Gemstone Beads range from soft to hard. The way to determine a gemstone's hardness when purchasing a wholesale gem stone is to use the Moh's Scale. The Moh's Scale rates gemstones with a ranking from 1-10 (one being the softest and ten being the hardest). Diamonds are ranked 10 on the Moh's Scale while Talc is ranked 1. Here are some rankings for some of the most popular gemstones.
· Amethyst-7
· Pearls-2.5-4.5
· Green Jade- 6.5-7
· Black Onyx- 6.5-7
· Emerald- 7.5-8
· Ruby- 9
· Sapphire-9
· Turquoise-5-6
· Garnet-6.5-7.5
· Topaz-8
· Diamond-10
· Opal-5.5-6.5
It's important to know the hardness of a gemstone, because gemstones that have a higher hardness can scratch a softer gemstone, and are more durable. Softer gemstones can become easily damaged, scratched, and destroyed

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