How to distinguish natural semi-precious and precious stones from imitations. Natural stone or fake: how to distinguish real from artificial

There are so many minerals - perhaps part of the reason why they are so interesting to collect. On this page you will find a description of experiments that can be carried out without special equipment and thus significantly narrow the search area, as well as a description of the most common minerals that can be compared with the results of the experiments. You can even go to the description section right now - maybe you will immediately, without any experience, be able to find the answer to your question. For example, in this section, you will learn how to tell real gold from other shiny yellow minerals, read about streaks of brilliant colored layers in the rock, or learn how to determine what kind of strange mineral that flakes into plates when rubbed.

Steps

Part 1

First, let's understand the difference between minerals and ordinary stones. A mineral is a natural combination of chemical elements that forms a certain structure. And, despite the fact that you can find the same mineral in different shapes and colors, it will still show the same properties when tested. In contrast, stones can be composed of a combination of minerals and do not have a crystal lattice. It is not always easy to distinguish them, however, if the experiment gives different results from different sides of the object, then the object is most likely a stone.

• You can try to determine what kind of stone it is, or at least determine which of the three types of rock it belongs to.

1. Learn to navigate the classification of minerals. Thousands of minerals have found a place on our planet, but many of them are rare or lie too deep underground. Sometimes a couple of experiments are enough, and you are left in no doubt that this is one of the common minerals from the list in the next section. If your mineral does not fit any of the above descriptions, try consulting your region's mineral classifier. If you have done a lot of experiments, but have not been able to reduce the number of options to two or three, look on the Internet. Look at the photos of each mineral that looks like yours and look for all the possible tips on how to distinguish these minerals.

   • It is better to include at least one test that requires exposure to the mineral, such as a hardness test or a stroke test. Experiences that involve only viewing and describing may turn out to be biased, since different people describe the same minerals in different ways.

2. Study the shape and surface of the mineral. The set of forms of each mineral and the characteristic features of a group of minerals is called the "general form". To describe these characteristics, geologists have a variety of technical terms, but usually a general description is sufficient. For example, is your mineral bumpy, rough, or smooth? What is it: a mixture of rectangular crystals, or is your specimen bristling with sharp crystal peaks?

   Take a closer look at how your mineral shines. Luster refers to the way a mineral reflects light, and although this is not a scientific test, it may be useful to describe. Most minerals have a "glassy" ("glossy") or metallic sheen. However, you can also describe gloss as "thick", "pearl" (whitish sheen), "matte" (dull, like unglazed ceramic), or any other definition you feel is accurate.

   Pay attention to the color of the mineral. Most people do not see any difficulty in this, but, meanwhile, this experience may be useless. Small foreign inclusions can cause a change in color, which is why you can find the same mineral in different colors. However, if the mineral has an unusual color, say purple, this can narrow your search considerably.

   • When describing minerals, avoid fancy color names like "salmon" or "puce". Try to get by with just red, black and green.

3. Experiment with a stroke. This is a useful and easy test, as long as you have a piece of white unglazed porcelain. The reverse side of the tiles from the bathroom or kitchen is perfect; maybe you can buy something suitable at the repair supply store. Having become the owner of the coveted piece of porcelain, just rub the mineral on the tile and see what color stroke it leaves. Often the color of the stroke will differ from the base color of the mineral.

   • Glaze gives porcelain and other types of ceramics a glassy (glossy) sheen.
   • Be aware that some minerals do not leave a streak, especially hard minerals (as they are harder than a streak plate).

