Gem Identification Made Easy (5th Edition): A Hands-On Guide to More Confident Buying & Selling

By Antoinette Matlins and Antonio C. Bonanno

This colorful book offers you a window into the world of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most amazing people of the twentieth century. You will learn about Gandhi’s life—from his time as a student in London to his work for equality in South Africa and India—and his methods of peaceful, but not passive, resistance to injustice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
• Release date: Mar 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9780943763934

Antoinette Matlins

Antoinette Matlins, P.G., is an internationally respected gem and jewelry expert, author, and lecturer. Honored with the international Accredited Gemologists Association's highest award for excellence in gemology, Ms. Matlins is the author of many books that are widely used throughout the world by consumers and professionals in the gem and jewelry field. Her books include Jewelry & Gems: The Buying Guide (over 400,000 copies now in print—the only book of its kind ever offered by Consumer Reports); Gem Identification Made Easy: A Hands-On Guide to More Confident Buying & Selling; The Pearl Book: The Definitive Buying Guide; Diamonds: The Antoinette Matlins Buying Guide; Engagement & Wedding Rings: The Definitive Buying Guide for People in Love; and Jewelry & Gems at Auction: The Definitive Guide to Buying & Selling at the Auction House & on Internet Auction Sites (all GemStone Press). Former gemology editor of National Jeweler magazine, her articles and comments on buying and selling gems and jewelry and on gem investment have appeared in many national and international consumer and trade publications. She is also the author of the "Gemstones" chapter in the Encyclopedia of Investments, 2nd Edition. Ms. Matlins has gained wide recognition as a dedicated consumer advocate. She has spearheaded the Accredited Gemologists Association's nationwide campaign against gemstone investment telemarketing scams. A popular media guest, she has been seen on ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN, educating consumers about gems and jewelry and exposing fraud. In addition to her educational work, Ms. Matlins is retained by clients worldwide to seek fine, rare, or unusual gems and jewels for acquisition.

Book preview

GEM

IDENTIFICATION MADE EASY

5th Edition

A HANDS-ON GUIDE TO MORE CONFIDENT BUYING & SELLING

ANTOINETTE MATLINS, PG, FGA

&

A.C. BONANNO, FGA, ASA, MGA

GEMSTONE PRESS

Woodstock, Vermont

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"To tell the truth,

there is no fraud or deceit in the world

which yields greater gain and profit

than that of counterfeiting gems."

From the 37th Book of Historie of the World

by the Roman historian, C. Plinius Secundus

Published in the year 77 A.D.

GemStone Press Books by Antoinette Matlins, PG, FGA

Colored Gemstones:

The Antoinette Matlins Buying Guide

How to Select, Buy, Care for & Enjoy Sapphires, Emeralds, Rubies and Other Colored Gems with Confidence and Knowledge

Diamonds:

The Antoinette Matlins Buying Guide

How to Select, Buy, Care for & Enjoy Diamonds with Confidence and Knowledge

Engagement & Wedding Rings

The Definitive Buying Guide for People in Love

(with A. C. Bonanno, FGA, ASA, MGA)

Gem Identification Made Easy

A Hands-On Guide to More Confident Buying & Selling

(with A. C. Bonanno, FGA, ASA, MGA)

Jewelry & Gems: The Buying Guide

How to Buy Diamonds, Pearls, Colored Gemstones, Gold & Jewelry with Confidence and Knowledge

(with A. C. Bonanno, FGA, ASA, MGA)

Jewelry & Gems at Auction

The Definitive Guide to Buying & Selling at the Auction House & on Internet Auction Sites

(with contributions by Jill Newman)

The Pearl Book:

The Definitive Buying Guide

How to Select, Buy, Care for & Enjoy Pearls

A SPECIAL THANKS

To each of you who participated in our pocket instrument workshops across the country, whose excitement and delight with each discovery affirmed our belief in the need for this book … and gave us the extra support and encouragement to make it a reality.

