Gemstones (Smithsonian Handbooks)

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	• Gemstones (Smithsonian Handbooks) Cally Hall DK ADULT, 2002 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 24 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Gemstones

I bought this book as a present for a friend who is slowly developing her own shop/career in gemstones.
The book is excellent and a great source of information for her.

A bit disappointing

This book starts with a brief introduction to gemstones, their formation, locations, properties & cuts. Then we move onto individual stones where the basic make-up & occurance of the stones are described. I know virtually nothing about gemstones and was looking for a quick reference guide which could help me in buying good qlty stones. While this book does provide a good basic description of the gemstones, it rly did not help me identify the key elements that I should look for in each gem before buying. In this sense, I found the 'Gemstone Buying Guide' by Renee Newman to be MUCH more informative and helpful. It was also not much use in giving me an idea about the price range of stones - again the Newman book was much better in this respect. One good thing abt the Smithsonian Handbook, however, was the color guide - a good idea. Overall, not a bad book if you are simply interested in the properties of stones, but not very helpful as a buying guide.

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Lovely Reference

I bought this for my 7-yr. old daughter - budding rock hound and naturalist! Like other DK books, the photography is luscious and the layout is casual and very inviting - full of beautiful images.

It provides a great overview and history of gemstones and their appeal, where specific stones can be found and appealing photographs of the different cuts of stones. It also provides detailed "specifics" such as structure, composition and hardness.

This is a thoroughly engaging book for all ages and it is highly recommended.

Gemstones (Smithsonian Handbooks)

Really enjoy this book. I needed help to indentify gemstones. This is exactly what I needed. Would buy this book to give as a gift.

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Great accurate gems index.

I've been using this book for a year now. All the relevant gems and minerals are listed with detailed description. Pictures are great and help in real life minerals identification.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5

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