4. Assess the hardness of the material. To quickly determine the hardness of a material, geologists use the Mohs hardness scale, named after its creator. If the result fits the hardness factor "4", but does not reach "5", then the coefficient of your mineral is between "4" and "5", you can stop the experiment. Try scratching your mineral using the common items listed below (or the minerals from the hardness test kit); start at the bottom and, if the test is positive, move up the scale to the top:

   • 1 -- Easy to scratch with fingernail, feel oily and soft (corresponds to stearite notch)
   • 2 -- Can be scratched with a fingernail (gypsum)
   • 3 -- Can be easily cut with a knife or nail, scratched with a coin (calcite, calcareous)
   • 4 -- Easy to scratch with a knife (fluorspar)
   • 5 -- Difficult to scratch with a knife, can be scratched with a piece of glass (apatite)
   • 6-- Can be scratched with a file, he, with effort, can scratch glass (orthoclase)
   • 7-- Can scratch file steel, easily scratches glass (quartz)
   • 8 -- Scratches quartz (topaz)
   • 9 -- Scratches almost anything, cuts glass (corundum)
   • 10 -- Scratches or cuts almost anything (diamond)

5. Break the mineral and study what pieces it breaks into. Due to the fact that each mineral has a certain structure, then it must break up into parts in a certain way. If you observe more flat surfaces in faults of the same rock, then we are dealing with cleave. If there are no flat surfaces, but continuous chaotic bends and bulges are observed, then a fracture is present in the mineral.

   • The cleavage is described in more detail by the number of planes produced by the fracture (usually one to four); also takes into account the concept perfect(smooth) or imperfect(rough) surface.
   • Breaks are of several types. They are described as splintery ( fibrous), sharp and serrated ( hooked), bowl-shaped ( shelly, cochlear) or none of the above ( uneven).

6. If you still have not identified your mineral, you can conduct additional experiments. There are many other tests available to geologists for classifying minerals. However, many are simply not useful for identifying the most common species, many requiring special equipment or hazardous materials. Here is a summary of a few experiences that may be necessary:

   Part 2

   Determination of the main minerals

   1. If you do not understand any of the following descriptions, please refer to the previous section. The descriptions below contain terms and numbers from the traditional classification of minerals, such as shape, hardness, fractured appearance, or other definitions. If you don't know exactly what they mean, refer to the previous section on experimenting.

      Crystalline minerals are most often represented by quartz. Quartz is extremely widespread. The bright brilliance and beautiful appearance of the crystal attract many collectors. On the Mohs scale, quartz has a hardness factor of 7, and if it is broken, you can see any kind of fracture, but never the flat surface characteristic of cleavage. It leaves no mark on white porcelain. Its luster is characterized as glassy.

      • '''Milky quartz is a translucent mineral, rose quartz is pink, and amethyst is purple.

   2. A solid glassy mineral without crystals can be another kind of quartz, flint or hornfels. Absolutely all quartz has a crystalline structure, however, some varieties, called "cryptocrystalline", consist of microscopic crystals that are not visible to the eye. If you have a mineral with a hardness factor of 7, with a fracture and with a glassy luster, then it is quite possible that this is a variety of quartz called flint. The most common flint is brown or gray.

      Banded minerals are usually chalcedony. Chalcedony is a mixture of quartz and another mineral, morganite. There are many beautiful varieties with stripes of different colors. Here are the two most common:

      • Onyx is a type of chalcedony with parallel stripes. Most often it is black or white, but there are onyxes and other colors.
      • Agate has bands that are more curved or swirling, and agates come in all sorts of colors. Agate is formed from quartz, chalcedony or similar minerals.

   3. Check if your mineral matches the characteristics of feldspar. Feldspar is the second most widely distributed after all varieties of quartz. The hardness factor of this mineral is 6, it leaves a white streak; you can find feldspar of various colors and with different brilliance. When broken, it forms two flat cleavages, the smooth surfaces of which are almost at right angles to each other.

At present, when jewelry with synthetic stones is increasingly found on the market, the question of their identification and difference from natural stones is acute. We do not urge you not to buy synthetics at all, on the contrary, you can safely purchase it and enjoy wearing it.

The main thing is not to overpay, pay the real price and not become a victim of scammers. At the same time, there is no guarantee that you will not be deceived both in the market and in a fashionable jewelry salon. Fraud can be both conscious (with forged documents, fake certificates or convincing verbal assurances), and out of ignorance (the seller himself was misled).

