Angel Jewels Precious and Semi Precious Gemstone Jewellery Store
Angel Jewels Gemstone & Jewellery Precious and Semi Precious Gemstone What are the differences between precious and Precious stones Precious stones are distinguished by their quality, their rarity and the beauty of their colours. There are only four precious stones: Diamond , sapphire , ruby and emerald . All other stones are therefore called semi-precious stones . This distinction is also due to their hardness , which translates into scratch resistance. One stone is harder than another if the former can scratch the latter. Only a diamond can scratch another diamond. However, it can still crack in the event of a major shock. Hardness is measured on the Mohs scale that ranks minerals on a scale of 1 to 10. Diamond (10/10), ruby (9/10), sapphire (9/10) and emerald (7.5-8/10) are considered the hardest. Nevertheless, all stones remain fragile and require the utmost care Ruby is distinguished by its red tones, which can go through a gradient from pink to purple, to sli...