The tale of 4 gemologists and a fake.

[jszweda]

Hi all..

If you all recall, I was drooling over this lovely chrome diopside I had found, and got a great deal on. I got it from a local jeweler, and it was a lovely looking stone. I didn''t care for the setting as it was a womans setting. I am a guy, so that didn''t do me a lot of good there. It was a nice setting in sterling silver, but that''s all I can say for the setting.

The jeweler said to me, it was not a Russian but a Pakistani chrome diopside. According to the GIA, that material generally has some color banding to it, but the Russian stuff doesn''t. Then again, it doesn''t have the tone either. However, the color usually isn''t nearly as intense. So I figured I am going to take this thing to the appraiser, and see what the deal is.

The appraiser didn''t know what it was, but said it wasn''t a chrome diopside.

So what the hell is it? He couldn''t say that it was glass as glass has a broader RI. The RI was measured to be 1.54-1.55, and glass is something like 1.43-1.71 or something like that. So based on that, we knew it wasn''t a tourmaline or anything like that. He didn''t have a spectroscope on him to say for sure what the hell it was.

So I went home and decided to turn around and go back to the place across the street who manufactuers jewelry. I figured since the owner is a GG, I would tell him what I was told and see what the deal is. She showed me the book with the RI''s of virtually everything you could possibly imagine, and low and behold! We find the RI is smack dab in the middle for none other than... synthetic quartz.

When you looked at this thing, you would have swore it was the most awesome chrome you ever saw in your life. Well cut, Portuguesse bottom, very clear. It had some of the properties that a chrome would have being that double refractiveness, that also comes with glass. The other GG showed me a sample of an item in her store that was synthetic green quartz. She also told me that she has seen other specimens in that exact same tone.

So I thanked her, and paid a visit to the guy who sold me this. I got my money back minus a few dollars for tax, no big deal there. The woman there said 2 gemologists looked at it and said chrome diopside. She said they didn''t test it, but I can see how that could happen as it looked exactly like the most gorgeous chrome you have ever seen in your life.

I asked if the tested it, she said no. They''re not gemologist they are jewelers is what she said. In other words, they have no clue what they are selling. The vendor of the item supposedly said they were told it was chrome diopside.

The owner comes by and before he gave me my money back, gave me this story about this is what a woman told me, blah blah blah . Then it''s the good ole, they were trained in diamonds, not colored stones, blah blah blah. I guess the refractometer is the least credible of them all since it has no training at all.

So this guy is going to sell this thing on eBay, and I didn''t know this guy sold on eBay until the other day. I found this out before the appraisal attempt, and he has no clue I know his store there. If I see that ring on there listed as a chrome diopside, then I am going to know for sure he is a scam artist. However, someone was had, and I in turn became a victim of that. He did refund my money though, but I have a feeling he''s scared.

Now I am wondering why jewelers won''t hire me as they know I know my stuff, and I can talk to people who can confirm certain things. If you have no clue what you''re selling, that''s bad for business.

 

[muzzman]

A single specimen of glass has a single refractive index. The broad range of R.I.s for glass means that, with additives, the R.I. of glass can be raised to an R.I. appropriate to the gemstone being simulated. It cannot be made to be doubly refractive, however.

There is the interesting story, told by Alan Hodgkinson, of glass which was faceted so as to have two facets on the table. When placed on the refractometer, two R.I.s were obtained because of the slight angle at which the facets met.

 

[jszweda]

That is interesting. I feel ashamed though as I swore it was real. What is even more interesting is how this guy who owns the jewelry store had no clue and relied on what the vendor told him.

Then again, I know of a guy who went to what is now the Czech republic on business. The owner had no clue what quality his diamonds were, and had to rely on the guy I know of to tell him what they were!

Now the vendor...that''s got to be another story. I don''t know how they got away with that, and it reflects poorly on the designer who made the ring too. Oops! Did I say that? I did confirm the designer of the piece, but you don''t sell anything to anyone saying it''s natural whatever to find out it''s dyed synthetic quartz.

If I had that stone loose, and a scale, I could have made some measurements and estimated the SG based on weight. Then I would have known sooner.

I swear that thing got deeper along the C axis when you looked at it under the loupe and the light. I feel like a complete idiot. However, I have heard some stories of GG''s who have gone over seas on buying trips and bought a parcel of sapphires to find out they were all fakes when they got back, and things like that.

At least I got my money back, and I will never deal with this guy again. He did put the item on eBay, but he did list it as green quartz instead of what he sold it to me as.