Thomas I agree with your kearning process and also have the same question the other IGS member had. BUT I also find it difficult even if one has a fabulous perfect AAAA stone it’s extremely hard to find a buyer.
TY
Ken
Oh sorry, maybe I was a bit local or sloppy in my rhetoric…
“Looking down on the floor…” means coming back in shame, that is; the material tried sold was not at all what it was said to be.
“Stones that are crap” are a far more subjective statement, that annoys me all the time. Perhaps retail tag is 2000USD, but I would find it actually worth 1/10. Perhaps marketed and tried sold “natural” or “Untreated”, but can be all from synthetics to treated. I find origin stated about a stone a fantasy too, many times… but in all those cases I would find the tried sale a scam personally; even though the seller in these examples actually have no intention to scam. They just don`t have any actual relevant knowledge.
Though, its unreasonable to expect a seller in a jewellery store or goldsmith to be a gemologist, it would be reasonable to expect there was ways to guarantee a honest and trustworthy sale in a reputable location… But it is not.
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Okay! So it sounds like that there are jewellers who will sell gemstones that are not from the location as advertised - or they will sell gemstones that are actually synthetics or were treated, but the jeweller wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, because many jewellers do not have the gemmology education to be able to tell from a synthetic to a real gem, or a treated gem to an untreated one. Gemologists are in the discipline to study if gemstones are real or not, heated or unheated, oiled or not oiled, etc. - not jewellers.
That’s interesting, as that could be a reason why when I ask for more specific information from a seller that is selling a gemstone, the seller is very basic with one’s answers, sort of like they really don’t know. I have bought from some jewellers who are really honest, and if they don’t know, they just clearly say they don’t know.
It is also interesting what you pointed out - that jewellers can unknowingly sell fake gemstones / treated gemstones when advertised as untreated / be given a leaflet of the gemstone’s locational origin, when in reality they’re from somewhere else. Maybe some jewellers ‘guess’ where the gemstone was mined, just to sell the gemstone to make a profit, and the jewellers think that no customer will surely take the time and the money to take the gemstone to a lab and professionally verified.
Yes, I also see like a golden Scapolite, for example, being sold as extremely rare, when in reality they’re so common. Or a really expensive Baestnasite for $2,500, only to see the same gemstones from other websites the same size, weight, and similar clarity for $300.
Also, I notice that some sellers in France, the UK, and the US try to sell gemstones (that are mined in Afghanistan or Pakistan) for $1,000s of dollars, when one can buy the same gemstone, similar grade, weight, and size, for only several hundred dollars by buying directly from sellers in Pakistan.
Unfortunately, nearly all the gemstones that are sold online from India (except jaspers, soapstone, and other common, inexpensive minerals) are flat out fakes! I can’t believe that some sellers are trying to sell a 30 ct Painite, for example, for $5.00 from India. I mean, except for a 6 year old, I don’t know who would obviously fall for that!
This information you gave was very informative!
Thank you!
These are my experiences, so it doesn’t mean they’re true for everyone.
Do you have similar experiences? What were you’re experiences with these?
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Cubic zirconia as a synthetic gemstone was developed by Russian scientists. Earlier, natural zirconia was found as a monoclinic mineral called Baddeleyite, but lately cubic zirconia has also been found as a thermal product in nature but not as a gemstone. The synthetic material is colorless but can be colored by various pigments and thus can mimic any gemstone with generally more brilliance on account of its high refractive index and also high dispersion. Thus, it is the ideal synthetic except for it’s relatively low hardness that is still above quartz and thus household dust. As I noted before, it is easily distinguished from natural zircon by its cubic nature under the polariscope. It is manufactured on a tonnage scale and then fraudulently put on the market, mainly by Chinese and Indian sellers as natural zircon (which is zirconium silicate and not zirconia). The market price is the best indication of authenticity.
