Gemology 101

Opal is perhaps one of the most popular phenomenal gemstones that shows the phenomena play-of-color. And this phenomena can only be used to describe natural opals and synthetic opals. Play-of-color...

Bright spot flashes like small gold flecks when viewed under an incandescent light is the mark of a cut sunstone. This phenomena is known as Aventurescence.

Have you seen a Morpho butterfly with its flash of blue iridescence color?  These blue flashes of color are created by an optical effect, example, interference, refraction or diffraction of light, and not by...

Have you ever witness the Aurora Borealis in the Norwegian Artic? Perhaps you may have come across it in video clips and still life photography. The billowing clouds of bluish, whitish...

The Orient phenomena is also a form of iridescence. With pearls there is a delicate, shifting iridescent color layer that is quite distinct from the main body color. The luster as well as the orient...

A peacock’s train (a peacock’s tail) fanning out its elongated upper tail coverts with its shimmering blue or green plumage is perhaps one of the most dazzling sights.

Chatoyancy, is an optical reflectance effect seen in certain gemstones. Coined from the French word "œil de chat," meaning "cat's eye," chatoyancy arises either from the fibrous structure of a material or from fibrous inclusions...

Another type of Phenomenal Gems is the Color-Change Gemstone.  These are gemstones that display different colors according to changes in lighting condition.  This is almost like the Chameleon monitor lizard, which changes the color...

Asterism is the effect of a six-ray or four-ray star on top of a dome of a cabochon gemstones. In effect, asterism is the same as chatoyancy, except that there...

Abstract: If you intend to become a gemologist, or have a fervent interest in learning about diamonds and gemstones, the two basic skills are to learn how to use a loupe and a...