To Ruth Bonanno,

who since our writing of

Jewelry & Gems: The Buying Guide

still has nothing—and everything—

to do with it

and

Stuart M. Matlins,

without whose confidence, support,

encouragement, and endurance

this book would not have been written

Contents

List of Tables

List of Color Plates

Preface to the Fifth Edition

Acknowledgments

Introduction by Anna M. Miller

PART 1

Before Beginning

1. Before Beginning

PART 2

Getting Ready

2. Setting Up the Lab

3. Proper Lighting for Gem Identification

PART 3

The Essential Instruments—What They Are and How to Use Them

4. The Loupe and Dark-Field Loupe

5. The Chelsea Filter and Synthetic Emerald Filter

6. The Dichroscope

7. The Ultraviolet Lamp

8. The Refractometer

9. The Microscope

PART 4

Optional Instruments—When and How to Use Them

10. The Spectroscope

11. The Polariscope

12. The Diamond-Type Spotter and Blue Diamond Tester—Essential Tools for Diamond Buyers

13. The Immersion Cell

14. The Electronic Diamond Tester

15. The Carbide Scriber—An Essential Tool for Diamond Buyers

16. The Synthetic Diamond Detectors

PART 5

Antique and Estate Jewelry

17. Antique and Estate Jewelry—The True Test of Gem Identification Skill

18. A New Type of Composite Imitation

PART 6

Appendices

Color Plates

Gemstone Property Tables

Glossary

Recommended Reading

Where to Go for Additional Gemological Training

International List of Gem Testing Laboratories and Gemologists

International List of Associations

Selected List of Gem Identification Equipment Suppliers in the United States and Canada

INDEX

About the Author

Copyright

Also Available

About GemStone Press

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List of Tables

Suggested Lighting for Gem Identification Instruments

What You Will See Using a Chelsea Filter and Synthetic Emerald Filters

Colors Exhibited by Popular Dichroic and Trichroic Gems—by Gem Color

Popular Gems’ Usual Dichroic or Trichroic Colors—by Gem Family

Gems That Show No Dichroism

Fluorescent Gemstone Chart

Use of Ultraviolet Examination for Separating Look-Alikes

Phosphorescent Gemstone Chart

Refractive Index of Popular Single Refracting Gemstone Materials

Diamond Types and Their Response to HPHT Techniques

Diamond Reactions to the SSEF Diamond-Type Spotter

Liquids Used to Immerse Gems for Better Examination

Synthetic Gemstones and Man-Made Imitations

Gemstone Property Tables

Frequently Encountered Transparent Gems by Color

Frequently Encountered Non-Transparent Gems by Color

Hardness of Popular Gems

Specific Gravity Table

Refractive Index Tables

Single Refracting Gems

Double Refracting Gems

Table of Dispersion

Table of Birefringence of Gemstones

List of Color Plates

A Foil-backed Pink Topaz Necklace

Absorption Spectra

Diamond Inclusions and Blemishes Seen with Magnification

Inclusions in Colored Gems Seen with Magnification

Other Identifying Features

Preface to the Fifth Edition

Gem Identification Made Easy was first published in response to requests from students in our gem identification workshops. Increasingly, the people who attended our workshops were not so much interested in becoming gemologists as they were in learning specific skills that could help them spot a treasure in a flea market or protect themselves from the growing numbers of imitations, synthetics, or treated gems in the marketplace. They needed information that was simple and practical, and tools that were inexpensive and portable. Thus, Gem Identification Made Easy was born.

Previous editions of this book have focused on meeting the needs of collectors, connoisseurs, and hobbyists from all walks of life––with or without gemological or scientific backgrounds––as well as the needs of retailers, jewelry designers, bench jewelers, and diamond and gemstone dealers. Experienced gemologists have also come to realize that simple tests can be huge time-savers and also, more importantly, that the tools on which they rely so heavily in the lab are of little or no help in the field or at major trade shows. Gemologists now see that traditional gemology courses offer little information or instruction on simple, portable, inexpensive tools that can be especially useful to the experienced gemologist.