Fraud is the sale of synthetics at a deliberately highly inflated price, passing it off as a natural material. Even if you were sold supposedly chrysoberyl beads for $15, this is still not a criminal offense and not even a violation at all (rejoice at a successful purchase !!). But if you were asked for $70 or more for forgery and deceit, this is already fraud and an administrative offense, and with an illegal markup and deceit over $110, it is already a criminal offense (in Ukraine). Forgery of any certificate of conformity is a crime, regardless of the amount of the transaction. You should be helped at the nearest police station and the consumer protection society at the place of sale of an overpriced and counterfeit fake.

Most imitations today are made from insoles. of various quality with various additives (Savrovski stones, glass rhinestones, black and golden aventurine, colored cat's eye, milky moonstone, green chrysoberyl, opal glass, etc.). A number of other synthetic stones are more valuable, they have their own chemical formula (cubic zirconia, corundum, sapifre, ulexite, citrine, amethyst, ametrine, Viennese turquoise and Neolithic).

Why is it important to distinguish natural stones from synthetic ones? One of the attributes of a gemstone is its rarity. Clean, defect-free stones are rare in nature, so their value sometimes reaches a very high level, especially for large specimens. Synthetic gemstones, on the other hand, almost always have higher quality characteristics than natural stones, but cost significantly less than the best natural stones. A flawless good-colored natural ruby ​​weighing 5-10 carats can cost several thousand dollars per carat. Synthetic ruby ​​(corundum) of the same size costs only a few dollars for a whole stone, while corundum raw materials are sold by the kilo.

There are significant reserves of substandard or low-value varieties of topaz, agate, jade, turquoise, rock crystal, chalcedony, etc. in the world. This necessitated the development of technological processes for refining gems.

Which of the signs of natural, ennobled and synthetic stones make it possible to distinguish them from each other? In nature, the formation of a precious stone takes several tens or even hundreds of thousands of years. In the laboratory, growth can take anywhere from a few hours to (at most) a few months. Also, in the laboratory it is impossible to recreate a process that completely repeats the natural one, so it seems logical to assume that in any crystal of artificial origin, signs can be found due to the conditions of its growth, which will distinguish it from natural stone.

What signs do gemologists pay attention to when diagnosing the origin of a stone? First of all, these are the internal features of the stone, such as inclusions, zoning (distribution of color), microstructures of growth, for the observation of which a magnifier or microscope is used. Previously, to diagnose synthetic gemstones, experts only needed standard gemological equipment, including a magnifying glass, a polariscope, a dichroscope, and an ultraviolet lamp. At present, when synthesis technologies are constantly improving, it is becoming more and more difficult for experts to work; often standard equipment is not enough for an unambiguous diagnosis, so you have to resort to using more complex laboratory methods. The main requirement for stone identification methods is their non-destructive effect on the test sample.

SYNTHETIC DIAMONDS. In the last decade, great progress has been made in the field of synthesis of gem-quality diamonds. Modern technologies make it possible to obtain gem-quality diamond crystals weighing up to 10-15 carats. So, for example, inclusions of minerals indicate a natural origin, while inclusions of metals (iron, nickel, manganese) indicate a synthetic one. Synthetic diamonds are also characterized by an uneven zonal-sectoral distribution of fluorescence in ultraviolet light (cross-shaped figures of UV fluorescence can often be observed), on the contrary, natural diamonds are characterized by a uniform or irregular distribution of UV luminescence. Read more about gem-quality synthetic diamonds.

SYNTHETIC RUBIES AND SAPPHIRES (CORUNDUM). Today, there are many synthetic rubies and sapphires on the gemstone market, grown by various synthesis methods, each of which has its own distinctive features. Almost all red stones in jewelry are synthetic corundums. Most natural rubies have internal defects. Thus, most of the synthetic rubies and sapphires found on the market were obtained by the Verneuil method, the distinctive features of these stones are curvilinear zoning (which is not observed in natural stones), sometimes they contain inclusions of gas bubbles. But visually, synthetic corundums look flawless. Moreover, it is synthetic corundums that are quite cheap and almost eternal red and dark pink inserts in jewelry. This is a very beautiful synthetic gem. Unfortunately, today red corundums have become very rare in jewelry stores, and synthetic sapphires are almost impossible to find at all.
Rubies and sapphires grown by flux and hydrothermal synthesis methods are the most difficult objects for diagnostics. Flux rubies and sapphires are characterized by inclusions of flux and materials of the growth chamber (crucible) - platinum, gold and copper, and a distinctive feature of hydrothermal corundums is irregular growth microstructures.

