Rose Quartz

[gemnut]

I bet you have never seen rose quartz like this before. I certainly hadn''t, all the rose quartz I ever came across was ilky pink. So how could I resist when I came acroos this beautiful, certified Russian rose quartz and white sapphire ring? Hint: I couldn''t! Here then, is my newest ring.

What do you think?

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Hi Gemnut. I think its a gorgeous ring, but I doubt that it is rose quartz. The color is much too intense and the refractive index appears to be too high to be rose quartz.

Who "certified" it as "Russian rose quartz"?

With the refraction the center & side stones are displaying, my guess would be cubic zirconia first, with synthetic sapphire as a distant second. I'd have the ring checked out, and you will receive my profuse apologies if I am wrong.

 

[strmrdr]

If it is quartz im thinking it might be treated synthetic.
http://minerals.caltech.edu/ge114/Lecture_Topics/Quartz/Index.htm

The "Russian rose quartz" title supports that too.

but I gota agree with Richard(he knows 100000x more than I do about colored stones) that there is a good chance it is CZ.....

 

[gemnut]

Date: 9/30/2007 8:50:59 AM
Author:gemnut
I bet you have never seen rose quartz like this before. I certainly hadn''t, all the rose quartz I ever came across was ilky pink. So how could I resist when I came acroos this beautiful, certified Russian rose quartz and white sapphire ring? Hint: I couldn''t! Here then, is my newest ring.

What do you think?

First, I want to apologize for my atrocious typing on my first post. Thank you for your responses.

Richard, I knew I could count on you to come back with your "cubic zirconia" theory for yet another one of my rings! You know, cubic zirconia is not all that common in Greece. One of the top jewelery appraisers in Athens is staking his reputation that this ring is rose quartz and white sapphires. However, to lay both our minds at rest, I will mail you the ring to your Sarasota Labs tomorrow, so you can check it and I''d be willing to pay the price of an appraisal, although the ring is very inexpensive, for curiosity sakers.

If you do find out that the ring is anything but what I stated, I will go public with the information here and perhaps ruin this man''s reputation and his business, so please check it out carefully.

By the way, the ring is a lot lighter in color that the picture shows and it has a slight tint of orange to my untrained eye.

Hoping to get to the bottom of this soon!

 

[gemnut]

Oops, I quoted the wrong post! I meant to quote Richard... Sorry...

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Date: 9/30/2007 1:42:49 PM
Author: gemnut

Richard, I knew I could count on you to come back with your 'cubic zirconia' theory for yet another one of my rings! You know, cubic zirconia is not all that common in Greece. One of the top jewelery appraisers in Athens is staking his reputation that this ring is rose quartz and white sapphires. However, to lay both our minds at rest, I will mail you the ring to your Sarasota Labs tomorrow, so you can check it and I'd be willing to pay the price of an appraisal, although the ring is very inexpensive, for curiosity sakes.

If you do find out that the ring is anything but what I stated, I will go public with the information here and perhaps ruin this man's reputation and his business, so please check it out carefully.

By the way, the ring is a lot lighter in color that the picture shows and it has a slight tint of orange to my untrained eye.

Hoping to get to the bottom of this soon!

Sorry Gemnut.

I didn't remember saying that about another of your rings. How did that one turn out?

Quartz/CZ/sapphires is an easy ID. I'd be happy to ID the stones for you at no charge just out of curiosity, and charge you only for return shipping.

If it is a mistake, I doubt it will ruin a man's reputation and business. Mistakes are part of life's learning process.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Date: 9/30/2007 12:55:34 PM
Author: strmrdr
If it is quartz im thinking it might be treated synthetic.

http://minerals.caltech.edu/ge114/Lecture_Topics/Quartz/Index.htm

The 'Russian rose quartz' title supports that too.

but I gota agree with Richard(he knows 100000x more than I do about colored stones) that there is a good chance it is CZ.....

Informative article Storm. Yes, the "Russian" tag is often used as a cover for synthetics and other shenanigans. The thing that makes me think it is CZ rather than quartz though is the apparent high refractive index shown in the photo. Quartz has a very low refractive index, with little dispersion. These stones exhibit high refraction with noticeable dispersion.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 9/30/2007 2:45:19 PM
Author: Richard Sherwood

Sorry Gemnut.

I didn''t remember saying that about another of your rings. How did that one turn out?

Quartz/CZ/sapphires is an easy ID. I''d be happy to ID the stones for you at no charge just out of curiosity, and charge you only for return shipping.