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Yes, the zircons! In addition, I think we can also check to see whether the zircons are cubic zirconia or not by whether the crystal is warm on our hands when we hold them. Genuine crystals have a coldness to them, and they stay relatively cooler than room temperature / our hands when we hold them. On the other hand, cubic zirconia warms up relatively quickly on our hands to room temperature, and the warmth on our hands. They become about as warm as our hands / room temperature.
I also heard the fog test; if you breathe on the gemstone, the fog should disappear relatively quickly if it’s genuine. Plastic gemstones / false gemstones will retain the fog on itself for a long time, and the fog will not disappear for a while.
I am a scientist and, with respect find such unscientific methods pure b-----t. Most minerals except for diamond are non-conductors of heat and their “coldness” reflects absorbtion of applied temperatures depending on their own ambient temperature at the time of application. This is mumbo jumbo compared to scientific optical measurements based on the inherent and unique crystal nature of each gemstone. Unfortunately, it seems the internet has promulgated all sorts of “easy” but scientifically deficient ways of testing gemstones. There is no substitute for learning from a user group that knows and works with gemstones, and uses optical equipment.
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Of course using exact testing using equipment in a laboratory would be most ideal. But not everyone has access to a lab, nor have the money to spend on a lab certificate (especially if it’s a low price gemstone anyway, few people are going to spend $100’s to just get a lab certificate).
Using your hand would be the control for monitoring the variables in an experiment. The coldness test and the breath test are not obvious indicators of the genuineness of a gem, but if one doesn’t have access to a lab, it is better to do this than nothing.
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Some people assume that gem testing always involves expensive lab gear. Anybody can make a simple polariscope using polaroid lenses from sun glasses , a flashlight and plastic pvc tubing from a hardware store. Use of this will distinguish between CZ and natural zirconium silicate. Hardness tests are more useful than thermal hocus pocus unless one uses a calibrated diamond tester. Often small and cheap minerals for hardness tests can be found at mineral shows. These don’t need to be showy crystals. However, you will require a magnifying glass to see the result of hardness testing
My background is chemistry so I use a variety of chemical tests with chemicals mainly got from hardware stores. No fancy lab gear is needed if you have glassware eg mason jars and stainless steel containers in your kitchen. However, eye protection, neoprene gloves, and good ventilation is mandatory.
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Okay, but many people buy gemstones, and what you suggest with the hardness tests would damage the gemstone, which is a big deal especially if one wants the gemstone undamaged. I see some tips are useful for identifying gemstones. But I see that some of these are good tips for identifying rough minerals, but not for identifying gemstones.
Thank you
There’s currently some fraud going on this weekend with a lgd company selling fine diamonds and not declaring whether they are real of lab grown.
I don’t know what an lgd company is, but that sounds terrible, unless people know they’re fake.
It’s man made diamonds - so lab grown diamonds. It isn’t clear whether they are genuine or fake and the terms and conditions are tiny and difficult to find.
It says right on the FAQs that they’re not fake. When buying online, we can only choose whether to trust the seller or not - there’s no way that we can ‘test’ to see if they are indeed telling the truth, unless you go to a physical store, but only then you can only do some informal, physical observations. I think the business is telling the truth; it looks like it has a good reputation, and their advertising doesn’t seem suspicious to me.
You can generally tell by the price if it’s online Lab are cheaper than natural. If it’s a Lab company, good chance it’s lab or even moissanite. It says in their Details description “Lab-Diamond”.
I’ve commented about them being real diamonds and it seems so. I think the tiny bit of info at the bottom of the page refers to the actual lab grown diamonds they do sell. This is an interesting read FTC Sends Warning Letters to Companies Regarding Diamond Ad Disclosures | Federal Trade Commission
Yes. You are right. The webpage says clearly many times that the diamonds are lab-made. No fraud has been committed.
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Lab diamonds are real diamonds, the difference being one is made in a lab, the other is made by mother earth and mined. The screen shots above clearly show that they are lab diamonds, which are cheaper than ‘natural’ mined diamonds.
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