For many years now, semi-precious and precious stones have always been used by men and women alike. Similar to the modern-age that a lot of people wear today, the most dominant features of pieces are usually beautiful, attractive and colorful stones that are used as metallic embellishments and ornamentation. These stones that are used for the crafting of various fine jewelry are basically divided to two types: the semi-precious stones and the precious stones.

These stones are heavily used in the jewelry market as variety and value is set and considered. Now although artistic merits are generally subjective, the values of these two types of stones would be dependent on their quality and rarity. A lot of people who are in the market for jewelry that have these kinds of stones such as general consumer and collectors usually would prefer the rare stone to the beautiful one.

These semi-precious and precious stones are essentially rocks or minerals that have been taken from under the earth and then enhanced by the artisans through the process of cutting and polishing. The finest and the rarest of these stones and minerals are what turn out to be gems or semi-precious and precious stones.

For the precious stones, the most valuable would be the emeralds, rubies, sapphires and of course, . Pearls are also sometimes considered as precious stones. However, they are not actually stones but are still known for its beauty, elegance and value.

The most valuable semi-precious stones would be the amethyst, turquoise, lapis-lazuli, aquamarine, topaz, peridot, moonstone, tourmaline, opal, zircon, chrysoberyl and alexandrite. Some other semi-precious stones that are not as valuable, though valuable still would include jade, garnet, chrysoprase, agate, azurite, bloodstone, coral, malachite, carnelian and a lot others.