I am not a jeweler, just someone who collects rocks, and I must say I "aaarrrrgggghhh"-ed like a pirate when I opened this! I got a very nice mix of colors with some lovely dark blue iolites. There is a nice array of colors in the garnets from blood red to violet red, and the citrine is really brilliant! The majority of the stones are oval cuts and tear-drop, but I got one triangle-cut citrine that is truly beautiful. None of my stones were broken but most of them show chipping which is disappointing, but for my first collection of faceted, gem-cut, semi-precious stones I am very happy with this purchase.