All in the Family
"We are family, get up ev'rybody and sing".
Sister Sledge, We Are Family (1979)
I was nine years old when this song was
released. I know it's silly, but a 'pop culture'
reference seemed an appropriate lead for a
section that some will find immediately useful
and others overly technical. If you think you're
the latter, your appreciation of gemstones won't
be lessened by skipping to the next section, but
later you might find it difficult to understand
how gemstones' chemical composition
(mineralogical class), mineral families/groups
and even their colours, all fit together. You'd
be surprised how useful considering a gem in
relation to its nearest counterparts can be,
especially for complicated families like Garnet.
The following charts group gems based on their
chemical composition (e.g. silicates, oxides and
hydroxides) and mineral families (e.g. Corundum,
Beryl and Feldspar).
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