How to identify gemstone quality?

What's the difference in between Pigeon's blood ruby and common rubies? Cornflower Sapphires, and non Cornflowers?

How to difference them, is there a website, or can anyone tell me how to identify them?

How to identify gemstone quality?
Pigeon blood red and Cornflower blue are trade terms for top quality color in rubies and sapphires. Unfortunately, these terms are used indiscriminately to sell gemstones and therefore mean very little!



Unless you have had some sort of training in gemstone grading and appraisal, it would be difficult for you to differentiate commericial, good and fine quality gemstones via a website or even through Yahoo Answers.



How to identitfy fine color:



As a general guide, the market puts a premium on PURE color that has a balanced tone.



If you are looking for a good ruby, it should be pure red with absolutely no browns and have a tone that is not too light or too dark. For sapphires, pure blue without any greens or greys is best. Again, tone should be balanced.



This rule of thumb can be applied to almost all stones, although there are exceptions and variations. For example, Japanese buyers put a premium on rubies that are pinkish-red. American buyers sometimes reject these stones as rubies because they consider them to be pink sapphires! UK buyers seem to have a higher tolerance for dark toned sapphires, whereas in Europe, buyers prefer a lighter or more balanced tone. So, as another answerer replied earlier, quality grading can indeed be subjective. Lots of this information %26amp; experience will be gained when you start to actively buy and sell stones.



Educating yourself:



The only way to be able to grade gemstones competently is by learning on the job from a trained practitioner or expert and by getting as much practical experience as possible.



Of course, this is a rather niche trade and you might be hard-pressed to find an employer or mentor who is willing to teach you. The alternative is to head for an established school that will not only give you firm fundamentals in gemstone identification and grading, but access to plenty of sample stones for your practise.



I'm sure the GIA immediately comes to mind, but one of the industry's best kept secrets is the Asian Institue of Gemological Sciences (AIGS) based in Bangkok,Thailand. It has the largest collection of sample stones for student use in the world and the added advantage of being located in the gem capital of Asia, making it great for seeing plenty of stones and for networking.



You can find more information at these websites:

http://www.aigsthailand.com/

http://www.yourgemologist.com/

http://gemologyonline.com/

http://gemwiseblogspotcom.blogspot.com/



Hope that helps!
Reply:Pigeon's blood refers to the color as does cornflower. Color is one factor in determining the worth of a gemstone but there are other factors.
Reply:There is absolutely NO WAY you can learn to grade gemstone quality from any website, book, or long distance training course. The ONLY way you can achieve this skill (and only if you have a good enough eye for colour) is by practice and hands on tuition by an expert. The appreciation of colour is a totally subjective matter and each individual has to learn it for themselves by constant practice.
Reply:the color is a statement of points.the more points the more the value