--by Kirsten Houseknecht

(Part One: Selecting and Buying Jewelry)

When buying gems or jewelry there are several things you need to know before you buy. If you do not know what you are buying, you are vulnerable to being sold a fake, or charged an unfair price. Your very best course is to educate yourself a bit about gems and jewelry before buying any pieces that represent a significant expense.

First you will want to know what materials went into the piece of jewelry you are considering, and what that means. Different materials have different durability and cleaning needs as well as very different magical properties. If you buy a piece of jewelry that is incompatible with your lifestyle or your magical needs, or that you do not know how to properly care for, you will be unhappy later!

Always ask what the metal component of a piece is. If a piece of jewelry is labeled as iasilverló what does that mean? Some forms of ‚silver™ are mostly nickel, so always ask if it is Sterling Silver (an alloy, but of a certified percentage of silver), Fine Silver (nearly pure silver), plated with silver, or base metal. If a piece of jewelry is labeled as ‚gold™ does that mean it is 10, 14, or 18 Karat? And do you know what the alloy is mixed with? Many white gold alloys are mixed with nickel, not a good choice if you are allergic to nickel! (There are white gold alloys that do not contain nickel, so always ask.) The legal definition of what can be labeled as i?goldls varies from country to country, so always inquire as to what the percentage of gold, or its Karat is. The metal component of a piece can make a big difference in how it reacts magically, as well as how easy it is to clean and polish!

Know what the gem component of a piece is. Exactly what stone is it? Many stones have folk names, or common names, that can be misleading, and many dealers use fancy sounding names to try to sell their otherwise common stones. Smoky Quartz, a beautiful stone with psychic enhancing properties, is often mistakenly sold as isSmoky Topazli when it is not a member of the Topaz family of gems. If you buy iuJadelg you need to be especially careful that it is actually Jadeite, or Nephrite, the two stones that may rightly be called Jade: there are a lot of green stones out there that are called i?Jadela (usually with some qualifier) that are not legally or magically Jade. (They may be nice stones, but know what you are getting!)

Once you know what the stone is, find out more about it. What are its magical properties? How tough is it? Will it stand up to everyday wear, or is it too soft? Is it prone to chipping, and best suited to earrings? Is the stone naturally light or heat sensitive? (Amethyst, and many other members of the Quartz family, can lose their color if left exposed to sunlight for too long) You must also find out whether the stone is genuine, or if it was treated, or enhanced. Many stones are routinely enhanced, or treated in some way. There is nothing wrong with this as long as you understand what that means, and pay an appropriate (not an over inflated) price. Heat-treating, dyeing, or irradiating a stone does not usually change its magical properties, BUT may be used to make a gem appear to be something it is not. (A piece of Agate dyed to resemble Lapis is still an Agate, not a Lapis). Heat-treating is a common way of changing or enhancing the color of a stone; it is usually perma- nent. Irradiation can produce beautiful colors, but you shouldn™t pay the same price that you would if the color was natural. Dyed stones are available in all the colors of the rainbow, but care must be taken to keep the stone away from solvents (cleaners, polishes, makeup removers, alcohol) or you might remove the color.

Many stones are foiled or back painted, where a colored backing or mirroring is applied to reflect more light or deepen the color of the stone. It is also possible to manufacture artificial, or lab grown stones that can rarely be told from the natural version.Remember, jewelers have been enhancing and faking gemstones since the earliest recorded accounts, so make sure you know what can be done, and what you are buying!

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