Following the publication of the first edition in 1989, Gem Identification Made Easy was a finalist for the American Bookseller’s Association’s Benjamin Franklin Award for the Best How-To Book of the Year. This award gave me and my coauthor father, Antonio Bonanno, a wonderful feeling of satisfaction, and made us feel that perhaps all the work that went into writing it was really worth it. But we also knew that the true test of its merit could only be measured by you, our readers. Did the book do what it was intended to do: simplify the subject and provide a practical approach to help you develop the skills you need to recognize an opportunity or protect yourself from a costly mistake? For us, your letters and personal feedback are the most important measures of success, so we really appreciate the many wonderful letters we have received, and the conversations we’ve had with those of you we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.

My father died just prior to the publication of the third edition of this book, but with each new edition, I know we are keeping alive his view of the world: that people from every walk of life can be successful in this field—especially those who fear it might be too difficult, or take too much time, or cost too much for the right tools. He focused on making the field accessible to a wide audience, and this gave him, as it now gives me, a sense of great personal satisfaction. Today, with greater and greater focus on high-tech equipment and the need to turn to major gem-testing labs, the necessity to keep gemology accessible is stronger than ever. And once again, this book continues to demonstrate the value—even in a high-tech world—of basic, practical gemology.

Of particular importance in this edition is the information we provide on a new type of imitation, which entered the market after the publication of the last edition of this book and is being misrepresented as genuine ruby and sapphire. This new type of composite, involving the infusion of lead-glass into low-quality stones, is even fooling some gemologists and appraisers.

The extent to which they are misrepresented—even by honest retailers—and the degree of confusion about what these new imitations really are is unprecedented. For this reason, and in light of the threat they pose to everyone who loves rubies and sapphires, this edition focuses special attention on these imitations throughout the book. We have also added an entire new chapter dedicated to explaining what these imitations are and how they differ from treated rubies and sapphires (Chapter 18).

This new fifth edition of Gem Identification Made Easy follows our original philosophy and the approach is the same—keep it simple, affordable, relevant, and interesting, and anyone can identify most gems. The instruments and basic techniques that we recommended in earlier editions, and most of the information that was covered in those editions, are as viable today as ever and continue to be accurate and reliable. In addition to focusing on lead-glass infused corundum imitations, this edition also includes information on:

Several new, easy-to-use, portable instruments––for spotting new treatments, synthetics, and look-alikes––and how to use them

HPHT-treated diamonds—what HPHT is, and easy ways to screen for it

Cobalt-coated blue sapphires and tanzanite, coated fancycolor and colorless diamonds, and many other coated gemstones—what they are and how to spot them

Tanzanite imitations flooding the market––and easy, fast ways to separate them

The latest in synthetic gems, including diamonds—and simple, affordable identification techniques

And more …

The trend in recent years within the gemological community has been away from simple instruments, to ever-more-complicated, expensive laboratory equipment. In the wave of technological and scientific advancement, simple techniques and their application to gemstone identification have been overlooked and forgotten. Total dependence on highly sophisticated instruments and training, however, is not practical in the real world of buying and selling. Most of us, even gemologists, don’t have the luxury of always having access to a complete laboratory, nor the time to subject every stone or piece of jewelry to sophisticated testing. And many who aren’t gemologists can’t afford the time or financial commitment to become gemologists. One of our goals in writing the first edition of Gem Identification Made Easy in 1989 was to remind people how valuable—and how reliable—simple techniques can be. Indeed, in many cases they are all one really needs. And today, so many years later, this is perhaps truer than ever before.

As always, our emphasis is on simple techniques that are easily learned and applicable when away from a laboratory. This is why we named the book Gem Identification Made Easy and we still think it best describes what we provide in the book. With each passing year, and the introduction of more and more treatments and new types of imitations into the marketplace, I continue to find our techniques effective, reliable, convenient, and efficient.

It is not our intent, nor has it ever been, to oversimplify the science of gemology. As we state repeatedly throughout the book, there are new synthetics and treatments that can only be detected with the most sophisticated training and equipment, and we stress the importance of seeking the services of a professional gemologist or gem testing laboratory. We applaud the work done around the world by laboratories and schools such as American Gemological Laboratories, The Gemological Institute of America, HRD Institute of Gemmology in Antwerp, SSEF (The Swiss Gemmological Institute) in Basel, The Gemmological Institute of Thailand (GIT) in Bangkok, The Gemmological Association of Great Britain, and other associations and schools. We certainly recognize the importance of extensive gemological training and the value of costly sophisticated equipment, and take particular delight in hearing from readers who tell us that our book helped them take the first step and that they are now enrolled in a gemology course at one of the major institutions! But we also realize that there is much that can be done using simpler, less-sophisticated procedures. Feedback from our readers and students confirms the need for this information, and affirms its validity.

