Articles from April 2016

To me the word "natural" in gems is sacred, and ideally should refer only to gemstones that were created in nature, not having undergone any process other than cutting, polishing and cleaning. But how far do we have to go with treatments in order to discard the magic word "natural"? Will a product made out of corundum powder that has been mixed with leaded glass still be called a natural ruby?

One of the trickiest gems to evaluate is an opal. This beautiful gem displays a distinctive phenomenon of colored flashes, which reflect from the stone while it is rotated. The effect is called "Play of Color," and it is a term that well explains the experience. While most gems are graded using the classical factors - color, clarity, weight, etc. - Play of Color is an additional factor that must be considered with opal. How is this done?

There is another interesting case that we may at times overlook, and that is the cut and its effect on color. Sometimes, the analyzed polished gem reflects contrasting colors from its inner facets. Mixing these reflected colors may sometimes provide a meaningless aveage color. Gemewizard's Sampler also returns the dominant colors it has identified. In essence they are the separated reflected rays, and are the colors that are key for obtaining a correct analysis.