Choosing the right gemstones for your project may be fun for some and for others it is an overwhelming task.  Here are a few tips and thoughts about picking the right gemstone for your jewelry project....

1.  Style.  Smooth polished stones are generally used in casual designs while faceted stones give a more high polished and dressy vibe.  Mixing smooth and faceted stones can create a beautiful eclectic style that can be worn every day and also to a special event.

2.  Color.  That's all I gotta say!  Many times, designers are looking for certain colors to combine with what they already have or an outfit they are creating for.  Different colors give off different "feels" and the 4 seasons affect how people feel about color as well.  For example, summer time calls for bright and bold and fall time attracts the earthy browns and rust colors.

3.  Durability.  Every day wear will call for a sturdy and harder stone while occasional wear can entertain the softer stones.  Keep the durability of the stone in mind when choosing the right gemstones for your pieces.  You can usally find the Mohs hardness level of any stone in a google search.  The Mohs scale of mineral hardness is a qualitative ordinal scale characterizing scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material. 1 being the softest and 10 being the hardest.  You are really safe with a 7 and up for every day wear but even apatite is a 5 and I've had good luck with that stone.  

4.  Energy.  You've all heard about the metaphysical value of stones.  In this world, everything has energy and although it's best to follow your intuition with picking a gemstone, you can also read up on the metaphysical enregies of the stones and how they are said to affect the physical and spiritual bodies of the person wearing them.  Just the stones alone won't heal all but they add great value to a person's sense of well being.

5.  Price.  Of course we would all like to have the highest quality stones in all our projects but sometimes picking the right gemstone comes down to price.  Every gemstone can be found in different types of grades or quality.  A higher quality gemstone will have less matrix, more color, and more translucency (in most cases) and therefore the price goes up.  But don't shy away from looking for emeralds and rubies in lower grades as you can almost always find an affordable strand that will meet your designing needs.  It is also important to remember that stones are an investment that go up in value over time and some stones become more rare over the years as the mines are mined out and closed up.  

At BeadsDirectOnline.com, we carry a huge assortment of gemstone beads so you can take all these factors into account in your decision.  Have fun sorting through all the colors, shapes, and sizes to inspire your creativity and possibilities in your jewelry design.

(Pictured here are faceted Ethiopian Opals)