We think it is important—perhaps essential—to recognize that you do not need to be a gemologist to know enough to protect yourself from many costly mistakes. In our opinion, the well-being of this entire field depends increasingly on people becoming more aware of what they can do. We think that gaining a level of proficiency in gem identification is important for everyone who loves gems and jewelry. Gem Identification Made Easy reflects this belief and opens the door to everyone.

For those who already have an earlier edition of Gem Identification Made Easy, I hope you will find this new edition a welcome addition to your library. For those who are just venturing into this fascinating field, I hope Gem Identification Made Easy, Fifth Edition, will lead to many sparkling and brilliant discoveries, and give you greater confidence and appreciation for all your future gem and jewelry purchases.

Antoinette Matlins

Acknowledgments

All of the charts that appear here were specifically designed and executed for use in this book; however, in some cases, charts from other publications were used as inspiration and reference. Grateful acknowledgment is given to the following for use of their charts as references, and for photographs and other invaluable contributions:

Accredited Gemologists Association (AGA)

American Gem Society (AGS)

American Gem Trade Association (AGTA)

American Gemological Laboratories, Inc. (AGL)

American Society of Appraisers (ASA)

Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences (AIGS)

Eickhorst & Company

Gem-A (The Gemmological Association of Great Britain)

Gemological Institute of America (GIA)

Hoge Raad Voor Diamant Institute of Gemmology (HRD)

Kassoy

Orwin Products Ltd. (OPL)

Meiji Techno America

National Jeweler Magazine

Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF)

Robert Weldon

Special acknowledgment is also given to:

William Pluckrose and Eric Bruton of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, for their confidence in our work and special support; The late Robert Kammerling, General Manager Technical Development and Dona Dirlam, Head Resource Librarian of GIA; Rodger Bucy, Columbia School of Gemology; C.R. Beesley, AGL; and Elisha Morgan for special photographic assistance;

Kathryn Bonanno-Patrizzi, FGA; Kenneth E. Bonanno, FGA; and Karen Ford DeHaas, FGA, for their technical gemological contributions;

Steve Liesman and Rosemary Wellner Mills for their editorial assistance;

Monica Wilson for her unrelenting persistence and superb organization, and Seth C. Matlins, whose marketing talent helped make this possible.

C.R. Beesley and Christopher Smith of American Gemological Laboratories, New York City, for the information they provided on detection of new colored gemstone treatments, especially epoxy-resin treated emerald, fracture-filled rubies, and surface-coated tanzanite and blue sapphire; and for sharing findings from field work and research conducted by GemCore on the Kashmir ruby deposits and identifying characteristics; and a special thank you for his enthusiastic support and encouragement of my work over the years.

Kenneth Scarratt of AGTA Gem Trade Laboratory, New York City; Mark Van Bockstael of HRD Institute of Gemmology, Antwerp, Belgium; Dr. H.A. Hanni and Jean Pierre Challain of Swiss Gemmological Institute (SSEF), Basel, Switzerland for providing information and photographs on synthetic diamonds, epoxy resin treatment of emeralds, fracture-filled rubies, diffusion-treated corundum, and HPHT-treated diamonds; and Charles Meyer, Bellataire, Inc., for candidly sharing his knowledge regarding the HPHT process and the diamonds produced by Bellataire.

Ron Yehuda of Yehuda Diamond Co., New York City, for diagnostic information and photographs of fracture-filled diamonds.

