Clear, White Gems

[Lightbender]

Hi EconGuy!

Wink''s right, a well cut CZ will be the most convincing imitation, but you might want to look at some Danburite. Its clarity is often exceptional and it cuts a far brighter stone than it''s RI would suggest. It''s different and unusual.
To answer the first part of your question, well, my opinion may be a little different from others'', but I have no problem whatsoever with synthetics, especially the hydrothermally grown emerald and ruby. I have had many customers who long for a fime ruby or emerald in the 3 c range, but........
Many of them, when they see the affordabilty of the synthetic are quite happy with it. I think it''s more about having a beautiful object than the natural gem part of it. Another thing that can make these pieces unique is the artistry of the cutting, and, again, we are then moving more towards the original art end of what we are talking about as opposed to the purist gemstone philosophy.
A long time ago, I would never cut synthetics. Customer demand changed all that!
To each his own!

Lightbender

 

[strmrdr]

welcome to PS lightbender.
Its great to have another cutter on the board!
I have learned a lot from them and am looking forward to talking to you here.

Danburite looks interesting.
Can you tell us more about it?

 

[jcrow]

hum. Danburite. something else to investigate...doesn''t cost much..

 

[thebanjodog]

hi! i''m chiming in late on this thread but i have a question regarding a clear, white emerald cut stone. i am not intending to hijack this thread but since some here are knowledgable on the subject maybe you can help me.

i purchased a clear, white emerald cut stone at an estate auction many years ago. it was encased in a small plastic case. it is nice to look at. i have always wondered if it is glass or some type of natural stone. the owners of the auction items were into gems and had many gem related items. i got an antique brass loupe that is really nice and some other type of larger round brass magnifying glass.

any advise would be appreciated. thanks! banjo

 

[valeria101]

Banjo, how could this be done without knowing more than 'colorless' and 'emerald cut'? I would guess it is not glass because I can't see the reason anyone would cut a piece like that: but quartz, syntetic something (spinel or sapphire, say) topaz and beryl come to mind. It could have well been a ight colored beryl or kunzite or ametyst that simply lost its initially pleasant light shade due to exposure to light and ended up in the curiosities department.

I am just thining of the relatively popular colorless materials that would be cut and that are available in quantity. Otherwise, there are many kinds of colorless crystals, but they are unusual or downright rare so there is no much reason to mention one as a first guess.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 8/15/2005 9:30:25 AM
Author: strmrdr

Yea val same for all of them...
I suspect that it wouldnt change the ranking much...
You have DC dont you?

Oh... I didn''t see this post in time. Sorry for that Strmdr!

Changing proportions can change allot there - without having seen the IS images, I suspect that in a cut optimized for dimond or CY, anything else gets a large, unpleasant window. So the range considered would be important for how much ''difference'' matching cut to material''s properties matters. The pictures generated by the DC are ok, but not trully realistic. So the IS or other color coded versions fare better for showing differences, IMO.

Besides, only if custom cuting is consdered one can choose between different materials cut int he same way And then, who might ask to have anything but the best cut for the respective gem unless the whole exercise is meant for research purposes only.

About the DC - well, I have it fresh and unopened in the mailbox at home a thousand miles from here.

All I know about the capabilities of DC comes from playing with its cousin, the GemAdviser a while ago. Unfortunately,I cannot install the GA here either. Oh well...

 

[thebanjodog]

thanks valeria for the reply. i don''t do pictures or i would show it to you. i once showed it to a jeweler and he barely glanced at it and said "oh that''s probably glass". i don''t think he was knowledgeable on gems or that he was interested in anything other than selling his own. not to say he wasn''t right but he really was not interested in even looking.

after that experience i have not showed it to anyone else. after being dismissed like that i just put it away in the drawer. when i say clear, i mean clear. you can see thru it. for that reason when he said glass i believed it. banjo