Gemstones of the World" is the single, cornerstone volume that every hobbyist, jeweler, jewelry maker, and rockhound needs. Great book excellent text on Gem stones together with easy accessible information and beautiful photographs.

These first few sections serve as an excellent introduction to, or refresher on, many of the basic concepts that help make identification easier. There are also many charts and diagrams as well as magnificent colour photographs of the stones with data about them on the facing page.

For Art Prints please allow 5 working days for unframed prints and 15 working days for framed prints/ stretched canvas. I have a passion for collecting beautiful gemstones and gaze in wonder at the natural beauty of the mineral world. The author does approach this subject as a scientist, which is to say with great skepticism, and makes clear numerous times that there is no real proof of gemstones’ effectiveness in easing ailments beyond a well-intentioned placebo effect. Each entry offers complete information on the gemstone's formation, structure, physical properties, and characteristics, along with the best methods of working, cutting, and polishing it.

True-color photographs picturing gemstones, many in rough and polished states, with full details of where they are found, how they are mined and cut, how they are imitated, how they are identified and classified, what their characteristics and physical properties are. Yet because of clever use of headers, shaded sections, illustrations, and white space, the text never seems cramped.It covers everything from the romance and history of more than 1,400 gemstones to their geographical locations, scientific, physical, and color properties, and they way they are formed, structured, and mined. At first glance, it would appear that little has changed since the fourth edition in 2009, and indeed most of the easy reference and good basic information is the same. The volume is well-referenced, in that if another gem or mineral is referenced the author includes a page number for ease of comparison. For those who already own the previous edition, there might not be much to gain from this latest version.