I know this lesson was supposed to be diamonds but I forgot so we'll have a lesson on Ametrines.
They look rich and luscious and gorgeous and they'll all synthetic and photoshopped for glitz.
This one was too dark in the amethyst section, it's almost burgundy but in the hand, the shade was the right colour for amethyst. The citrine section, shown here as gold to deep gold, was a pale lemon colour, not right for a geniune ametrine. The size was large, too good to be true and it was. It appears to be laboratory grown, by looking through a loup but not by chemical testing.
Now I was sure this was a winner. The shading of the purple, pink and yellow is beautiful and I loved the cut and shape but again, opinion is that it is also a laboratory grown synthetic. 
Look at all the photoshopped sparkly bits on this delightful heart. In the hand, it is a dark mauve/violet on one corner, violet on the bottom and the citrine band across the middle is a lightish lemon/yellow colour. Opinion is synthetic laboratory grown. The gemmologist who is advising me on these stones, in fact on all of the gems that I've bought, is qualified but is doing this by looking with an experienced eye. It will cost me a great deal of money to have them assessed by chemical and other tests.
So, after a post not long ago about ametrines, why did I fall for and buy these? Because the country of origin was listed as Bolivia, the home of ametrines and it was an Australian seller with a supposedly good reputation.
If they had been listed as synthetic, I still would have bought them but not paid as much because I love the colours and shapes.
I will get to those diamonds but the minefield that is simulated diamonds needs to be negotiated with eyes wide open.
Crikey, it's a dodgy game.
ReplyDeleteI reckon you'd be better off joining the lapidary club, finding your own pebble then faceting/cabochoning it to your hearts content.
I reckon you'd enjoy the club and you'd have a ball, J.
Or check out the local lapidary club shows for gems ;)
I am very easily distr .... ooh look SPARKLY!
ReplyDeleteRo, I don't drive so no field trips and hard to get out at night. No faceting because of the arthritis in the hands.
ReplyDeleteAs for the local shows, a lot of those sellers don't know what they're doing either, according to my gem man who used to travel the country to shows. I've known him for over 20 years, sold me a lovely fish fossil once.
Miss O'D....ooh you're right Shiny, twinkles and all.
Love the sparklies, especially the deeper colours. Pity even the sparkle is mostly fake.
ReplyDeleteI'm with AnnODyne - but I just want to *eat* the first one!
ReplyDeleteRiver, not fake which is imitation but synthetic which means it's the same as a natural stone but made but a natural stone has inclusions of different bits and bobs. To be selling three synthetics and all purporting to come from Bolivia and flawless and inexpensive is one of those little eBil miracles.
ReplyDeleteKath, it's the second one that really grabs me and this is how it really looks.
Hello dear Copperwitch readers who have been wondering why things here have been quiet - our dear Author managed to get an email out of her cable-imprisoned ISP, and here is some of it:
ReplyDelete... download speed is up to 28kbps but this afternoon was only 21, where is the 56kbps that dial up is supposed to be?.
I sent a pdf to ANTIKVA and it took two tries and half an hour to send two pages.
Nothing to do with BigPond truck, Foxtel truck and Optusnet truck all in the area for the past week, I don't suppose.
With this download speed I can't even log on to eBay or the Book depository or do internet banking, so much for the electronic revolution.
I swear it's all these idiots logging on for the world cup.
One of the girls at The Home got an iPhone for her son and the bill came in for $1500 so she queried it and it was all internet. The catch is, you might turn off the internet button on the phone but then you have to call the phone provider to do it on their end or it keeps going. A trap for the unwary.
In her list of suspects, Coppy ommitted all the spybots which watch our every world wide web word, especially the Feds who are sifting this for 'pron', 'kiiddie' and 'nuude', even in Tasmania.
It is evil to gaze on nuude kiidies onscreen, but OK to do so at the beach and in family backyards.
I will let you know when I have figured that out, but I am sure all the watchers are slowing down everything. I am so weary of seeing Gmail say to me "Still working ..."
W V is expur ... gated for sure.
Hullo my little sweetiepie paddle-pop darlings!
ReplyDelete-Robert the Irresponsible!
-The Unacceptable!
-The Inappropriate!
:Flash words, opinions. Yes.
But oh, how I love you.
Nothing to be done about that.
It is evil to gaze on nuude kiidies anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI've got rope for the necks of them all: Mr Nice Guys.
Thank you Stacks, it's just taken me three goes to blog the next post, that's three connection phone calls which Telstra is charging me extra for.
ReplyDeleteWell darlings I've always thought I'd hang them, now I'm thinking I'd gas them; the firing squad is okay, but too dignified. They don't know dignity, these creeps, sharks in overcoats, circling orphanages like Box Hill Boy's Home, or lurking around the city with a quid in their hand. They'd come up to you in the street, try to get you into a cinema dunny, or if you were in a cinema already, sit bedside you, coat over their arm to hide their hand on your leg. What nuisances, what scum. Get rid of them, destroy them how you like, but get rid of them. They're no loss.
ReplyDelete