SYNTHETIC EMERALD. In the last decade, in addition to a large number of hydrothermal rubies and sapphires, most synthetic emeralds have also been obtained by this method. Such emeralds are characterized by tubular inclusions, brownish inclusions of iron oxides. In ordinary jewelry stores, natural emeralds can be distinguished from synthetic ones based on the fact that most natural emeralds in our jewelry are imperfect, have cracks and internal defects visible to the eye, uneven color, and are sometimes opaque. A stone that is too pale in color may appear not as an emerald, but as ordinary beryl. Perfect dark green and perfectly transparent emeralds are best sent for analysis to independent specialists, since the probability of acquiring very high-quality synthetics that are passed off as natural stones is too high (especially in imported gold items). Synthetic emeralds have a very characteristic rich bluish-green color, which partly betrays their origin, although some Colombian emeralds have almost the same shade. Synthetic emeralds of hydrothermal origin usually contain small liquid or gaseous inclusions. Natural emeralds often have inclusions of plates and microplates of mica and pyrite crystals (even a natural emerald clogged with mica is much more expensive than its ideal synthetic counterpart). When choosing what to buy: green synthetic zircon or synthetic emerald, emerald should be preferred whenever possible, as it is much more beautiful and more durable.
There is another variety of emerald, which is in an intermediate stage between synthetic and ennobled. They are non-jewelry beryls, which do not represent jewelry value in the original raw materials, but covered with a layer of extended synthetic emerald thickness of 0.3 mm or more. The color of these stones is pale green. When using the hydrothermal method popular today, a layer of emerald 0.8 mm thick grows in a day. The structure of the stones is imperfect, the cracks and structure of the stone seem to be emphasized. The stones are opaque or translucent, characterized by crack-like lines in the surface layer, which look like a thin, intense green rim when immersed in a liquid. Silver items studded with such ennobled beryls appear in jewelry stores. In stores, the most expensive giant domed silver ring studded with these beryls costs about $200, small rings cost up to $50.

SYNTHETIC QUARTZ. Synthetic rock crystal is transparent. The most important variety of synthetic quartz found on the market is hydrothermal amethyst. This jewelry material is widely used in the trade mainly because of the strong resemblance to its natural counterpart and the difficulty of distinguishing them. Synthetic amethyst is usually very transparent, clean, bright, without internal defects and inhomogeneities, can reach large sizes while maintaining purity. Some of its varieties may slightly change color in sunlight and artificial light (pictured with a coin). Another important variety of synthetic quartz is amitrine (violet and yellow zones are present), which is produced by the hydrothermal method.
Rose quartz after ionizing radiation becomes smoky (up to morion). When annealed at 450-500 o C, amethysts lose their color, which is restored by ionizing radiation. At a temperature of 700 o With the changes are irreversible.
Synthetic citrine can be obtained by many hours of roasting (baking) at a temperature of about 500 o C of amethyst (lilac and purple quartz, orange-yellow and yellow-brown citrine is obtained) or rauchtopaz (smoky quartz, pale yellow citrine is obtained). Natural citrine is often hazy (opaque) with areas of white opaque quartz. Large transparent citrine crystals or high-quality crystals that are too dark usually indicate an artificial origin of the stone.

SYNTHETIC ALEXANDRITE. The stones sold in jewelry until 1973 under the guise of alexandrite were varieties of synthetic spinel and synthetic corundum with vanadium additives. Many synthetic alexandrites are actually either vanadium-colored synthetic corundums, which have a lilac color that changes to redder under artificial light, or synthetic spinels, which have a deeper green color. In 1973, products with synthetic alexandrites appeared on the market, which also have a spectacular color change, but from purple-blue to pink, rather than from green to red. The photo to the left shows a synthetic corundum imitating alexandrite, the photo to the right shows a synthetic spinel that changes color (rare and expensive stone). The technologies for growing alexandrites (close to natural ones) are complex and expensive, so the price of synthetic alexandrites is such that it allows them to be used as central stones in expensive products.

