amounts of iron.

Andesine-Labradorite

Andesine-Labradorite is found in different varieties of color like red, yellow, green and champagne.

Beryl

When it’s about importance, Beryl excels as a gem mineral and it includes emerald, heliodor, morganite and aquamarine.

Citrine

Citrine is a French word for lemon, this gem is found in a yellow to gold and orange brown colors of transparent quartz.

Chrysoberyl

This graceful gemstone deserves a lot but it is not as well known as it must be. Besides an awesome luster it also has a very good hardness around 8.5 on the Mohs scale.

Diamond

Diamond is the most famous gemstone in almost every part of the world that needs not any introduction. It is matchless in hardness, high refractive index and dispersion.

Emerald

One of the most precious stones in beryl group that has an astonishing green color that is quite rare in any other available gem.