What is "The Mohs scale?"

I've thought and thought about how I should start educating my friends about colored stones. The world is so vast, so exciting, and so intricate.  Unfortunately, I really should start with the boring stuff.

Any person who safely wants to wear their colored stone jewelry should always know where it ranks on The Mohs scale.  Every description I give of a colored stone will start with where it ranks on The Mohs scale.  Knowing and understanding the importance of The Mohs scale will help you care for your colored gemstone and keep it beautiful for years to come.

The Mohs scale essentially rates how hard a stone is and how easily it can resist scratching and/or damage.  The scale ranks from 1-10, 10 being the hardest: diamond.  But it's a bit confusing because corundum (sapphire, rubies) ranks a 9, and topaz ranks a 8, but corundum is twice has hard as topaz and diamonds are four times as hard as corundum.  Confused yet?  :-D

You wonder now how this applies to your colored gemstone jewelry?  Think of it this way, a copper penny has a hardness of 3.5.  You're not going to wear a penny as jewelry (well you might, hmm, that could be interesting) but you may one day see some fluorite and think about wearing it in jewelry.  I'm not saying it can't be used, but knowing that it ranks a 4 on The Mohs Scale, you will know that you need to be extra careful with it because it will damage easily.

fluorite

Some of the most popular colored gemstones are also extremely soft and should be worn and cared for with great caution. For example, Tanzanite - which is one of the most popular gemstones today, is a 6.5 on The Mohs Scale.  If you are wearing a Tanzanite ring and wave your hands around, you can knock it against something and break it. It's also incredibly easy to scratch while cleaning.  You may notice that your Tanzanite ring seems dull and not as bright as when you first bought it. That could be because your cleaning methods have caused abrasions on its surface making it lose its luster.  Knowing it's hardness will help you know that you have to take care to clean it with warm soapy water and a baby toothbrush at most (I'll discuss Tanzanite in more detail later, but for now you've got the general idea).

Tanzanite

Knowing and understanding Mohs hardness is just the first step in your colored gemstone education.  Soon you will be well on your way to becoming a colored stone junkie, just like me!