Precious and Semi Precious Gemstones Information

I keep on getting mails to write about gemstones which I have already written here. With hundred plus hubs written in HubPages and over 50 on gemstones I think it’s high time I write a master hub to link my gemstone articles and also create a gallery of gemstones to familiarize an average reader about gems.

According to Hindu Astrology, the life of all human beings is influenced by the 9 Planets or Navagrahas. The 9 planets considered by Vedic astrologers are the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. The outer planets of Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto are not used in ancient classical Vedic astrology and thus have no gemstones assigned to them. The main gems for these 9 planets referred to as "navaratna" meaning 9 gems and the substitute gems are called "uparatna". The influence the planets may have can be positive or negative. Based on an individual's horoscope or position of Planets, either a single gem or a combination of compatible gems is advised to be worn to increase the effects of beneficial planets or counteract harmful planets. Broadly gemstones can be classified into precious stones and semi-precious stones.

There are 9 Precious gemstones representing the nine Planets. They are also referred as ‘navaratna’ which is a Sanskrit term which means ‘nine gems’ or ‘a jewelry set with nine gems’. These stones are popular and well known. The navaratna or nine gemstones representing the navagrahas or nine planets are Ruby, Pearl, Yellow Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Red Coral, Blue Sapphire, Gomedh and Cats Eye. Given below are the easy links for their individual hubs.

• Ruby
  
• Diamond
• Coral
• Yellow Sapphire
• Emerald
• Pearl
• Blue Sapphire
• Gomedh
• Cats Eye

Interested to know the Gemstones for your Zodiac Sign? Check out Gemstones by Zodiac Sign.

There are several stones with are as popular and costly as the precious only. I have written about most semiprecious or substitute stones like agate, amazonite,amber, ametrine, amethyst, aventurine, aquamarine, bloodstone, carnelian,Chrysocolla, citrine, crystal, fluorite, garnet, hematite, howlite,iolite, jade, jasper, kunzite, lapis lazuli, malachite, moonstone, onyx, peridot,rose quartz, rutilated quartz,sodalite,spinel, tanzanite, topaz, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.

Persons may use substitute stones instead of the more expensive gems. For instance red garnet can replace ruby, moonstone can replace pearl, jade, peridot or green tourmaline can replace emerald and yellow topaz or citrine can replace yellow sapphire. Find the details of these gems by visiting their individual links below.