Mystery stone - guesses please

[jstarfireb]

I'll have to defer to the experts on that, but labradorite usually has a dark body color and an opal-like iridescence, although it's usually peppered with inclusions and more greenish than reddish.

 

[chrono]

A bit about moonstones and labradorite
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/feldspars.htm
http://www.jckonline.com/article/294337-Labradorite_s_Blue_Rainbow_Moonstone_.php

This is why my initial thought is labradorite but the base colour isn't right.

 

[txgreeneyes]

Thanks so much Desert ! Give me a day or two to report back, though.

much appreciated!

sonoma

I love a good mystery!

 

[Quantz Studios]

Any update to this? I, for one, am anxious to see what this stone is. If there's no one near you, heck, send it to me and i'll throw it under some of my equipment and take a look! lol

 

[beaujolais]

Thanks Stonebender.

We sort of tried this: "VISUAL OPTICS- Special weapons & tactics for Guerilla Gemology" but got lost and couldn't figure things out.

Probably, to some's dismay, I've been doing experiments on it. It's been soaking in Windex for a day (or so). The lucent spot has gotten bigger for sure, so it's looking like a coating (to me). It no longer has a cloudy table, some of it is see through.

I can surely send it to you, if you want. I don't want it back and I have to go to the post office tomorrow anyway. (It would stop me from "torturing" it.)

I'll Etsy you at RyanQuantzStudios ?

sonoma

 

[blithesome71]

Hmmm you previously mentioned awhile ago it's somewhat "metallic luster"... hmmm it looks dark red & translucent... perhaps it's a CUPRITE? or I could be wrong... Just send it to stonebender anyway hehe

Stonebender: If you're RQ, then we're friends on Facebook! Hehe always see your name on my News Feeds

 

[Quantz Studios]

In a short time we should have a solid idea of what this little stone is. Blithesome, that's me! It sure would be nice to know who everyone is, and have a way to contact each other.

 

[chrono]

Wohoo! So glad we'll finally be able to narrow down what it might be. Sounds like it could well be a coated stone after all.

 

[beaujolais]

Thanks again, so very much, SB. It's in the mail as of this a.m. It's coming from way east in the country to pretty far west, though, so hang on.

 

[Quantz Studios]

The stone is here. I've made some observations and taken some readings. Part of this mystery is no longer a mystery. But it's going to take me more time to solve the rest of it. This might get interesting. Stay tuned.

 

[beaujolais]

Hmm, maybe it came from outer space? (humor/more like attempt at humor)

Thanks so much, Ryan.

 

[txgreeneyes]

The stone is here. I've made some observations and taken some readings. Part of this mystery is no longer a mystery. But it's going to take me more time to solve the rest of it. This might get interesting. Stay tuned.

I can't wait!

 

[chrono]

Nothing yet?

 

[ChrisA222]

I kept thinking I missed the results of the analysis.....but then I saw no posts on this thread for like 10 days...what gives???

Was I right...mystic Topaz?

 

[beaujolais]

Desert Gem and his associates are working on mystery stone. From what I know, it's a perplexing little stone. I'm sure he'll update us soon.

http://customgemstonestudio.com/tag/ryan-quantz
http://www.facebook.com/ryan.quantz
http://www.greengemfoundation.com/sponsors/r-quantz-jewelry-lapidary-art

Thanks Ryan !

 

[desertgem]

Desert Gem and his associates are working on mystery stone. From what I know, it's a perplexing little stone. I'm sure he'll update us soon.

Huh? Surprise for me I am waiting like all others! You sent the stone to someone else~ Stonebender

Jim

 

[beaujolais]

EEEk, sorry. I meant I sent it to Ryan Quantz, aka Stonebender.

 

[desertgem]

Haa, I was just surprised

Jim

 

[beaujolais]

That was sort of funny, DG. No, no unannounced houseguests coming to you in the mail.

I'm sort of waiting for Ryan to update you all. I "spoke" with him briefly about it. I just e-mailed him about if I can put his preliminary findings up. So, again, hang on. Sorry.

 

[beaujolais]

Bumping this to the top as Ryan just told me he will post later on this, he's been crazy busy and sorry for the delay. I'm truly appreciative of him taking mystery stone.

 

[txgreeneyes]

Bumping this to the top as Ryan just told me he will post later on this, he's been crazy busy and sorry for the delay. I'm truly appreciative of him taking mystery stone.

I keep checking every day to see what it is. This wait is teaching me patience.

 

[chrono]

Not me. I am far too curious and anxious to have this mystery solved.

 

[minousbijoux]

Having a hard time waiting too. I hope its something facinating

 

[Quantz Studios]

I'm sorry folks. Every night that goes by without me putting something up here disappoints me. But, when life is throwing wonderful things at you left and right, like a wonderful new girlfriend and my own faceting machine (finally!) and some steady work, sometimes it's hard to keep up with all of it. At the risk of telling everyone crap you dont want to know... I'll leave it at that and get to the meat of this post.

