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Irradiated stones??
I bought a blue topaz online at Ice.com and it's amazingly blue.
I was told that most Blue Topaz is usually irradiated? Is this true? What about stones like Peridot, Amethyst, or Moonstone? (Particularly those in jewelry made in Nepal, etc for instance? ) This practice seems a bit unhealthy to me. Even though some claim these are "safe"levels, any "level" of that would seem dangerous to me. How is this done exactly and how much radiation is usually in these and if worn for a short time, could this cause a health problem? Any more info on this "irradiation" thing, or any links anyone knows of, will be greatly appreciated. |
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#5
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Thankyou for all of the replies.
Very interesting stuff. How about Amber? Is Amber ever irradiated? How is that treated? What's the difference between "heat treated" and "irradiated"? Does heat treatment involve radiation of any sort? I had read that the two are similar, though it didn't make much sense at first. I'm new to all of this and a little slow about things like this. So, as for Moonstone and Peridot... it's pretty much never used? If not, how are these stones usually enhanced? As in peridot's to look greener or darker or more coloration, or moonstone do give more of the blue streak effects, etc.? |
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#7
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vj found this in rec.crafts.jewelry, from "Peter W.. Rowe,"
: ]Neither treatment is generally used with either stone. Both generally are used just as ]dug up. **smile** the jeweler i'm apprenticing with commented that "unless you dug the stone out of the ground yourself, or know who did, odds are it has been treated *somehow* before it got to you. these days, it's very, very difficult to find stones that have not been treated, especially if you're buying them for jewelry. one more reason i'm not really interested in being that kind of jeweler, and for belonging to my local rock club! -- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books) http://www.booksnbytes.com (Jewelry) http://www.vickijean.com/new.html (Metalsmithing) http://www.snugglewench.com yahooID: vjean95967 ----------- "Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat." -- Alex Levine |
#8
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On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 00:25:18 -0800, in ?? vj wrote:
]Neither treatment is generally used with either stone. Both generally are used just as ]dug up. **smile** the jeweler i'm apprenticing with commented that "unless you dug the stone out of the ground yourself, or know who did, odds are it has been treated *somehow* before it got to you. these days, it's very, very difficult to find stones that have not been treated, especially if you're buying them for jewelry. one more reason i'm not really interested in being that kind of jeweler, and for belonging to my local rock club! While your statement is certainly true in general with stones these days, as it happens, peridot in particular, and moonstone also in most cases, happen to be stones for which useful treatments do not yet exist, at least in terms of the treatments such as heat treatment or irradiation for color improvement. Thus those two generally can be trusted to be untreated. One must, of course, still make sure that your peridot is indeed peridot rather than some imitation or other similar stone. As a general rule, the feldspars as well, (moonstones) are not improved by this type of treating, though some porous types can be dyed, and one might find things like a surface laquor or wax used with or even instead of a conventional polish on the surface. And both perodot or moonstone, if found with fractures and flaws, might be oiled ot otherwise resin treated to help hide those fractures. With peridot, however, this is still unlikely, since the stuff even without fractures is fragile, and oiling or fracture filling does not increase the strength of a stone, so peridot with enough fractures to benefit from fillings, probably wouldn't survive long enough to make it through cutting, or to market. This is only likely an issue with low quality cabochon cut peridots, not facetted ones, and even then, it's a marginal treatment at best. Not at all common. So by the time we're done with that, in general, you can probably trust your peridot and moonstones to not be treated in any really signficant way. If there's a little wax to help the shine on the moonstones, who cares. Only the really cheap porous ones need that, and they don't look like anything much more costly when it's done. . If that moonstone happens to be dyed, then that means it's one of those translucent brown or orange (etc) things. Dyed, maybe, but who cares. It's still only woth pennies per carat, so it's not that important an issue, and the dyed ones look dyed, not like something more valuable. The costlier good looking colorless/clear ones with nice blue or white moonstone flash...-- those aren't treated. Peter Rowe (G.G. , 1979) |
#9
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vj found this in rec.crafts.jewelry, from "Peter W.. Rowe,"
: ]So by the time we're done with that, in general, you can probably trust your peridot and ]moonstones to not be treated in any really signficant way. If there's a little wax to ]help the shine on the moonstones, who cares. Only the really cheap porous ones need ]that, and they don't look like anything much more costly when it's done. . If that ]moonstone happens to be dyed, then that means it's one of those translucent brown or ]orange (etc) things. Dyed, maybe, but who cares. It's still only woth pennies per ]carat, so it's not that important an issue, and the dyed ones look dyed, not like ]something more valuable. The costlier good looking colorless/clear ones with nice blue ]or white moonstone flash...-- those aren't treated. **smile** i stand corrected. but, i DO care if the things i buy have been treated, dyed, waxed, or whatever. which is why i don't buy randomly any more. because when i sell it, i want to be able to tell someone EXACTLY what they are buying. Oran and i have been over it several times. i won't use the term "cherry quartz", i don't care how accepted it has become, for instance. but that's really a different topic! -- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books) http://www.booksnbytes.com (Jewelry) http://www.vickijean.com/new.html (Metalsmithing) http://www.snugglewench.com yahooID: vjean95967 ----------- "Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat." -- Alex Levine |
#10
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On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 01:25:06 -0800, in Xõ vj wrote:
vj found this in rec.crafts.jewelry, from "Peter W.. Rowe," : but, i DO care if the things i buy have been treated, dyed, waxed, or whatever. which is why i don't buy randomly any more. because when i sell it, i want to be able to tell someone EXACTLY what they are buying. As well you should, in all cases. And in fact, as the law requires. Proper disclosure is the right policy. Properly, you should be getting this info from the people you buy the stones from, but sadly, some of them are the worst offenders, especially in the field of beads, it seems, where there seem to be a higher percentage of sellers who know how to sell, but don't actually understand the gemology at all. Oran and i have been over it several times. i won't use the term "cherry quartz", i don't care how accepted it has become, for instance. but that's really a different topic! Not quite so different a topic. That one happens to be an excellent example of several problems. The name itself is a misnomer, one made up by the selling industry with little concern for reality. Not only is the color due to a treatment, ie crackling the material with thermal shock and then dying it, but in many or perhaps most cases, the starting material isn't even clear quartz, but rather, clear glass. About as deceptive as one can get. natural quartz just never looks quite like that stuff. Peter |
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