ZIRCONS AND ZIRCONS SYNTHETIC. Even synthetic diamonds are still expensive. The beauty of a diamond is determined by its specific properties: high refractive index, high dispersion (white color is decomposed into seven colors of the rainbow, which give a brilliant game), hardness protects against scratches and damage. The imitation material must have all these properties, but most importantly, be cheap. This problem was solved by different people in different ways, and today the most popular diamond imitator is cubic zirconia. The name comes from the abbreviation FIAN (Physical Institute of the Academy of Sciences), where this mineral was created in the early seventies of the XX century. From abroad they import "zircon" or "zirconium", which are actually cubic zirkonia, grown under a Soviet license or simply Soviet technology, but disguised under these commercial names. This is not a diamond at all, not a natural mineral and not a chemical element (metal) zirconium. Cubic Zirconia painted in any color with its diamond play creates a unique image completely different from any natural stone (the refractive index of zircon is much higher than that of any precious colored gem, except for colored diamonds). There is an element in the periodic table, the metal zirconium (Zr), the mineral zircon is found in nature - zirconium silicate (actually salt), which has independent jewelry use, cubic zirconia (cubic zircon) is grown in the laboratory - zirconium oxide with the addition of rare earth elements and crystallizes in a diamond-like cubic system, in contrast to natural zircon, which crystallizes in a tetragonal system. That is, zirconium, zircon and cubic zirconia are different materials.

For a jewelry designer, cubic zirconias (zircons) are a palette, a material with which you can safely experiment (especially with small stones). But it cannot be said that zircons are not worth much - they are quite comparable in price with natural gems of low price groups or some stones purchased directly from the manufacturer. Moreover, large and successfully cut diamond cubic zirkonia are quite expensive and rare in jewelry (the creator of this electronic encyclopedia managed to buy such a ring already in 5 years of searching). Usually small and small cheap zircons are used in "sprinkling", and there are a lot of such products on our shelves. There are features of the jewelry use of zircon. It requires care when setting (roughly speaking, it cannot be beaten with a hammer like corundum). It may burst when fastened. It crumbles easily, the yield of finished stones during machine cutting often does not exceed 15-20%. When cutting, the differences in the refractive indices of diamond and cubic zirconia are masked by changing the ratio of the angles between the faces (zircon with an incomplete brilliant cut, on the contrary, is low and squat). Zircon is very sensitive to surface contamination and immediately ceases to shine, it must be constantly wiped and cleaned. Zircon is almost twice as heavy as diamond and heavier than other gemstones. In addition, the edges of faceted cubic zirconia are slightly rounded, which also qualitatively distinguishes it from the diamond cut.
Visually, new cut small zircons (cubic zirconia) and small diamonds with incomplete brilliant cut, already inserted into jewelry, are extremely difficult to distinguish from each other, but instrumental methods make it possible to accurately diagnose them. It is easiest for non-specialists to read the tag in a trustworthy jewelry store (not a single normal store or factory will deceive on new products under pain of criminal liability and the primitiveness of diagnosing deception), and it is best to show a dubious used stone not in a new product to the master in the nearest jewelry workshop. You can scratch glass with a stone, but you need to know that diamonds, and corundum, and colorless topazes, and beryl, and rock crystals, etc. scratch glass.
It is almost impossible to find natural zircon in jewelry stores. The color of synthetic zircons due to impurities is the most diverse: colorless, brown in different shades, red, green, yellow, black, blue, etc. They imitate a diamond and almost all other uniformly colored non-chameleon-shaped transparent stones. Colorless zircons, although characterized by their diamond brilliance and strong play, are easily distinguished from diamond by their low hardness and low light refraction (which allows much of the light falling on the diamond-cut stone to escape from the bottom). A good shine is given only by synthetic zircons of large size with a pavilion lower than that of a diamond (the lower part of the stone). Good zircon should be open in the product to light from all directions. Small zircons can quickly lose their original appearance and luster in products if they are not constantly looked after. It is better not to buy red synthetic zircons imitating ruby ​​and spinel, but to look for synthetic corundums (rubies), they have a more marketable appearance, are harder than zircons (almost eternal) and are easier to care for.