Introduction

The great transition of gemology from an art to a science is little more than 50 years old. Exotic tools, such as the microscope and refractometer, were both unknown to jewelers and unused in jewelry stores just a few decades ago. Merchants tended to take the word of salespeople and jewelry suppliers about a gemstone’s species or quality. Common distinctions, such as a species (a division that indicates a single mineral) and a variety (different colors and types within a species) were unknown to those merchants. Identification and quality grading was based on the personal and primitive investigations of a few, the superstitions of some, and the ancient customs and beliefs of many.

As with all new concepts in any field, gemology as a science has been a slow and difficult one to take hold. In ancient times, some of the gemstones we wear today, such as tanzanite and tsavorite, were unknown. Had they been known, tanzanite would probably have been called sapphire and tsavorite, emerald. It was generally held that if a stone were blue it was sapphire, if it were red it was ruby, if green, it was emerald, and so on. The primary criteria used to identify stones were hardness and color. And since the hardness test was a destructive test (putting a scratch on the gem would certainly mar its beauty), color was relied on almost exclusively where jewelry was concerned.

Furthermore, imagine if you will how baubles, bangles, and beads were traded and regarded in ancient times. It was of little consequence if the gemstones were imitation or precious. Imitation lapis-lazuli was known and used in ancient Egyptian times and regarded with as much devotion as the genuine material. It was, after all, the color that was the most profound reason for owning a stone. Color had a deep personal and emotional impact on the psyche and most ancient people ascribed both magical and medicinal powers to gemstones based on their colors. Color, the ancient tradesman understood, was the way to separate one gem from another and any technology that might aid in such separation was left to the alchemists.

Innumerable mistakes resulting from identification based on color alone have been made throughout history, even into the 20th century. Bearing witness to this is the Black Prince’s Ruby set in the Imperial State Crown of England. This jewel, according to jewelry historians, found its way to England and into the hands of the Black Prince in the 14th century. It was later worn by Henry V on his helmet when he crushed the French forces at Agincourt in 1415 and later by Richard III. It was lost in the disposal of the Crown Jewels by the Puritans. As fate would decree, the Black Prince’s Ruby was bought by a jeweler for a mere £15, and later sold to Charles II after the Restoration of the Stuarts in 1660. For centuries, that matchless stone was believed to be a priceless ruby, until modern technology made separation and exact identity possible. It was found that the Black Prince’s Ruby is not a ruby, but, instead, a large ruby-colored spinel of great beauty. A red spinel is another lovely red stone, often indeed a true gem. But it is not a ruby. Given its size and beauty, were the Black Prince’s Ruby truly a ruby, its value would be beyond imagining.

The story has its parallel in today’s antique jewelry, lovingly carried to a jeweler for appraisal and sometimes repair. Often the stones set in antique jewelry are not what the owner thinks they are. Unfortunately, when the owner learns that the stone is an imitation such as glass, a doublet, a synthetic, or some altogether different gemstone, the jeweler’s skill and honesty are questioned because the owner doesn’t know whom to believe. For after all, didn’t this belong to grandmother or great-grandmother?

Credibility problems often arise because few within the jewelry trade or among the general public are aware of the many types of imitations that exist, or that imitations have been made for thousands of years. Even synthetic stones have been around for almost 100 years! In 1885, near Geneva, Switzerland, small pieces of synthetic corundum of good ruby color were fused together into larger stones. Between 1885 and 1903, these Geneva Rubies were often sold as natural rubies. Some of these stones may well have been set in jewelry and reached the showcases of fine American jewelry firms. At that time, jewelers knew very little about gemstones and relied on their suppliers, wholesalers, and manufacturers for factual information. Relying on erroneous information themselves, they might easily have mistakenly sold them as natural ruby.

Information was so scant and technology so new that almost anyone’s advice on testing was considered scientific. The following was written by an author known only as Charubel and comes from his book Psychology of Botany, published in 1906. The advice is for testing a genuine ruby:

Get a round goblet glass free from cuts or marks of any kind. Place your stone within the bottom of the glass, at the centre. Then fill the glass with clear water; allow the daylight to fall on the glass, and keep it clear of the shades of outside things. Also, keep clear of direct sunshine. Your stone will now be magnified so as to enable you to see such marks in it as you could not see otherwise, as the magnifying power will be equal at all points. If you find your stone laminated, and a haze at some point, you may infer it to be the true Ruby. The paste [glass] one cannot be made to contain these characteristics; consequently the paste will appear more brilliant than the true stone, but, more glassy.

