This is my first foray into precious stones – I have generally steered clear mainly due to expense.  But they have a kind of glamour and mystique that exerts a certain pull, so when I was visiting a supplier recently and he produced them, I somehow could not resist.  So we have emeralds, sapphires and rubies, all cabochon cut.  The emeralds are a nice shade of green with that desirable bluish tint.  Included of course; you expect inclusions with stones that don’t cost an arm and a leg, but actually considering this, the clarity is pretty good and so is the lustre.   The sapphires are lovely; a good azure blue with a little colour zoning but saturated colour throughout the stones.  The rubies I am especially fond of; a lovely pinkish red with good clarity and lustre and none of the greyish cast that ruby cabochons can display.  I have the emeralds in a 3mm, the sapphires in a 3mm, 4mm and 5mm and the rubies in a 3mm and a 4mm.