We'll come back to quartz in a minute because it is a major player in why you should be concerned with gemstone hardness and what to do about it. The undisputed heavyweight champion of this game is diamond, who sits at 10 while talc sits at 1, nursing a glass jaw – actually it should be a talc jaw because glass, also known as silicon dioxide, or quartz, is considerably harder than talc and sits at number 7 on the Mohs scale.
It's a sort of last-man-standing knockout scratch contest. Friedrich Mohs simply gathered 10 gemstones that represent the most common gemstone families (gypsum, calcite, fluorite, apatite, orthoclase, quartz, topaz, corundum, and diamond) and set about scratching them against each other, until he was able to develop a hierarchy of scratchability – the Mohs hardness scale. Moreover, Friedrich Mohs went through this whole procedure of using different gemstones to scratch each other until he could confidently develop the index that we rely upon today. This scratch test is referred to as destructive, for the obvious reason that it inflicts damage upon a gemstone and there are more sophisticated ways of identifying a gemstone by measuring its other qualities (refractive index, specific gravity, etc.). The really interesting thing about making this distinction is that there is no one judge of hardness determining gemstone hardness is a process that involves using materials with known Mohs hardness scale values and scratching the surface of a rough gemstone.
The hardest gemstones (diamonds, rubies and sapphires) get a rating closer to 10 on the Mohs scale, while the softer gemstones (amber, chrysocolla and pearl) are placed closer to 1 (see the entire Mohs index below). Gemstone Hardness is a measure of how difficult (or easy) it is to scratch the surface of the gemstone. All of these actions are important when dealing with gemstones, but gemstone hardness has a very specific definition: And we consider whether or not we could scratch it, bend it, break it, or what would happen if we dropped it on the ground or whacked it with a hammer. We usually think in general terms of something being hard (or the opposite – soft) as a measure of how it feels to us. Hardness is part of the holy trinity used by dealers to rate the durability of a stone the other two qualities being toughness and stability. You can easily do this by becoming aware of your gemstones' place on the Mohs hardness scale (explained later) and taking the appropriate care when creating settings for your gemstones and while wearing them, whether for everyday use, or for special occasions. More than that, though, as a lover of gemstones, you want to safeguard their elegance and keep them looking brilliant.
Your gemstones add charm and allure to your person, but they're also investments that need protection from harm - scratching, in particular.Ī low Mohs hardness value (lower than 7) increases the risk of damage which results in a loss of value and necessitates expensive repairs. If you are wearing gems, looking to buy them, or designing gemstone jewelry, hardness is something that should concern you. Gemstone hardness… who cares? You should. Gemstone Hardness: Durable Gemstone List and Mohs scale examples
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