Are you in this class to quench your thirst and hunger for gemstones? Let us test your knowledge with these questions, some of which are taken directly from your text, Schumann's (1997) Gemstones of the World. Answers are given below and can be accessed by clicking on the purple highlighted phrase in each question.

1. What is the most desirable color of a ruby?

2. Which gemstone changes color from red to green?

3. Although yellow or brown is the usual color for topaz, which color is the most valuable?

4. In relation to gemstones, what do the terms such as square, half Dutch rose, and briolette mean?

5. Where is the world's largest cut colorless diamond located?

6. What gem, if worn as an amulet, is said to protect against drunkenness?

7. Which gemstone was commonly used in rings, cameos, cylinder seals, and drinking vessels over 3,000 years ago in Egypt?

8. When were diamonds first synthesized?

9. Is there a difference between carat, karat, and carrot?

10. Gold, copper, zinc, nickel, & palladium are alloyed to create what color of gold?

Answers to Quench Your Thirst!

1. Ruby, a variety of corundum, is a pure red with a hint of blue or a slightly purplish-pink tint to the red. Chromium is responsible for making ruby red.

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2. Alexandrite, a variety of chrysoberyl, is deep green in daylight and light red in artificial light. Chromium is responsible for making alexandrite both green and red!

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3. Pink is the most valuable color for topaz. Topaz can be pink, colorless, yellow, red-brown, violet, light green and blue. Although blue topaz is common in jewelry today, very little is natural. It has been synthesized since 1976, and yellow topaz is heat treated to create blue.

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4. Different cuts of gems.

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5. The British Crown Jewels, housed in the Tower of London, include the largest cut, colorless diamond, named the First Star of Africa. This gem is a part of the head of the Scepter of King Edward VII, but can be removed and worn as a brooch. The diamond is 530.20 carats, fashioned in 1908 from the largest rough ever found, 3106 carats.

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6. Amethyst actually means "not drunken" and is believed to protect the wearer from drunkenness.

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7. Agate is banded, concentric fine-grained chalcedony, which cooled and crystallized within vesicles or voids in volcanic rock and was one of the earliest fashioned gem.

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8. Diamonds were first synthesized in the mid 1950s in Sweden and the U.S. It was not until the 1970s that gem quality rough was successfully created.

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9. Carat is a weight measure for gems (1 carat = 0.2 gram); karat is a quality measure for metals (24 karat = 100% pure gold); carrot is a vegetable!

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10. White gold.

How many did you get correct?

• 10? Congratulations! Maybe this course will just be review...
• 7-9? Good job! You could continue to expand your knowledge...
• 4-6? Wow! You definitely have an interest and will benefit by continuing...
• 3 or less? You are in the right place if you are willing to work at it...

This page originates from the Earth Science department for the use and benefit of students enrolled at Emporia State University. For more information contact the course instructor, S. W. Aber, e-mail: saber@emporia.edu Thanks for visiting! Webpage created: 1999; last update: January 14, 2008.