Let me begin by a little background. I am a lapidary and jeweler still taking my GIA classes very slowly as I can afford them- I am by no means a gem expert or an expert in Gem I.D. I do have some solid gem education and a good amount of experience with stones through my own research and stuff over my years of deep interest. I was happy to take a look at this stone for Sonoma since, well, we cant tell anything definitive from pictures and she isn't in an area near anyone qualified to take a look. So, the stone came and I'd say before even a second had passed since it was pulled out of the packaging, my initial suspicions of opal were deeply strengthened. I had little doubt in my mind what we were dealing with. BUT, to the tests I had to go. Now, I figured i'd only determine what material this was and leave it at that, but i've gotten so interested in this stone that I have to go further than that.

My initial observations were: 0.60ct. 6.37mm. It's transparent with an "opalescent" haze I am familiar with being present in opal. Color is med-dark to dark, slightly violet-blue body color in daylight-equivalent fluorescent lighting, red-violet in incandescent. It has full spectrum play-of-color in mostly broad-flash pattern and red flashes around the girdle in bright lighting that appear to be the result of the body color and not the color play. The stone is well-cut, though windowed. Polish is good- above commercial quality: Looks like it was polished with 50K diamond polish and not cerium oxide, and facet meet points are very precise- for what it's worth. RI is 1.410-1.415, Singly Refractive. The optical evidence points directly to opal. The RI is different from any opal imitation/synthetic that I am aware of and have been able to find in my research. It's transparency and body color pretty much rules out any superficial treatment like smoking or sugaring. Beyond that, I'm out of ideas as far as definite origin and possible treatments- I'm at the limit of my Gem I.D. knowledge and capabilities. I've run my contacts and resources to capacity and have tried multiple extended tests trying to determine any dye treatment. I'm confident that if this stone was dyed I would have found out by now. I did do some reading and research and have found natural dark precious opal does come out of Mexico- but since there are only a few handful of them known to exist and they are all very dark brownish in body color, I doubt it's Mexican. However, in my book, "Opal: The Phenomenal Gemstone", by Lithographie LLC (2007) I found a snippet on Ethiopian opal on page 77 indicating that natural blue body color opal is known and has been found, as well as green, red, yellow, orange, brown... So it is very possible that this is a blue Ethiopian stone, depending on treatment status. Though I imagine if someone went through the trouble to dye this stone blue it would be a brighter and more attractive blue than it is. If a low-value dyed stone it probably wouldn't be cut so well either... Now, if someone else here cares to chime in with any mistakes i've made, or any additional info. or things for me to look at, please feel free. This is new territory to me in my gem/jewelry career. I mainly wanted to use this stone as practice in identification stuff and it's turned into more than that. Perhaps the answer is obvious and I'm not seeing it- it's possible. Like I said, Gem I.D. is new to me.

In conclusion, the original question of this thread has been answered and I hope it was worth the wait- This is, in fact, opal and not topaz. But after my other attempts to identify a treatment failed, I realllllly want to send this little guy out to a good lab and see what they can come up with as far as why it's blue, using their advanced knowledge and equipment. I might be surprised, disappointed or pleased- Who knows... But I am confident on all of what i've stated above or else I wouldn't have posted it. I'll leave you all with a few of the pictures I took of the stone. Excuse the dust specks.

 

[Quantz Studios]

A few more pictures, and a thank you to Sonoma for sending me this stone to play with.

Transmitted light-



Normal lighting. Stone is windowed, but with the play-of-color being the main show here it's not a big deal to me. Also, seems that not a lot of faceters cut opal and with the low R.I. it takes some pretty abnormal pavilion angles to prevent a window. It was likely cut with standard Quartz RI angles.

 

[chrono]

Thanks for the update, Ryan. Looks very opal like in your pictures. And Sonoma, no offense but your pictures suck compared to Stonebender's. The light play and tranlucency is very clear in his photographs, including the neat little star created by the window.

 

[beaujolais]

Huge thanks Ryan.

And Sonoma, no offense but your pictures suck compared to Stonebender's. Th

Yes, Chrono, I said the same thing this a.m. after I saw his pictures. Funny opal stone actually looks nice in some of those pictures. I've got a note in to him about what kind of camera he uses and how he does his photos.

----
I hear Ryan is going to be cutting some nice sugarloaves for us with his new faceting machine. (reminder & hint)

 

[minousbijoux]

Nice job, Ryan!

I love that the air of mystery hasn't quite left this stone...

 

[ieatbugs]

You guys need to send this off to get it certified. I'm dying to know what it is cause now I want one!

 

[LD]

I'm confused! What am I missing? Why does this have to have been treated?????

This looks like an opal and performs like an opal. It has a haziness which is why I initially said that although I thought it was opal I was also hesitating. However, some gems just simply don't look like others and this seems to be one of them. Or am I being far to simple?