Simon & Schuster's Guide to Gems and Precious Stones provides both the connoisseur and the casual collector with a compact, easy-to-use volume describing more t

This fascinating work provides a truly stunning visual guide to the beautiful world of gemstones. It brings together a wealth of information in clearly worded t

Describes the appearance, formation, physical properties and characteristics, mining, and cutting of precious, semiprecious, and synthetic gemstones.

A popular description of their occurrence, value, history, archaeology and of the collections in which they exist, also a chapter on pearls and on remarkable fo

Finally the real truth about how master jewellers, gemmologists and major auction houses value diamonds and colored gemstones.