Written by Carolyn Doyle for customers of
The Dorado Company
and other visitors to the azgem.com website who subscribe.

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Usable Gems... and a little opinion.

Star Gems

Star gems make unique and beautiful jewelry.

Star gems appear to have a lighted star just below the surface of the stone.

This star effect is known as asterism, and is one of several optical phenomena that we'll talk about in the next few issues of your newsletter.

Star gems are relatively rare. The most popular star gems are star ruby and star sapphire. These corundum stars have six rays.

The star is caused by light reflecting off of "silk" included in the gem. This silk is actually long, very thin, needle-like inclusions of another mineral called rutile.

When enough of these rutile inclusions are present in a crystal, it can be cut "en cabochon" to produce a star gem. These domed stones are round or oval shaped.

Star gems, while somewhat rare, do occur in several gem species in addition to corundum, including:

• Spinel
• Emerald
• Garnet
• Quartz
• Chrysoberyl
• Diopside

Spinel and garnet can have either four or six rayed stars.

Chrysoberyl (shown here) and diopside have four rays.

Corundum stars with twelve rays are found on occasion.

Star stones are semi-transparent to opaque. The star should be distinct, the rays straight and even. The rays should cross at the top of the gem.

With a star gem you get a unique optical decoration and a colored gem.

Note: The offer shown above really is special.

The price of gold has nearly doubled since we made up this last batch of studs.

You can get some great new earrings at old gold prices.

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Industry News...

Diamond valued at more than $14 million stolen from Paris museum

Gold price at new 16-year high of $455

Gold's spot price jumped by 3.61 dollars per ounce to as high as 455.30 dollars compared to late Thursday and was the highest level since June 1988.

A weaker dollar makes gold, which is priced in the US currency on world markets, more attractive to buyers using other currencies. Gold is seen also as a good hedge against fluctuations in the value of the dollar.

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Jewelry Dealers

A Great Book, A Great Gift

From the "I found a gem" file...

I recently downloaded a new e-book from Dr. Ken Evoy. As you probably have guessed before, I really like his stuff.

The book is about writing to communicate. It's called Make Your Content PREsell,

Once you get the book you'll see how it applies to selling your point... in spoken communications as well as written.

It applies to your life, not just your business.

I think the information is worth a lot more than the $10 price. You can get more info by clicking on the title above.

The holidays are  coming  here!

Now's the time to be selling. Almost everyone's a potential customer during the holidays.

If you need to make up a special piece for a customer, we probably have the faceted colored stone you need.

Most of our stock is in sizes suitable for rings, pendants, and earrings. 

Send me an email for information on gems that interest you.

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Jewelry Dealers Program

Do you enjoy jewelry and gems?

Do you enjoy talking with friends and co-workers?

Take a look at our great Jewelry Dealers Program.

Carolyn Doyle

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