If it is a mistake, I doubt it will ruin a man''s reputation and business. Mistakes are part of life''s learning process.

yah, Take him up on it gemnut!!

 

[gemnut]

Date: 9/30/2007 2:45:19 PM
Author: Richard Sherwood

Date: 9/30/2007 1:42:49 PM
Author: gemnut

Richard, I knew I could count on you to come back with your ''cubic zirconia'' theory for yet another one of my rings! You know, cubic zirconia is not all that common in Greece. One of the top jewelery appraisers in Athens is staking his reputation that this ring is rose quartz and white sapphires. However, to lay both our minds at rest, I will mail you the ring to your Sarasota Labs tomorrow, so you can check it and I''d be willing to pay the price of an appraisal, although the ring is very inexpensive, for curiosity sakes.

If you do find out that the ring is anything but what I stated, I will go public with the information here and perhaps ruin this man''s reputation and his business, so please check it out carefully.

By the way, the ring is a lot lighter in color that the picture shows and it has a slight tint of orange to my untrained eye.

Hoping to get to the bottom of this soon!

Sorry Gemnut.

I didn''t remember saying that about another of your rings. How did that one turn out?

Quartz/CZ/sapphires is an easy ID. I''d be happy to ID the stones for you at no charge just out of curiosity, and charge you only for return shipping.

If it is a mistake, I doubt it will ruin a man''s reputation and business. Mistakes are part of life''s learning process.

Thank you for your offer Richard. Actually, if your ID is different and I go public with it, it WILL ruin this man, since he has made a business of designing, manufacturing (in Thailand), reimporting and selling a line of jewelry pieces made mostly of white sapphires and rarely with other semi-precious stones. He manufactures at most 100 pieces from each design, and has been presenting and selling dozens of designs during the last year. At this point, he is the top seller for this type of jewelry.

The Greek market is small and very picky. This man sells and appraises jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of Euros. He can''t afford to lie or to make a mistake, his customers would lose their blind faith in him.

I took the previous ring you pronounced as CZ to an independent appraiser locally who did indeed confirm the colorless stones as white sappihires. He wouldn''t confirm the "red corrundum" as anything. He said he was not familiar with the stone.
Hey, I may send that ring to you too, since I''m making a package! I really would be interested to know what the heck that red stone is!
What do you think? I''ll pay whatever costs and/or charges you deem fair.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Sure, send that ring too. I remember the thread regarding that now, and am really curious about the "Geneva ruby" in it as well. I'll do the gem identification at no charge (appraisal is another matter) and will charge you for only return shipping.

Back to the "Russian rose quartz" ring. Is the seller also the one who "certified" the stone and appraised the ring, or are they two separate people?

 

[gemnut]

Date: 9/30/2007 6:05:43 PM
Author: Richard Sherwood
Sure, send that ring too. I remember the thread regarding that now, and am really curious about the ''Geneva ruby'' in it as well. I''ll do the gem identification at no charge (appraisal is another matter) and will charge you for only return shipping.

Back to the ''Russian rose quartz'' ring. Is the seller also the one who ''certified'' the stone and appraised the ring, or are they two separate people?

They are two different people but they collaborate closely. We don''t have too many gemologists here and appraisals are not formal. The seller''s guarantee is supposed to cover the buyer for any discrepancy. This seller is the exception in that he does have an appraiser, because they buy and sell a lot of vintage jewelry.
The jewelry business in Greece is run like a very closed guild. Most jewelers have their own workshop and many work personally in it and make their own designs. There is very little cross-over from one jeweler to another and the competition is fierce. Most jewelers don''t even know what a gemologist is and thanks to Periscope and my research on the net, I usually know more about their jewelry than they do. Not to say that they are ignorant. They are craftsmen and good craftsmen and they are sellers, that is all.
I had a friend who studied in the US to be a gemologist years back and he couldn''t find a job in his field!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Fascinating.

Would you mind if I post the results on this thread and the other one regarding the "Geneva ruby" once we have an ID?

 

[diamondfan]

I thought corrundum was in the ruby family.

 

[Harriet]

The other way around.

 

[gemnut]

Date: 9/30/2007 8:18:40 PM
Author: Richard Sherwood
Fascinating.

Would you mind if I post the results on this thread and the other one regarding the ''Geneva ruby'' once we have an ID?

Mind? I would INSIST on it!

 

[Harriet]

Richard,
What''s the outcome?

 

[Richard Sherwood]

I haven''t received the pieces yet.

