Some cabs for my jewelry class

[innerkitten]

We had a guy visit our class with some cabs he cut. I bought a strawberry quartz which is really neat. It has all these tiny little crystals in it that catch the light. And a pear shaped green chrysoprase. I wish I''d bought more of the chrysoprase. he had various grades and colors. This one was kind of middle range at $15.00 but I didn''t want to spend too much that day. I also bought this deep purple star sapphire from my teachers private stash. It''s purple and very opaque so not what people are usually looking for in a star sapphire but I like it. The star shows best under bright light.

 

[innerkitten]

Strawberry quartz...

 

[innerkitten]

Star sapphire...

 

[innerkitten]

one more. The back of the star.

 

[innerkitten]

BTW does anyone know how to tell a fake star from a natural one?

 

[ma re]

Date: 4/27/2010 4:56:47 PM
Author: innerkitten
BTW does anyone know how to tell a fake star from a natural one?

First clue is that the star is very sharp and very well formed (a great symmetry in it''s rays). BTW, don''t get me wrong, but the regularity and sharpness of the star in your sapphire got me thinking on the first glance. I could be wrong and it could just be a photo, but it looks a bit too good to be true IMO.

 

[chrono]

Your star sapphire looks really good; if it is inexpensive, it is likely to be a synthetic or dyed or something like that.

 

[oddoneout]

Very nice cabs.

 

[brandy_z28]

I really like your strawberry quartz cab!

 

[innerkitten]

Thanks. I love the strawberry quartz.

I have no idea about the sapphire. One thing is it does look better in photos because without a bright light the star is barely visible. That could be true with all stars though real or fake. I have no experience with them. And the color is more mottled in real life but still not sure if that means anything. Maybe I''ll exchange it.

 

[innerkitten]

What would dye do? You mean for the color?

The colors not actually that great though it's very dark. But I do remember the dyed yellow ones on Simply sapphires. The star part though when it lights up under bright light is very even which I guess is a bit suspect.

 

[innerkitten]

These are the dyed yellow stars. They don''t look all that great

http://www.simplysapphires.com/html/imagesstars2006/yellowstars-sm.html

 

[chrono]

For star sapphires or any stones exhibiting a star or rays, they require a strong single light source. These stones will otherwise only show the body colour under other lighting conditions.

 

[lelser]

It may well be diffused. The "needle bits" are painted on and then the stone is heated so they just penetrate the surface. The star is very sharp along all it''s rays, and the rays extend all the way to the base of the cabachon. That''s rare in a natural star and common in diffused.

Cheers,

Lisa