Semi-precious stones

[Russ Nobbs]

Stones are classified by type of material. Your local library or bookstore has several books with titles like "Field Guide To Gems and Minerals" These have color photos of gems and minerals and show the chemical composition. They will show you the "family connections" between stones like quartz, agate, jasper and the differences between the families. There are some websites that have good search engines for this too. Here's links to a few:
http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/by-name.htm
http://www.theimage.com/mineral/

Please ask back here if you have questions about specific minerals you can't find from these resources.

[marina]

hey

just wondering how semi-precious stones are classified? are they put into different families, and is so, what are they? i really need help and was wondering if anyone knew where i could find this info.

marina