Please help identify this bright green stone?

[LindaFletcher]

Hi everyone, long time lurker here!
I was hoping someone on the board could help with their expertise. I bought a vintage enameled 14k gold ring with what was sold to be a peridot but i have my doubts, i actually doubted it before i bought it but i was fascinated with the ring and the big green stone in particular. I first thought maybe it was a uranium/vasoline glass stone but it doesn't test as glass on my presidium tester and it doesn't test as spinel either, and synthetic spinel was my second guess? It does have various inclusions (some brown) that you see with the loupe. It also has lots of color dimension within the stone, the middle of it is a yellowish color, then the minty green but it also changes color with every different light source and becomes completely colorless at night. It's also very shiny and brilliant with lots and lots of color flash, and in the sunlight it looks like a crazy neon toxic green color, kind of like a Hyalite Opal? Anyone have any idea what this stone is? Can something this neon only be man made? Your help is very much appreciated!

 

[lovedogs]

Synthetic spinel or synthetic sapphire

 

[voce]

It's likely to be synthetic, but the other possibility would be a Namibian demantoid garnet, if it has a high RI.

 

[Garnetgirl]

Mali garnet???

 

[telephone89]

I have absolutely no idea, but what a cool ring!!

 

[LindaFletcher]

I completely understand why anyone would think it was synthetic due to it's big size and super crazy color, i thought so too until i actually had it in my hands. i've owned a synthetic Sapphire and Alexandrite ring and this stone looks different then those, they looked much cleaner and somehow fake, maybe because this stone has so many different tones along with the inclusions, but who knows? The person where i bought it says he's positive it's a natural stone and he buys and sells estate jewelry outside of nyc, I'm going to take it to my favorite jewelry guy tomorrow and see if he thinks it's worth me pursuing a gemstone identification certificate. Someone just said it looked like a Chrysoberyl since they can be neon??? Regardless, i love a mystery when it comes to gemstones (esp. when there is a return policy!) i'll post back when i hear what it could be...?

 

[ChaiK]

Lovely stone, whatever it is. I love the setting!

 

[voce]

I completely understand why anyone would think it was synthetic due to it's big size and super crazy color, i thought so too until i actually had it in my hands. i've owned a synthetic Sapphire and Alexandrite ring and this stone looks different then those, they looked much cleaner and somehow fake, maybe because this stone has so many different tones along with the inclusions, but who knows? The person where i bought it says he's positive it's a natural stone and he buys and sells estate jewelry outside of nyc, I'm going to take it to my favorite jewelry guy tomorrow and see if he thinks it's worth me pursuing a gemstone identification certificate. Someone just said it looked like a Chrysoberyl since they can be neon??? Regardless, i love a mystery when it comes to gemstones (esp. when there is a return policy!) i'll post back when i hear what it could be...?

Vanadium chrysoberyls can look like that, but they are very rare and expensive.

 

[Nick_G]

It's likely to be synthetic, but the other possibility would be a Namibian demantoid garnet, if it has a high RI.

I was wondering if it was cubic zirconia. That would be a huge Namibian demantoid in that size and quality.

 

[LindaFletcher]

I was wondering if it was cubic zirconia. That would be a huge Namibian demantoid in that size and quality.

I thought of Cubic Zirconia a few times, it's so sparkly, does that test as glass on the Presidium? (which I know it's not a perfect way to tell gemstones but it allows me to rules things out)

 

[Nick_G]

Another thought is that the OP's decription and the photos suggest it may fluoresce yellow/green under UV. If so, that would rule out demantoid, as the iron content of this garnet would quench any fluorescence.

 

[prs]

What exactly does the needle point to on your Presidium?

 

[fantapanda]

i have no clue that stone it is but love how bright it is and the unique setting!

 

[LindaFletcher]

What exactly does the needle point to on your Presidium?

the needle hits right at the beginning to middle of the Iolite...

 

[LindaFletcher]

i have no clue that stone it is but love how bright it is and the unique setting!

Thanks! The ring feels very Russian to me, probably due to the enameling and high setting, but maybe it's from India, who knows? I thought it's from the 1920's, my husband thinks more midcentury, it looks like there could have been a hallmark or signature but they shaved the sizing balls off, perhaps losing the name of the designer as well?

 

[lovedogs]

I feel pretty confident that it's this (synthetic spinel). It's bright green and fluorescent.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BidbNpABdhZ/?igshid=1s4fruzxm28zs

 

[LindaFletcher]

I feel pretty confident that it's this (synthetic spinel). It's bright green and fluorescent.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BidbNpABdhZ/?igshid=1s4fruzxm28zs

I know, I saw that ring and thought the same thing for an entire day... until i saw my ring in person and compared the stones and the thing that holds me back from 100% completely thinking it's one is the synthetic spinels don't seem to have any color variation within the stone or have any inclusions and mine has so many different colors it changes to, and it does have what appears to be natural inclusions, which is why i think the seller thinks/thought this is natural but, yes, I thought the same thing as you! and the more i look at it the more i think it HAS to be a synthetic spinel. I can't wait to get to the jewelers tomorrow, i love this stuff but it drives me batty as well!

