This book stretches the term "gems" to include pearls carved shells, and various other carvings, even metal artwork. That takes it out of the gem reference world and puts it on the coffee table pile of interesting reads instead of reference books. I was going to check if it covered ivory too but the index font is too small to use, even with reading glasses that I'm wearing. Descriptions of the rocks gemstones come from is average. Color photos of gems from the rocks are mostly inaccurate in both the intended color and in the color varieties most often encountered. A good example of inaccurate color is the emerald brooch on page 123. The color shown is that of Peridot or Olivine, not the emerald color the brooch must have had, unless the brooch has been misidentified. Page 42 has a good comparison of emerald and Peridot color. Many non-reference books come off the press with poor color quality control. The more common inaccuracies are the shades of green, being too bluish or too yellowish, or else the blues and purples looking interchangeable.

Text within the book is pretty good and seems pretty accurate. ( )