Gemstones of the World by Walter Schumann (1997, Hardcover, Revised)

I had the chance recently to go to a Jewelers Supply Store and browse the books for sale. Previously, online, I had seen many of the books that were being offered at the store and had been watching about 7 auctions to buy. It was therefore an eye opening experience to see the actual books! Honestly, this book "Gemstones of the World" wasn't even on my list of auctions to watch! Another gemstone book that I had thought was very good for recognizing gemstones was mostly a black and white book with only about 15-20 pages of pictures. So, after carefully comparing, I found that the Gemstones of the World Book by Walter Schumann to be the most informative book with plenty of pictures (1500 photos), information, locations where a gemstone is mined, packed with references including gem terminology definitions, crystal systems & structure, diagrams of gemstone cuts and even a map of the world with reference to which gem is mined in which country. It's a nice size book, well made, priced right and a handy reference that I certainly will use for years to come.

I have looked over many, many gemstone books at the local public library and bookstores and online..and have bought several. I am a newcomer to jewelry and gemstones, etc., and from what I can tell from all that I have looked at and studied. Gemstones of the World is possibly the ! MOST !, and I do believe it, that it is possibly the most informative-illustrated-and overall understandable of most of the books out there. It is well worth the money I spent, and I have used and read it more than any of the others.

I am a novice in the jewelry field and was looking for a good guide to identifying stones. How do you tell a ruby from a garnet?
This book was recommended to me by an experienced dealer and she didn't steer me wrong. I am especially pleased with the layout of the book. The first section is general information on hardness, crystal structure, terminology, deposits of gems, and mining. Alphabetical listing of gemstones with a desription and pictures of each follow.
This is a well put together and quality book.

Very good reference book about gems, semi-precious stones and just about every other type of rock you can imagine! It is set up partiularly well for beginners, and includes a wide variety of information regarding everything any beginner should know. Earlier versions contained erroneous material due to being out-dated, but this newest version has corrected any errors due to the timeliness of it's information. The colour pictures are excellent, and he has even included good colour pictures of very rare and hard to find stones. He has included world-wide information about every stone you can imagine, as well as pictures of how the stones are obtained.
An absolute must for every beginner's library, and should be found in any general reference library as well. Give it an 8 to 8.5 out of 10.

I like the pictures and the overall Quality of the Book.
All pages are special printed high quality papers.
It is very informative and the pictures are great. I would give it an excellent if the size of the book would be a little bit gigger. But then a simple good is not fair either for this great book. I give a very good ! The price for this book is also very affordable. If me i would buy it again. No regrets here.