[Free form naturals]

I will start with the grade...A grade means less than 3 colors, AA means 3 colors,,AAA means more than 3 colors, This is the system most people use..

Ok now for craftsmanship,no chips in surface of stone allowed,,,no chips on edges of stone allowed,,,,no pollishing compound or buffing wheel particals should be present on the stone,that is a big no no,,this could indicate other problems,,,,the surface of stone should have no faceting, it should be smooth looking .not like it was machine cut or something,,all the edges of stone should look the same, by this i mean uniform,consistant, all of these things will affect the final value of the stone, craftsmanship is key to have a stone that is worth something.also look for 2 pictures at least,,with the lizard skin stuff, most of the time you get a real dark stone that only shows color the one way,that is the nature of the lizard skin stuff.

Now about coatings ,,i dont want to slam peoples stuff but here is the facts, any coated stones on the market today have a lower selling price. diamonds rubies emeralds. the natural stones allways are worth more or at the very least a bit more appealing..Also most epoxy coatings are not UV resistant and this means that the coating will yellow with time..i have seen many a coated stone in a store that had turned yellow and was starting to crack,again not to judge anybodys work but this is something customers should be aware of. if you are spending 30 dollars or more you should follow these rules. craftsmanship should not be an option, gem quality is another thing,you get what you pay for,we all know that,,,,

Truths about doublets..

Doublets were first created because some of the best material comes in a form that would not be able to make a gemstone that has any strength..the matrix that these pieces come with is just not very stable,,so the idea of giving the stone a new matrix was born,,It has nothing to do with maximizing your material, and everything to do with making a good product that will not break, i could go into more detail but the idea of this guide is to give you some quick knowledge on what you need to know to make a good choice

Price guide..this is my price guide that i feel is reasonable..have a look around at the bigger fish in the business and you will see that i am very very low in my estimates..a small pair of 8x 20mm stones can set ya back 7500 canadian dollars

Prices.. single color stones should top out at about a 100 USD .. [and higher for an exceptional pieces]
Two color stones 200 USD and higher, again if it has special features or is unusually bright the price goes up
Three colors 300 USD and up
Three to Four color 300 USD and way up to 1000 USD in some cases, all these prices are based on 1 sq inch stones.
Here is a formula you can use for the AAA or collector grade stones.  1.92 x the sq mm  .. one sq inch is 625mm. so 625 x 1.92 = $1200 USD per sq inch this would be retail prices, cut it in half for wholesale.

If you make it this far and feel that this guide was not helpful?? instead of giving me a no vote ..send me an email and tell me why, so that i can better aid people..thanks Dave

This is as simple as i can make it,,,you can ask me if you want more info ,,have fun