The world of gemology in the United States remained largely rooted in primitive techniques until 1930 when a young visionary named Robert Morrill Shipley began to teach and call for professionalism in the jewelry trade. Mr. Shipley, with an encyclopedic knowledge of gemology and newly graduated from the National Association of Goldsmiths in London (now called the Gemmological Association of Great Britain) and Paris, went to California in 1931 and founded what became the Gemological Institute of America. After Shipley decided that he would learn how to detect fake and fraudulent gems and distinguish them from natural ones, he became the evangelist who brought the gemological gospel to the jewelers of America.

Over the past 50 years, the creation of gemstone synthetics has accelerated concurrently with gemological technology. It has been stated by experts that every gemstone—except garnet and peridot—has now been synthesized and is available in the marketplace. This includes lapis-lazuli, malachite, coral, and turquoise. Even a limited number of small fancy yellow diamond synthetics and some gemquality white diamonds are being produced.

With every step forward in the advancement of gem synthesis and treatment techniques, the jeweler and gem enthusiast have required more and better laboratory equipment and training. Scientists immersed in gemology continue to develop new methods and instruments for detection that play a major role in helping to minimize the opportunity for misrepresentation.

Science, gems, and jewelry are inextricably woven together today. And this worries some. Does it mean the romance will fade from buying, owning, and wearing gemstones and jewelry? Hardly. Quite apart from science is the deep human desire for beauty and self-adornment; the love of brilliant colors; the thrill of seeing sparkling white light from a diamond. These are motivations for buying and owning gems. In each of us who loves and appreciates beautiful gemstones is an inner knowledge that every gemstone has a magical charm of its own and is, in its own way, precious. And in each individual gem or piece of jewelry there lies a special aesthetic value and emotional appeal that resists all efforts to be scientifically measured.

In this world of investigative reporters, media probes, and industry scandals, it will be the professional gemologists and gem connoisseurs who labor to know more about the identity of each gemstone, and insure that each is properly and accurately described, who will uphold and maintain the integrity of this exciting field. And, in so doing, they are the ones who will ultimately sustain the magic, excitement, and pleasure found in the jewels we love so much!

Anna M. Miller, GG, RMV

Author of Gems and Jewelry Appraising:

Techniques of Professional Practice and

The Illustrated Guide to Jewelry Appraising:

Antique, Period, Modern

PART 1

BEFORE BEGINNING

1 / Before beginning

Today, knowing your gems, being absolutely sure about what you are buying and selling, is essential. Major changes in the gem world—new synthetic stones, new treatments to enhance and conceal, new gems, and more stones available in every hue and tone of color—make accurate gem identification more important than ever to both buyers and sellers.

Whether you are the owner of a large retail jewelry chain or small family-run business, someone who enjoys collecting or acquiring gems for personal pleasure, or a serious investor, insufficient knowledge can be costly. It can result in a bad purchase, damage to a reputation, and, equally significant, failure to recognize an opportunity.

Recently, in one of my classes, a student learned how costly incorrect identification can be. An avid jewelry lover, she read about an upcoming jewelry auction to be held in a hotel at which—according to the promotional material—many pieces had been seized by law enforcement officials. She eagerly went to view the pieces in hope of discovering a treasure that she could acquire at a great price.

She spotted a very lovely ruby and diamond necklace, which contained a large oval ruby of exceptional color and brightness surrounded by numerous diamonds. It had a laboratory report and appraisal, from a legitimate-sounding Los Angeles company which also had a professional-looking website. This should have been the first red flag. One should always be dubious about accompanying documents where a laboratory issues a certificate and a valuation. GIA, for example, issues lab reports but does not provide any valuation. When buying in such a venue, misleading documents—paid for by the seller—are often used to increase the price that the piece will bring.

