Tool Kit

[xlent]

This hobby is expanding..I first came to this forum to ask a clueless question about resetting a favorite stone..then I learned to photograph the stone..now buying more stones..
When I started buying stones on Ebay, the first thing I bought was a collection of clearly labeled lab created and treated stones. I started doing research about "natural stones" "lab created" and "treated stones."

I put together a tool kit
A list of mohs scale hardness for the test materials I have..glass, knives, plastic
A list of RI for common substances (water, clove oil, cinammon oil)
I researched and made a list of the RI and mohs hardness of the stones I bought

Jewelers loop
Glass (this is a common drinking glass that I can use for immersion tests (RI) and for scratch test (mohs hardness)
Copper Penny (an old one)
Some low price stones (rough and cut) in the feldspar, quartz, agate group for testing purposes
Clove Oil

I am careful about scratching stones and I read the list mohs hardness of each carefully before doing any test..
and test one down in every case. I do not test a 5.5 stone against a 4.5 -5 piece of test material.
Now..I am flying blind here..guided by many pages of references I have read on the internet
Is there anything beside Methyline iodide that can be used for the RI of the gemstones that have a much higher RI than clove oil?
What to do about stones such as lapis that have the same hardness as glass --look for pyrite or other unique characteristics?
Any tips about testing Ebay stones or any thoughts on the subject?

 

[xlent]

I want to use liquid immersion cells for RI rather than a refractometer or whatever that gadget is called because some of the gemstone diffusion treatments can only be detected by immersion or am I wrong?

I am adding lights. I need a source of flourescent lighting or maybe I can go lurk around in the grocery store. I think there are flourescent lights in the produce department. I read about the UV pen light on this forum and will buy one soon. Most lights are flashlight size. I have halogen lights, incandescent, led and of course, natural daylight ..I think...if I ever get off this computer and go look

 

[Pandora II]

We are taught to NEVER use the hardness test on anything other than rough. It''s destructive, not very sophisticated in terms of accuracy - there are other better and more accurate tests out there. Lustre alone should give you a fair clue as to hardness, as will examining facet edges.

Honestly, if you are going to try to ID gems then you need:

- A triplet x10 loupe
- A refractometer - please use proper contact fluid. It''s RI is properly calibrated and means that it will tie in with the given tables of RIs plus it''s cheap! Clove oil is pretty low - will get you as high as some of the quartz group - and will probably give you a headache after a while with the smell

- A polariscope
- A dichroscope
- Decent lighting - I use a pen-light, an Osram flat lamp for use with a folding polariscope and London Dichroscope, a normal desk lamp and a lamp with a daylight bulb. I also have a small long-wave UV light.

You could then add a chelsea filter and a spectroscope if you want. Spectrocope is important but is trickier than the others to learn IMHO.

For some simulants - ie soude emeralds, water is quite sufficient as an immersion fluid. Baby oil works as well I''ve heard

For things like Be treatment you need a lab with hundreds of thousands of $$$ of testing equipment. In the UK there are only 2 places that I know of that have that kind of equipment - not even the Gemmological Association of Great Britain have them.

Antoinette Matlin has a very useful book on how to use these tools.

It will require an outlay of around $1k to get all of these tools. eBay Refractometers are not particularly accurate. I bought my own (finally) two weeks ago after several months of research and paid £300 GBP which is on the cheaper end for a quality instrument.

For a good loupe I like the Belomo - which you can pick up on eBay... optics are by Carl Zeiss and the loupe is made by a company in Belarus that makes sights for missiles!

 

[chrono]

I wholeheartedly second Pandora''s suggestion of proper testing equipment. I just about had a coronary when I read the part about the scratch test!

 

[xlent]

Double Post..computer problems ..dormant

 

[xlent]

Thanks
Not to worry..so far I have only scratch tested suspicious, inexpensive stones (dyed purple jade cab) and rough. I certainly am NOT going to scratch test my garnet or diamonds. That would give me a coronary, just the thought of scratching my garnet..ooooonoooo!

I made a copy of Pandora's post about the equipment so I can study the various equipment mentioned.

I have to decide whether the cost is justified ...I am buying rough to examine. I can learn a bit about the crystal structure, lustre, inclusions and such from rough and it is fairly inexpensive from reliable sources.

Thanks for warning me about the scratch test...I was hesitant to scratch stones unless they were very suspicious ...I look and think first..Scratch is the last thing I would do..when all the other tests of looking and touching seem to indicate...glass or fake.