Noob with 2 questions

#1 I need to know what I need to buy (as inexpensive as realistic) and where to help determine specific gravity of stones? I have 100’s of unidentified gems I’ve collected over 15 years and would like to sell some but want to be fair to the market as well as myself but cannot id on looks alone.
#2 Anyone know what some of these are? Sorry for so many. I deleted alot and didn’t know if flash or no flash? Any help is appreciated







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  • Second picture round brilliant cut - may be a Mystic Topaz. But the metallic coating also apply on others gem material (ex quartz or manmade glass.)
  • Last picture sphere shape - Labradorite.

Others is hard to tell the identity solely just a picture.
Hope this will help :+1:

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Second one looks like an amethyst geode
#4 maybe citrine, a blue sapphire and some amethyst
#5 maybe garnets
#7 maybe a couple peridot

These are guesses based on what I think they are. Without knowing the hardness, area the gem is from, specific gravity etc.

I kind of have the same problem, I bought from an estate sale 100’s of gems, but other than what is marked on some containers (even if they are correct), I don’t know what they all are. I have no background history on them either so that means getting them appraised will be an astronomical price.

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SG can be calculated using a set of scales that measure to .000grams. You need a plastic cup, water and something to suspend the gem. There are You Tube videos on how to do it.
However, SG doesn’t help you if the material is lab grown. The SG of lab grown sapphire and spinel is the same as natural from the earth. So often times you need to do a series of investigations, including microscopic views, to determine what the gem is and whether it is natural or lab grown. Some tests including High Heat / Beryillum diffusion treatments need more sophisticated testing.

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What you are requesting is the kind of work that a trained Gemologist can assist you with. I provide identification services to the public and charge $30 per stone for a verbal identification. I can tell you that some of the stones you have pictured here will not be worth $30, so it wouldn’t make any much sense to have them identified.

Some are possible to identify based on sight as seen by some of the other commenters here, but basing an ID on sight always leaves room for it to be a really good fake.

Valuing these stones is also very tricky and should be done by someone who knows the range of quality that can be found in each gemstone species. That’s how you identify value in colored gemstones. You rely on what is available in the most relevant markets and pull up comparable pricing. This is nearly impossible to do accurately by relying on pictures online.

There unfortunately isn’t much of a market for gemstones that have been removed from their settings and sold in a secondary market unless you’re talking about something in the big 3 (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald) or Diamond. Here’s a guy that sells 500 carats of stones like the ones in your pictures on Ebay for around $20.

[Lot of Gemstones Assorted Gems 500 Carats Pearls CZ Topaz Scrap Jewelry Making | eBay]

I’m sorry if I am the bearer of bad news, but I’m just trying to look out for your time. If you like gemology, it looks like a very nice collection to start learning about how to identify and grade gemstones.

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First picture: Sardonyx. Second picture: Hard to tell. The array of reflected colors may be if you used flash on this one. Third picture: The two at the right look like Tanzanite. Not sure about the brown one. Blue could be sapphire, but just a guess. Fourth picture: looks like different varieties of Garnet -Pyrope, Almandite, lighter one may be Rhodolite. Fifth picture: doesn’t look flashy enough to be diamond - Spinnel? The two black stones could be any black stone without better definition - Onyx, Jasper, Obsidian. Sixth picture: waxy looking green at top could be Serpentine. Dark green with specs could be Aventurine. Light green looks a little weird. Are there inclusions of insects in it? Could be green Amber. The last picture might be labradorite as was suggested before, but there are weird reflected lights on it that make it hard to tell what reflections are actually coming from the stone.

No. 6 photo: top / left looks like it might be prehnite.
No. 7 (closeup of one stone in no.6): perhaps green aventurine

Good luck on your identification journey! I still have dozens and dozens of unidentified stones. If I could only learn to use my refractometer better, I might make more progress. :wink:

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That sounds like sound advice. Some of us have a lot of time and money in gemological equipment; also schooling; so have fun and enjoy the experience.

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I am new, but some look familiar. 1. Chert? Not sure. 2. Perhaps mystic topaz. 3. Citrine, sapphire and wither amethyst or maybe tanzanite. 4. Garnets. The lightest on the bottom could be pink sapphire. 5. The middle one looks like aquamarine. Can’t identify the dark ones. 6. The top one is prehnite with epidote. The bottom two look like peridot. Not sure about the dark one. The last round one is labradorite.

I also thought about Mystic Topaz. I have larger one which looks identical.

Going around clockwise in the 3rd photo - Topaz, maybe an amethyst, may be a Tanzanite, last one looks like a blue sapphire

This last sample looks like a sphere of labradorite.