- What is a gem? What is a mineral?
- How do we tell one mineral from another, or from synthetic materials?
- Methods of ID, physical and optical properties
- From where does their beauty arise?
- Crystallography and optics
- How are gemstones shaped and polished?
- Lapidary arts
- Where do gems come from and how are they found?
- Important gem minerals and the geology of major gem localities
- Who and what determines the value of gems?
- Physical attributes, economic trends, synthetics and imitations