 

[stracci2000]

I have three of these stones. They look different under various light sources. Uranium/Vaseline/synthetic, but definitely not natural stones.
Maybe yours is something else. I hope the jeweler gives you good news!

 

[prs]

the needle hits right at the beginning to middle of the Iolite...

OK, that reading includes garnet, tourmaline, chalcedony, and beryl. If it registers at the beginning of the garnet/tourmaline/iolite scale, it also hits on the end of the glass scale.

I have found the Presidium to be remarkably accurate, but of course it cannot distinguish between real and synthetic stones because they have identical thermal conductivity readings, and that is the property this instrument measures.

 

[arkieb1]

Can you zoom in on the inclusions you can see in it? If it's not synthetic and tests in the garnet and tourmaline range both of those can be that shade of green.

 

[Bron357]

If it’s testing in the lower range on a Presidium, it’s possibly irradiated Quartz.
Regardless, it’s a fabulous ring, what an eye catcher.

 

[LindaFletcher]

Well, I rushed to my jewelry store and the person who is my favorite “gem guy” was on vacation but their appraiser happen to stop by while i was there and although she didn’t have all her equipment to be 1000% sure but she said it tests as..... A Zircon! I didn’t even guess that one. She also said she’s 100% sure it’s not glass, so now i need to figure out Zircons, i made an appointment with her next week so i’ll post the final verdict then!

 

[LindaFletcher]

Well, I rushed to my jewelry store and the person who is my favorite “gem guy” was on vacation but their appraiser happen to stop by while i was there and although she didn’t have all her equipment to be 1000% sure but she said it tests as..... A Zircon! I didn’t even guess that one. She also said she’s 100% sure it’s not glass, so now i need to figure out Zircons, i made an appointment with her next week so i’ll post the final verdict then!

OK, i think i got it, i believe it’s a: green Metamict Zircon, and that explains why it fluoresces green due to the uranium content in the Zircon.

 

[chrono]

I question whether it is zircon:
1. Facet junctions are very sharp, clear and defined. Considering it is an antique stone that has the zircon set super high up, there should be facet abrasions.
2. Zircon has clearly visible double refraction, which I am not seeing in any of your pictures.

 

[lovedogs]

I question whether it is zircon:
1. Facet junctions are very sharp, clear and defined. Considering it is an antique stone that has the zircon set super high up, there should be facet abrasions.
2. Zircon has clearly visible double refraction, which I am not seeing in any of your pictures.

yeah, I really really doubt it's zircon. They just don't look like that in pics.

 

[voce]

I doubt it's a natural zircon. https://www.africagems.com/zircon-other.html?page=2&s=newest

Every natural green zircon I've seen before has been on the darker, grayer side, like dark grassy green, not mint.

Just because an appraiser says something, doesn't mean that it's right. If anything, it makes me think that it's more likely to be a cubic zirconia because CZ and zircon have similar RI, and natural green zircon is quite rare.

 

[LindaFletcher]

I question whether it is zircon:
1. Facet junctions are very sharp, clear and defined. Considering it is an antique stone that has the zircon set super high up, there should be facet abrasions.
2. Zircon has clearly visible double refraction, which I am not seeing in any of your pictures.

Hi, she told me it was double refraction, i must not have captured it in the photos?

 

[voce]

Your head-on picture

Example green zircon, where you can see double facets.

In blue, but this is what you should see when you have double refraction. There is a little "blurry" effect when you're looking from far away, because you're seeing "double" of the facets reflected through the table.

In the picture that you took, I don't see any doubling of the facets reflected through the table. This is not something that could be something your eye sees that the camera doesn't pick up. Every zircon should have double refraction. If you go look at Finewater Gems or Mastercut Gems zircons, you'll see this effect as well.

 

[LindaFletcher]

I doubt it's a natural zircon. https://www.africagems.com/zircon-other.html?page=2&s=newest

Every natural green zircon I've seen before has been on the darker, grayer side, like dark grassy green, not mint.

Just because an appraiser says something, doesn't mean that it's right. If anything, it makes me think that it's more likely to be a cubic zirconia because CZ and zircon have similar RI, and natural green zircon is quite rare.

I'm going crazy with the google searches, i haven't gotten a thing done at work today therefore I made an appointment with the top dog GIA gemstone guru/appraiser here in Maine (where I live) and i begged her to get me in tomorrow at lunchtime, she's excited to see the stone, i warned her she could be disappointed. Also, i asked her, CZ's are singly reflective and Zircon's are double and the women i showed it to today said it was double and not single so it's not a CZ...the mystery continues

 

[LindaFletcher]

Hi, the stone is double refractive, the appraiser/gemologist pointed that out very specifically today, I think my pictures weren't all that great because you can see it when you look at it in person