Chart legend Properties

Hi, I am a hobbyist and I am trying to look up the RI on stones, in particular a peridot. I went to the Properties of Gem Olivines chart and I am not sure what the columns represent. Is there a Key to know what row is what? I think it may be the Fancy B column but I am unsure, any help welcomed!

Thank you

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Look,Iā€™m going to just come out and say itā€¦your tools are of utmost importance.what I recommend is this.buy the Gemini 3 . It is an amazing tool ,and I have found it to save me countless hours of my time with many aspects of gem identity and Iā€™m really advocating itā€™s purchase!

Hello Rhyannon,

If by ā€œFancy Bā€ you mean the Beta symbol, that represents the intermediate RI in a biaxial crystal, like a peridot, and corresponds to the Y-axis of the crystal. (Peridots are orthorhombic crystals and have three axes and three RIs). Alpha represents the lowest RI and corresponds to the X-axis, and Gamma represents the highest RI and corresponds to the Z-axis. There is more information on RIs and biaxial crystals in this article on optics.

Hope this helps,

Pedro
IGS Admin

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Never heard of it but till then, just knowing what the column headers mean would be a great startā€¦ do you know what they are ? or where to find out?

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The top row of the chart has the headers for each column.

Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Birefringence, and 2V are all explained in the optics article. The first two columns are just the content of Magnesium oxide and Iron oxide in olivines from different locations and different colors. SG is Specific Gravity.

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Okay, likely will have more questions it looks like the properties of the peridot change according to locations? if I continue reading downward on the chart. I did not think that is possible! Learn new things all the time. Thank you!

Quick question: I found two different R.I.'s for Peridot ā€¦ it looks like then the chart for olivines the last one is Fayalite and it goes up to 1.879. so that would be part of the ā€œseries membersā€ the chart above for peridot R.I. mentions? That is why I am finding two different R.I.'s? (I found the 1.635 to 1.670 and then the one above that chart on the same page said 1.635 to 1.879 which I am guessing is series member of period, Fayalite? )

Thank you for the legend key and your responses. I will go read about optics.

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Yes, fayalite is a series end-member of olivines. Itā€™s the iron-dominant member. (Forsterite, the first row, is the magnesium-dominant member. The chart is organized by decreasing magnesium percentages).

The first range of RI values listed in the article (1.635 to 1.879), in the Peridot Information chart, shows the range from the lowest possible RI to the highest possible RI, but we have a note there to look at the information in the ā€œIdentifying Characteristicsā€ section, since peridots can have a very variable range of RIs.

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Like I recommend, naturally peridot will have different readings, based on the localand or origins of the specieā€™s,I was just thinking that you may have a beneficial use for one of my fav tools, Gemini 3 :wink:

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Iā€™ve heard of gem eye, and gem n eye testers, but not a gemini.
Now iā€™m curiousā€¦

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me too, lol when I look up gemini 3 in google it gives me space links lol

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Iā€™ll try and find the link for you :wink:

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Try minerallab and or Google it! Lol it will change your gemology . LIFE! FOREVER! YUP! YOUā€™LL SEE! Thx me laterā€¦

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OK, see if we can filter the nonsense from the facts :rofl:
It IS a Gem-n-Eye III, from Mineralabs.
The cost is $425, not ā‚¬800, and they are currently, Out of Stock.
The way youā€™ve pushing this in various posts @Cj66 I thought you had shares in the company :rofl:
I hope you never make the same mistake with Sapphire and Sapphirine, or Garnet and Granite :roll_eyes:

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Lol I Joeā€™s,had to much quervo! Lol I was just goofing off and got carried away! Birthday :birthday: 53ā€¦ooopsā€¦

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Thank you both, I also started to wonder if CJ was invested in the machine hahaha but he is just stoked about it! That is great! ā€¦ ā€¦ another question for everyone, I believe everything would have a R.I. will things that are opaque like turquoise or malachite show up on the scale?

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Everything has an RI so it must be possible, I think the problem comes with cabochons, if the back is clean and polished, easy enough, but getting a RI from the dome is harder, thereā€™s not a ā€˜flatā€™ spot you can set up on the refractometer table to get a reading.

Iā€™m sure someone who knows how itā€™s done will pop by.

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I read about bobbing your head in a yes motion if there is a ā€œspotā€ and try to get it half dark and half clear and that is the reading, not sure how that can be reliable , if I move my head like a snake charmer or bobbing lol its all over the place

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Listen,my friends! Haaa yes it does give low RI, READINGS,AND HAS A (LIGHT COVER) that you can modify or whatever you want to do,ECTā€¦ And I like the fact that it just works :blush:

Finally I found a machine that,is my little helper! And if I have ANY DOUBT, I JUST USE MY MORE PRIMITIVE ID TOOLS AND DO THE WORK! also specific gravity ect

Lol, LOL lol lmao! Oh does anyone have any idea what the RI of KYPTONITE IS?? IT WONT STOP. GLOWING EITHER!

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