A Girl's Best Friend
The unashamed ramblings of a gem geek. You've been warned.
I've been collecting rocks for some time. I don't keep them very long, just long enough to find them, identify them, and then realize that I have no space for them. So I only keep carved rocks and such around the house. I've recently begun collecting a new type of rock: gemstones.
I have no idea why I haven't thought of this before. I mean, I make beaded jewelry, sometimes with gemstones, and I collect rocks. It seems that the collection of gemstones would be a pretty natural progression. So, now that I'm buying loose gemstones, I've suddenly run across a problem you don't see with ordinary rocks you find in nature: unscrupulous salesmen.
With gemstones, it's difficult if not impossible to know with the naked eye whether or not the gem you're thinking of buying is synthetic, treated, or entirely not what is represented by the seller. When buying gemstones (loose or otherwise), you've got to be careful. So I'm learning to identify gems.
Learning to identify gems is difficult. There are many, many different gems that look the same to the naked eye. And a 10x loupe isn't that much help in gem identification, either. Its main purpose is to identify flaws (which are not a huge problem when looking at colored gemstones). So I'm looking for a cheap Chelsea filter and dichroscope, with the possibility of purchasing a refractometer and microscope afterwards. (I know. I know.)
I've been collecting rocks for some time. I don't keep them very long, just long enough to find them, identify them, and then realize that I have no space for them. So I only keep carved rocks and such around the house. I've recently begun collecting a new type of rock: gemstones.
I have no idea why I haven't thought of this before. I mean, I make beaded jewelry, sometimes with gemstones, and I collect rocks. It seems that the collection of gemstones would be a pretty natural progression. So, now that I'm buying loose gemstones, I've suddenly run across a problem you don't see with ordinary rocks you find in nature: unscrupulous salesmen.
With gemstones, it's difficult if not impossible to know with the naked eye whether or not the gem you're thinking of buying is synthetic, treated, or entirely not what is represented by the seller. When buying gemstones (loose or otherwise), you've got to be careful. So I'm learning to identify gems.
Learning to identify gems is difficult. There are many, many different gems that look the same to the naked eye. And a 10x loupe isn't that much help in gem identification, either. Its main purpose is to identify flaws (which are not a huge problem when looking at colored gemstones). So I'm looking for a cheap Chelsea filter and dichroscope, with the possibility of purchasing a refractometer and microscope afterwards. (I know. I know.)
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home