About this item

Exotic Gems, Volume 4 is the fourth in a series of books that explores the history, lore, properties, qualities and geographic sources of unusual gems. The book shows you with photos how to make visual judgements about the quality of jade and abalone pearls, and it explains how treatments affect the value of jade. It includes chapters on jade from China, Burma, Guatemala, Canada, the US and Russia. The guide also provides information on caring for the gems, distinguishing between jadeite and nephrite, cutting jade, culturing abalone made pearls and detecting imitations and gem treatments.Both basic and advanced identification techniques and instrumentation are explained and illustrated. The gems are shown not only loose but also in jewelry and under magnification.