If you're new to buying gemstones, or just new to buying online, this guide will help you find the best gems to meet your needs. If you're already an experienced buyer, you may find some useful hints on how to use our website tools to quickly find the gems you need.

What Do You Need?

The first question to answer is: What do you want this gemstone for?If you're buying a stone to be set in a piece of jewelry, please be aware that not every kind of stone is ideal for every kind of jewelry. Every stone has a hardness rating. Some stones are simply too soft for a ring that will be worn on a daily basis. However, some of the softer stones may be suitable for occasional wear rings. A harder stone may also be preferred for bracelets, while nearly every stone is suitable for pendants, earrings, pins and brooches. Keep in mind as well that some jewelry settings are more protective than others. So the first thing you should do is check the hardness rating of the stone you're consideringIf you're buying a gemstone to be set in a piece of jewelry, you may need a stone in a "calibrated" size to fit a standard jewelry setting. Consult our calibrated size chart to find gems in in standard sizes. If you're having a custom piece made, a good jeweler can create a setting for any size stone, so you don't need to worry about calibrated sizes.

 

 

 

 

 

What Do You Want?

The next question concerns your personal preferences.Do you have a favorite gemstone? A favorite color? A favorite shape? Are you searching for a birthstone or anniversary stone?If you know what kind of stone you are looking for, click on the link for that stone on our gem list. That will take you to the page where you can review all the gems of a particular type. Then use the drop-down menu on the gem page to sort by color, shape, size, weight or price. You may also sort to see only lots (multiple gems) or single pieces. If you're looking for a matching set of gems for earrings, sort by "Lots only". In many cases we stock hundreds of stones of a particular type, so learning how to sort our inventory will save you time.Click on the "Details" button for any gem to see larger photos of that stone. All of our photos are photos of the specific gemstone offered for sale, and we show each gem from 3 different angles. Please make note of the size of the piece you're looking at, since the gems are magnified to give you the best view of the stone's clarity, cut and color. But a 1 carat stone may look just as a big as a 10 carat piece in the photos!If you are looking for a particular color, such as pink, but you're not sure what kind of stone you want, you can find all the different gemstones in pink by typing "pink" in the search box that you'll find on the right side of every page.The same technique works for searching for all gemstones in a particular shape, such as "pear" or "octagon." Or you can make a combined search and look for all the "blue oval" gems.To learn more about a particular kind of gemstone that interests you, please see our information pages. These pages provide detailed information on specific gems, including what to look for in that particular variety.If you want to get very specific, you can use our Shop By menu to search by any combination of gem type, weight, size, clarity, shape or price.