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Precious and semi-precious gemstones have been used since recorded history and probably before, for spiritual, emotional and physical healing. A crystal acts as a filter and like a filter in a furnace it needs to be cleaned occasionally. Clear your crystal whenever you feel it needs it. This could be as often as once a week. Whenever you use your crystal for healing on anyone clear it afterwards! Clear and remove the static in your crystal's aura and magnetic field cleansing. |
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| An experienced person can guess a gemstones price range by gathering certain information about the gemstone. Certain unique properties will set it aside from other gemstones of the same type. | ||
| Properties that set one gemstone apart from another are: | ||
| Its color and the intensity of color | ||
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A dull gemstone is not eye catching. Striking, vivid colors quickly catch the eye and raise the value of a gemstone. Australian Opals, with great fire, are costly, primarily because of their appealing colors. Even if the color of a mineral is vivid, it is still more valuable than a dull gemstone. |
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| The transparency of the gemstone | ||
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Minerals that have transparency provide a certain amount of clarity within the gemstone. The greater the clarity, the greater its value. Where a mineral has transparency there is the ability of seeing the crystalline structure, color, inclusions, phantoms etc that the crystal possesses. The greater the transparency, the more you can see, the more appealing it becomes, the greater its value. |
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| Gemstone luster | ||
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Due to the stable chemical structure of minerals, luster is rarely a factor in mineral value, since the same type of minerals exhibit similar levels of luster. There are a few cases where a gemstone naturally exhibits a more impressive luster than other minerals of its kind. These exceptions give the gemstone a greater value. |
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| The formation of the crystal | ||
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Well-formed or unique crystals will raise the value of the gemstone, especially of large crystals. Nearly all natural crystals are deformed, some more than others. The larger a crystal, the more likely it is to be deformed. |
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| Gemstone size | ||
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Small, well formed, beautiful, gemstones are easier to find. Larger gemstones with similar properties are more expensive, because of their size. Fairly large gemstones, even of common minerals, will usually be of a higher value. |
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| Anomalies | ||
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Gemstones of a mineral that are intrinsically different from normal gemstones of the mineral fall under this category. Properties such as abnormal color, pseudomorphs, twinning, and odd crystals give a gemstone extra value. |
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| The presence of a matrix | ||
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Crystals in a matrix are definitely more valuable than similar "freestanding" crystals. A matrix shows the original uniqueness of the mineral. Crystals in a matrix should always be selected over freestanding crystals. |
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| Demand | ||
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Some minerals are not be considered attractive, but demand a high price because of their content, such as gold or silver. |
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| Gemstone rarity | ||
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Obviously, rare minerals are more costly than more common ones. Extremely rare minerals have a great value, even if they look ugly. The opposite is also true. Fairly common minerals, even if nicely colored and well formed have little value because of their commonness (unless they are exceptional). |
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| Exceptional gemstones | ||
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Then there is always a spot for the exceptional gemstones. Gemstones that are magnificent, are always more valuable. |
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| Damage free gemstones | ||
| Gemstones that have no damage are of more value then ones that have chips, nicks etc. | ||