In this case, the appraisal identified the center stone as a genuine ruby, noting it was treated, and that it had an appraised retail value of $22,100. Since she thought the piece was really beautiful and didn’t care that it was treated—she knew most rubies sold today are also treated—she decided to bid on it. She was thrilled when she succeeded in getting it for only about $10,000 in total (after paying the buyer’s premium—the percentage that buyers pay to the auction house on top of the hammer price —and the local sales tax).

She then took the pendant to a jewelry store, at which she’d been a long-time customer, for an independent appraisal. She was even more pleased when it was appraised for $25,000! All was well … until about a year later, when she participated in the annual 3-day course I give in Woodstock, Vermont … and where she discovered what she really had!

One of the things covered in the class was a new type of imitation ruby flooding the market that is being misrepresented as genuine and sold at highly inflated prices. This imitation is a composition—a blend—of two very different substances: tinted lead-glass and very low-quality corundum (the mineral we know as ruby only when it occurs in a transparent red variety, which is rare).

Because of the presence of corundum and the use of lead-glass, which gives a reading that matches ruby on certain tests gemologists use, superficial testing may indicate ruby even though the stone is not ruby. The presence of the lead-glass causes problems, however, never associated with ruby. Unlike ruby, which is very tough and durable, this product is very fragile and can be easily damaged in the normal course of wear. Even worse, for bench jewelers—those who actually make jewelry, or resize, repair, or remount stones—they have become a nightmare. When doing any work involving these rubies, they are quickly—and irreparably—damaged by techniques that have been used on real ruby for centuries! Then the innocent jeweler is accused of damaging the customer’s stone, when the fault is not the jewelers’ but the stone itself, because it is not a genuine ruby.

Now, back to the students. Several lead-glass composites were passed around for everyone to see, and one small ruby was put in a capful of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Everyone agreed how easy it would be to mistake these great looking lead-glass composites for genuine ruby; they look more like ruby than glass or other types of ruby imitations. Suddenly the students were worried about making a mistake themselves. Fortunately in the case of lead-glass composites, they are actually very easy to spot once you know what to look for (see Chapter 18), and everyone quickly mastered the techniques to recognize them.

Later in the day, I removed the one ruby that had been placed in the lemon juice, and everyone gasped when they saw the whitish etch lines across the entire stone … from just being in lemon juice for about 5 hours! The acid from something as common as lemon juice was enough to etch the lead-glass wherever it reached the surface of the stone.

At that point, it was clear that the student who’d purchased the ruby pendant was very upset. She explained that she had brought her ruby pendant with her to class and, after learning how to spot these imitations, she was eager to examine her own ruby. But she was confused because she thought she was seeing the telltale signs that her ruby was one of these imposters. She knew this couldn’t be the case since the appraiser had confirmed it was genuine and worth a lot more money than she’d paid. But when she saw what happened to the little ruby after something so minor as putting it in lemon juice, she was really worried. She asked me what she was doing wrong. Unfortunately, she was doing nothing wrong! She was seeing the telltale indicators that her ruby was not genuine.

It was all terribly distressing to her, and rightly so. In this particular situation, she wisely sought to verify the purchase immediately, and certainly had expected that the appraiser was reliable. But reliability requires that any gemologist keep up to date in terms of what is in the market, and he had not done so. Even worse, and as hard as it is to believe, he sent a letter stating that he "assumed that the value given by the company that sold it to [her] was fair for the piece as identified by the seller and [he] based [his] ‘replacement value’ on the purchase price [she] paid." This type of appraisal is all too common.

The irresponsible action of the appraiser deprived her of legal recourse while there was still time to do something about it. She had paid with a credit card, and the auction was taking place over several days and was still going on, so had it been properly identified at that time, she may have had legal recourse, or recourse through the credit card company. But by the time she found out what she really had—during my class over a year later—there was nothing she could do.

This story is not only sad in terms of how this student was exploited by an unscrupulous seller, but it also underscores why it’s so important to know what credentials to look for in an appraiser or gemologist to whom you might turn for assistance in confirming what you have, or to help you master the techniques and skills we discuss here. To help ensure you find someone competent, be sure to refer to the International List of Gem Testing Laboratories and Gemologists in the appendix.

My student didn’t find a treasure. But she is not alone in searching for one, hoping to discover something of value