 

[gemnut]

Richard, I mailed you the 2 rings Oct. 2nd via Registered mail. I have been in the hospital since then and have no idea what has been happenning. If you haven''t received the pieces yet, you should receoive them soon. Let me know if they haven''t arrived by Monday ok?

 

[Skippy123]

Gemnut, I am just catching this thread. I hope you are feeling better and you are okay.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Okey Dokey. Registered mail takes a while, particularly coming from Greece I would think.

Hope you''re feeling better. Is everything okay?

 

[gemnut]

Date: 10/10/2007 9:50:31 AM
Author: Skippy123
Gemnut, I am just catching this thread. I hope you are feeling better and you are okay.

Thank you so much for your concern Skippy

I went to the hospital because it seems my eyesight is weakening dangerously, proibably due to my MS. I have now taken huge doses of corticosteroids and have been sent home to hope that my sight will eventually clear up.
I hope it does soon because I''d hate not to be able to see nature''s little mineral miracles any more.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 10/10/2007 9:55:15 PM
Author: gemnut

Date: 10/10/2007 9:50:31 AM
Author: Skippy123
Gemnut, I am just catching this thread. I hope you are feeling better and you are okay.

Thank you so much for your concern Skippy

I went to the hospital because it seems my eyesight is weakening dangerously, proibably due to my MS. I have now taken huge doses of corticosteroids and have been sent home to hope that my sight will eventually clear up.
I hope it does soon because I''d hate not to be able to see nature''s little mineral miracles any more.

Awwe, I am so sorry. My thoughts are with you and hoping eye sight clears up.

 

[gemnut]

Date: 10/10/2007 11:34:01 AM
Author: Richard Sherwood
Okey Dokey. Registered mail takes a while, particularly coming from Greece I would think.

Hope you''re feeling better. Is everything okay?

Thanks Richard, everything is as well as can be expected. I''m pretty sure you will receive the package soon and I''m eager to hear your findings!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Hi Gemnut. Received your package, and am wondering if you can give me your email address again. I can''t seem to get through on the one you sent with the package.

Thanks,

Rich

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Well, there was bad news and more bad news on Gemnut's two rings.

First, the ring pictured in this thread was apparently stolen in transit . The package arrived with only one ring in it, the "Geneva" ruby with supposedly natural white sapphires in supposedly 18 karat yellow gold, stated by Gemnut to have been sold to her by the same company which sold her the "rose quartz" ring with "natural white sapphires".

I felt terrible about the loss, but Gemnut took it like a trooper. "Don't sweat it", she said.

The second round of bad news came after examining the ruby and white sapphire ring. It was indeed a "ruby" with "white sapphires", but they were synthetic, not natural. The center ruby was a Verneuil type flame fusion ruby, the simplest and most inexpensive of lab created rubies. An easy ID, as the ruby had a small cloud of gas bubbles (positive ID for synthetic) in one area. The white sapphires were likewise flame fusion synthetics.

Gemnut had been told that the ruby was "mined corundum".

Lastly, the mounting turned out to be a heavy gold plate over base metal mounting stamped "750", the European and Far Eastern hallmark for 18 karat yellow gold. A deliberate counterfeit.

Bummer.

 

[Harriet]

Gemnut, I''m sorry for all that bad news. I hope you''re feeling better otherwise.

 

[chrono]

Likewise, I hope Gemnut's vision can be saved. I'm also sorry about the loss of the ring and discovery of falsification of the ruby ring. It seems most likely that since both were purchased from the same vendor, that the rose quartz would also be misrepresented as well.

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 10/17/2007 2:31:19 PM
Author: Chrono
Likewise, I hope Gemnut''s vision can be saved. I''m also sorry about the loss of the ring and discovery of falsification of the ruby ring.

HI:

Ditto. Sorry

But what an interesting read. Thanks Rich!

cheers--Sharon

 

[gemnut]

Thank you all fopr your wishes, and thank you Richard, most of all for all your help and the great commmunication we had.

Well, it seems I was duped, in more ways than one. I can''t describe to you the rainbow of feelings I have gone through these past few days. Disappointment, embarrasment, and finally RAGE!

I am ENRAGED at this particular firm, more so BECAUSE they abuse their good reputation to sell this crap! They must be so confident that no one will check them out that they actually issue a guarantee with their stuff, signed and stamped! Hah!
Little do they know that Pricescope is here, where TRUTH will always out!

These THIEVES will not be enjoying their sleep for much longer. In some way or another I intend to have them pay for what they did.

Richard prepared a gemology report on my ring, all the proof I need to have these scoundrels persecuted to the full exent of the law!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Look out. Gemnut''s pissed.