Rating: 
Summary: good
Review: This book is ok. However if you are looking for a text which helps you to understand how to judge whether or not a gemstone is worth its price, this is not the right one.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: This book is very good for your reference guide of gemstones. When I purchased it from importer, it was very expensive more than two times.
Rating:
Summary: A "must have" reference for gemstone lovers, and rockhounds.
Review: This book should be in everyone's library. There is something here for everyone--from kids who collect rocks (because that's what kids do), to the serious gemstone collector. In fact, any nature lover would thoroughly enjoy this book for its stunning color photos. From Diamonds to Pearls and everything in between, Schumann's revised and updated reference provides a wealth of information for every level of interest.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Gemstone book
Review: This clearly the best gemstone book ever. It features every gemstone imaginable with some I've never heard of. It not only gives a picture of the rough and faceted cut in full color photos but also gives the chemical breakdown, hardness and location found. Truly worth the money!
Rating:
Summary: Best gem book, but not much new
Review: This is a great gem book for the amateur rock hound/lapidary. A great reference for the more experienced. Lots of info. on physical characteristics, history, mining, and geographic distribution of stones. The best part is the pictures, every stone is in color in both the raw and processed states.
The only disappointment was there was not a whole lot of new material from the 1977 edition. A few new stones and some new age and metaphysical stuff was added. But if you don't own one of the previous editions, I highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding reference on both common and rarer gemstones.
Review: This is one of the best documents on gemstones availabletoday. Itcovers virtually every major gemstone as well as a great number of the "new" gemstones just coming into popularity. The descriptions and photographs are excellent. The locals where found and the appearance and availability of the rough material make this a genuine gem of its own. Anyone interested in lapidary, jewelry, or gemstones in general will find this book to be an outstanding value. This is enhanced by its relatively low price.
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding reference on both common and rarer gemstones.
Review: This is one of the best documents on gemstones availabletoday. Itcovers virtually every major gemstone as well as a great number of the "new" gemstones just coming into popularity. The descriptions and photographs are excellent. The locals where found and the appearance and availability of the rough material make this a genuine gem of its own. Anyone interested in lapidary, jewelry, or gemstones in general will find this book to be an outstanding value. This is enhanced by its relatively low price.
Rating:
Summary: The best gemstone reference book I've seen.
Review: This is probably the best gemstone reference book that I've seen. If you are someone interested in gems, looking to buy gems online, or even a jeweler you'll find this book indispensable.The book teaches you the basic properties of gemstones, hardness, cleavage/fracture, color, refraction, dispersion, etc. It gives you an overview of cutting and polishing gemstones with a chart of the different types of cuts available. But the best part of the book is the description of gemstones. This book covers virtually all known gemstones! Not just the big 4(diamond, emerald, ruby, sapphire) but over 100 different gems, many that you've probably never even heard of! The gems are broken down into groups, the beryl group, corundum group, etc. Each group then gives the different gems from that group and gives the physical characteristics of that gem. It lists the different sources and colors of each gem and tells you which gems you might confuse the stone with. And finally each gemstone comes with a full page picture of different cuts, colors and rough of that gem. All in all this is a MUST HAVE BOOK for anyone interested in gems.
Rating:
Summary: The best gemstone reference book I've seen.
Review: This is probably the best gemstone reference book that I've seen. If you are someone interested in gems, looking to buy gems online, or even a jeweler you'll find this book indispensable. The book teaches you the basic properties of gemstones, hardness, cleavage/fracture, color, refraction, dispersion, etc. It gives you an overview of cutting and polishing gemstones with a chart of the different types of cuts available. But the best part of the book is the description of gemstones. This book covers virtually all known gemstones! Not just the big 4(diamond, emerald, ruby, sapphire) but over 100 different gems, many that you've probably never even heard of! The gems are broken down into groups, the beryl group, corundum group, etc. Each group then gives the different gems from that group and gives the physical characteristics of that gem. It lists the different sources and colors of each gem and tells you which gems you might confuse the stone with. And finally each gemstone comes with a full page picture of different cuts, colors and rough of that gem. All in all this is a MUST HAVE BOOK for anyone interested in gems.
Rating:
Summary: Gemstones of the World -- Consummate Reference
Review: Upon viewing the pages contained withing this hardback, I immediately smiled. A great purchase. The information given on each family of gemstones was incredible. Not only was in depth information given on the standard stones (diamonds, rubies, emeralds, opal, garnet and etc.), but also rarely seen varieties were also shown, giving the "collector" a unique perspective. Before reading this publication, I never knew there were green, yellow, orange or colorless garnets, I never heard of "heliodor" or Uvarovite, Andradite garnets, Dravite Tourmaline, etc and etc. What a wealth of information. Gemology, folklore, scientific and geographic information on each and every variety listed within!!! WOW. What an exhaustive reference! GOOD SHOW!
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