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Gemstone Identification



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 5th 09, 04:04 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
Irina
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Posts: 2
Default Gemstone Identification

Will some kind soul please help me identify the gemstones on this necklace
or suggest a newsgroup to post such a question?



http://www.gvtc.com/~mellisb/IMG_1337.jpg


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  #2  
Old March 5th 09, 04:11 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
Peter W. Rowe[_2_]
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Posts: 115
Default Gemstone Identification

On Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:04:35 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry "Irina"
wrote:

Will some kind soul please help me identify the gemstones on this necklace
or suggest a newsgroup to post such a question?



http://www.gvtc.com/~mellisb/IMG_1337.jpg


It's a little hard to be sure, what with a bit of blurring in the photo. But
the center heart, if that's blue or other colored "flash" reflections I see,
would be Labradorite. The small chip beads appear to be dark purple. If that's
the case, they are probably amethyst. But there are other options, like
fluorite, which might be that color, and one cannot tell just from a photo.
The red could be coral, or a dyed coral imitator, or even red glass. Can't tell
from the photo. The light blue is likely turqoise, either natural or simulated.
Again, can't tell from the photo. To the right of the center appears a sort of
multicolored thing that's probably some verson of jasper or agate, Or if those
are sort of metallic looking bands in a dark veined material, that might then be
hematite in ironstone, but as with others, hard to tell from the photo.

Are you getting a theme here? "Hard to tell from the photo"...

You'd be best off finding a locak "rock" shop or even bead store carrying stone
beads, and ask. Seeing the things clearly in person makes identification much
easier. Even then, though, some materials need more than a casual glance to
tell. I'm pretty sure about that Labradorite center ID, though. Not much else
looks like that. Labradorite is a feldspar, related to Moonstone.

Hope that helps.

Peter
  #3  
Old March 13th 09, 02:50 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
Janet_of_all_trades
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Posts: 7
Default Gemstone Identification


On Mar 4, 10:04*pm, "Irina" wrote:
Will some kind soul please help me identify the gemstones on this necklace
or suggest a newsgroup to post such a question?

http://www.gvtc.com/~mellisb/IMG_1337.jpg


Without looking at them in real life I would guess at these stones.
Red= Coral, but could be an imitation made with plastic.
Blue = Turquoise, but could be an imitation made with plastic
Purple = Amethyst (if there are fine lines inside the stone it is
real) if not and it is free of inclusions, then it is plastic.
White/clear = could be moon stone
The Center piece could be Paua shell its hard to say.
It looks like the brown stone to the right (6th from the center) with
a strip in it is Boulder Opal.
The green stone is hard to say from this photo. There is some green
turquoise that looks like that.

The best thing is to take it to a jeweler.
  #4  
Old March 13th 09, 02:51 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
Janet_of_all_trades
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Posts: 7
Default Gemstone Identification

On Mar 4, 10:04*pm, "Irina" wrote:
Will some kind soul please help me identify the gemstones on this necklace
or suggest a newsgroup to post such a question?

http://www.gvtc.com/~mellisb/IMG_1337.jpg


Yeah, I take it back the center stone looks like Labradorite.
  #5  
Old March 13th 09, 03:21 AM posted to rec.crafts.jewelry
Peter W. Rowe[_2_]
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Posts: 115
Default Gemstone Identification

On Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:50:36 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Janet_of_all_trades
wrote:


On Mar 4, 10:04*pm, "Irina" wrote:
Will some kind soul please help me identify the gemstones on this necklace
or suggest a newsgroup to post such a question?

http://www.gvtc.com/~mellisb/IMG_1337.jpg


Without looking at them in real life I would guess at these stones.
Red= Coral, but could be an imitation made with plastic.


Or synthetic coral (the gilson type synthetic is not plastic. Chemically
similar to the real stuff, though structurally different. Coral substitutes can
also be glass, or most commonly, dyed not so red materials including bone or
very commonly, a type of fast growing stuff called sea bamboo. That usually
refers to a type of kelp that can resemble coral when dyed. There are also
so-called bamboo corals, which are actual coral, but these are not as common,
and end up priced as a true coral as well. Plastic imitations of coral are
actually not that common in anything trying to really look like coral (as this
likely is.

Blue = Turquoise, but could be an imitation made with plastic


Most likely it's a stabilized turqoise or an imitation/reconstituted turqoise.
Often these are either cheap turqoise or another mineral infused with a resin
(plastic), or ground up turqoise reformed and bonded with a resin. Can also
just be plain old plastic, or glass. Lots of choices. But given the overall
look of this necklace, I'd guess a halfway decent stabilized turqoise or the
reconstituted stuff, both of which look much like turqoise. Plain old totally
plastic imitations are not common when other stones in the necklace are not also
plastic junk.

Purple = Amethyst (if there are fine lines inside the stone it is
real) if not and it is free of inclusions, then it is plastic.


Plastic is not commonly used to imitate amethyst. Glass is more common. Lines
or their lack, as well as other inclusions (more commonly whisps, bubbles,
little cracks and defects, not just lines) cannot prove natural or synthetic
origin. Natural amethyse can be clean. But usually it's not in "chip" tumbled
form, so if these are clear, then glass is likely. Be aware that a lot of the
amethyst that looks like top grade gem amethyst on the market is synthetic. That
means puple synthetic quartz, colored by the same things that make the natural
amethyst purple. Actually gemologically seperating the natural material from
the synthetic can be tricky, since they are the same things chemically and
physically. That's not the same thing as an imitation gem. But for these
beads, I'd bet on natural, but low quality (lots of inclusions) amethyst.

White/clear = could be moon stone


maybe, though I see none of the moonstone effects, and those are pretty
transparent other than the inclusions. Looks more like ordinary clear quartz.
Glass or topaz are other choices.

The Center piece could be Paua shell its hard to say.


Nope. As you say in your second post, looks strongly like Labradorite. Thats
perhaps the only gem in this photo I can be almost 100 percent sure about. Not
much else looks like that.

It looks like the brown stone to the right (6th from the center) with
a strip in it is Boulder Opal.


I don't think so. Maybe, but looks a bit more like one of the mexican or india
agate types. Among other things, the other brownish thing symetrically on the
left side clearly is not a boulder opal, but does look like some sort of agate.
That would be my guess. But hard to say from the photos.

The green stone is hard to say from this photo. There is some green
turquoise that looks like that.


Maybe, but looks too green and granular to me. I'd guess Unakite. That's a
mineral often found mixed with flecks of pink Thulite. Pretty cheap, pretty
bright, and fairly commonly seen in beads and stuff. But it's really hard to be
sure from the photo.


The best thing is to take it to a jeweler.


Agreed. Even this ol' gemologist, lapidary, and jeweler can't tell for sure
from just the photo. In person, it would be easy.

Cheers

Peter Rowe
 




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