About gemstones

Gemstones are pretty, colorful, and just about worthless! Chances are you will come across some gemstones set in rings, earrings, necklaces or bracelets while searching through your jewelry box for scrap gold and wonder what to do with them. Until recently, diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds were considered precious gems, while the semi-precious gems category included amethysts, citrines, peridot, topaz, garnets, and so on. Diamonds (see About Diamonds) are still considered precious, but rubies, sapphires and emeralds have become more commonplace due to large quantities of lesser quality examples being sold on home shopping clubs, department store jewelry counters and the Internet. That's not to say there aren't gem-quality precious stones out there, but today's market is glutted with lower grade specimens that really don't merit "precious" status.

As far as semi-precious stones go, their worth is almost purely aesthetic. The more saturated the color, the more value, but even at that, they're just not that valuable. Do a search on Ebay for gemstones, and you'll see that just about any semi-precious stone, already cut and faceted, can be purchased for a nominal price. That's why I recommend removing them before selling your scrap gold. Stones present a huge grey area when selling gold because their weight has to be taken into account, and there's no way of knowing what they weigh unless they are removed from the setting. A small pair of needle-nose pliers should do the trick on stones that are held by prongs, and a small ball peen hammer will take care of the ones in bezel settings. I know that sounds shocking, but you're better off removing the stones before you sell your gold. The alternative is trusting the buyer to estimate the weight of the stones, and that probably won't go in your favor.

One last thought...there are rare and exotic gems that DO have value, so if there's any question in your mind, it's best to obtain the assessment of a certified gemologist before you do anything with the gold or the stone.

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