At BeadifulBABY we offer a gorgeous selection of high-quality genuine gemstones for use in our beautiful custom jewelry. These stones are naturally-occurring gems mined from the earth. We offer multi-faceted and smooth-polished gemstone bead options. Whether you looking for a specific child's birthstone or just want to pick a favorite gem or color we've got you covered.

Faceted Gemstones
The faceted gemstones are faceted by hand into a round shape resulting in a beautiful sparkle. The faceted gemstones shown in the chart below range in size from 3.2mm to 4.8mm. Many of these gorgeous multi-faceted gems are also available in larger sizes up to 6.0mm on select jewelry items (see specific items for more details). These gemstones may contain some slight internal inclusions and/or tiny fissures. Some more than others. For example, the pink tourmaline gemstone will have numerous "liquid" inclusions - as this is the nature of the various tourmaline mineral species. Natural-occuring emeralds typically have so many fissures and inclusions that they are prone to cleaving apart when struck and threfore don't make good beads. We offer natural green onyx in place of emerald.

Smooth Gemstones
The smooth gemstones are polished by hand into a round shape. The smooth gemstones range in size from 3.0mm to 4.5mm. The four smooth-polished gemstone options are the Australian Natural White Opal, the Sleeping Beauty Turquoise, and the White and Mauve/Lavender Pearls. Pearls are considered a gemstone by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). These four smooth-polished gemstones are not shown in the chart below.

Round is more valuable than Roundelle
Round gemstones are more valuable than roundelle (egg-shaped or squashed-looking) gemstones. This is because the gem-cutter must start with a larger piece of gemstone to achieve a beautiful round shape.

We do not use lab-created or simulant gemstones in our custom jewelry. Read more about the fine quality materials and components we use at BeadifulBABY.

Many jewelers are misrepresenting the gemstones they offer by omitting the words laboratory-grown, laboratory-created, synthetic, imitation, or simulated stone when using the terms "gemstone", "birthstone", or the name of the gemstone by itself. A jeweler or company selling jewelry cannot use the terms "gemstone" or "birthstone" by itself to refer to a lab-created gemstone unless they precede the words "gemstone" or "birthstone" with the term lab-created or a similar term referring to lab-created. The terms "gemstone" and "birthstone" by themselves should only be used if the gem or gems being described are natural.

Often times companies will add a tiny little footnote mark next to the gemstone name to try and get around being perceived as unethical. The FTC is very clear in its guidelines - if a gemstone is lab-created the gemstone name must be preceded with the term lab-created or a similar term. Not preceding the gemstone name or the term "gemstone" or "birthstone" with a lab-created term implies a gemstone is natural. This unethical practice occurs both online and in reputable jewelry stores. Usually this is just an oversight, but sometimes the omission is a deliberate attempt to mislead potential customers.

A great majority of gemstones for sale today are lab-created. Lab-created gemstones have vivid, vibrant colors, and often have no internal inclusions. This perfection misleads shoppers into thinking fine natural gems must be perfect. For example, genuine crisp and clean emeralds with no eye-inclusions do not exist naturally. Genuine emeralds will always have inclusions and are often hazy in appearance and not clear stones; however many companies sell lab-created, non-included, clean, crisp emeralds as natural genuine emerald gemstones. This unethical practice misleads customers - and is very common in the jewelry industry. Ruby is another gemstone often misrepresented. Ruby's are often fracture-filled with leaded-glass to disquise or remove inclusions. This is a very common practice and is unethical. Another deception is to use spinel to impersonate genuine ruby. Some laboratories have gotten clever and are creating lab-created gemstones with actual inclusions making it increasingly hard to dicern the natural gems from the lab-created non-natural gems.

The FTC is very clear on how gemstones should be represented.

The following paragraph comes directly from the FTC jewelry and precious metal guidelines section 23.23.

§ 23.23 Misuse of the words "ruby," "sapphire," "emerald," "topaz," "stone," "birthstone," "gemstone," etc. (a) It is unfair or deceptive to use the unqualified words "ruby," "sapphire," "emerald," "topaz," or the name of any other precious or semi-precious stone to describe any product that is not in fact a natural stone of the type described.

(b) It is unfair or deceptive to use the word "ruby," "sapphire," "emerald," "topaz," or the name of any other precious or semi-precious stone, or the word "stone," "birthstone," "gemstone,'' or similar term to describe a laboratory-grown, laboratory-created, [manufacturer name]-created, synthetic, imitation, or simulated stone, unless such word or name is immediately preceded with equal conspicuousness by the word "laboratory-grown," "laboratory-created," "[manufacturer name]-created," "synthetic," or by the word "imitation" or "simulated," so as to disclose clearly the nature of the product and the fact it is not a natural gemstone.

Note to paragraph (b): The use of the word "faux" to describe a laboratory-created or imitation stone is not an adequate disclosure that the stone is not natural.

(c) It is unfair or deceptive to use the word "laboratory-grown," "laboratory-created," "[manufacturer name]-created," or "synthetic" with the name of any natural stone to describe any industry product unless such industry product has essentially the same optical, physical, and chemical properties as the stone named.

We strictly adhere to the AGTA Code of Ethics and Principles of Fair Business Practices and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jewelry and precious metals guidelines. The FTC states you must use the term "cultured" when referring to cultured pearls. Merely referring to a pearl as a "pearl" instead of a "cultured pearl" implies the pearl is natural.

We pride ourselves in upholding the ethical standards set forth by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).