Unfortunately, today, very often in jewelry stores, under the guise of real gems, you can buy ordinary glass for crazy money. At the same time, sellers of jewelry stores may not even be aware of a fake - very often scams are "turned" at a much higher level.

Gemstones - instructions for choosing

Of course, when buying jewelry in eminent workshops, I want to believe in their authenticity. However, a little verification never hurts. So, by far, the surest way to check whether real gems adorn the jewelry you have bought is to seek the help of professionals. Gemological examination will detect a fake, even if it is perfectly disguised.

On the other hand, expertise- an expensive procedure that takes both time and finances. Is there any alternative? Is it possible to conduct a semblance of an examination at home? Of course! To do this, you first need to familiarize yourself with what features certain gems have. This knowledge will help you avoid buying fake jewelry. When buying jewelry, carefully look at the structure of the stones, their color, shape.

Jewelry with emeralds.

When choosing jewelry with emeralds, first of all, you need to pay attention to the state of the surface of the stone. Emeralds have a unique structure in which a specific pattern is visible - growth lines that are visible under a magnifying glass. Very often in natural emeralds there are defects and cracks. Keep in mind that spiral or tubular inclusions in the structure of the stone most likely indicate its synthetic origin. When choosing emeralds, it is important to touch them - like most natural gems, they give off a coolness.

The peculiarity of emeralds is that they can be confused not only with their own counterparts, but also with other precious stones, such as beryl, peridot, tourmaline. That is why, in order to get a 100% accurate conclusion regarding the authenticity of an emerald, you need to contact a specialist.

Jewelry with rubies.

If you saw a scarlet stone at a low price, do not flatter yourself. There is very little chance that you have a real ruby ​​in front of you. The second aspect of choice is size. In nature, rubies usually grow to small sizes, large specimens are much rarer and cost accordingly. Like all other real gems, the ruby ​​is not perfect. Do not put an end to the stone, inside which defects are visible, on the contrary, blotches and microcracks indicate naturalness. Inside rubies, small bubbles can also be found, the color of which is fully consistent with the color of the stone.

Among the main characteristics of a ruby ​​are the following:

High strength - by scratching a stone with a lower hardness with a ruby, you can get noticeable traces of damage;
- the color of a real ruby ​​​​on the one hand seems deep red, and on the other - soft pink;
- fake under UV lightgemsacquire an orange tint;
- putting a ruby ​​in a glass bowl, you can see a bright red radiation.

Jewelry with sapphires.

According to statistics, sapphires are most often faked. That is why, when buying jewelry with sapphire, you need to be especially careful. Real sapphire is transparent. It has a bright and rich blue color. Like any other natural stone, sapphire has small defects and cracks on its surface. To check if the gem is real in front of you, you can draw another stone on its surface. Not a scratch will remain on the original stone. Sapphires- very cold stones, according to this characteristic they can also be distinguished from fakes.

Keep in mind, even if you choose natural sapphire jewelry, but there are too many cracks in it, the stone will lose its luster very soon. Moreover, under the influence of high temperatures, it can even crumble.

How to test gemstones for durability.

Other often counterfeited stones: topaz, amber, amethyst, pearls. In all cases, a fake is very easy to identify.

Topaz cannot be perfectly pure.
- Amber is checked with a piece of woolen cloth - after contact with it, the stone becomes electrified and attracts dust particles.
- Fake pearls are usually hidden behind a very affordable price. In addition, you can try the gem on the tooth - a real stone should creak slightly.
- In any natural amethyst, there must be internal defects and inclusions.

Buy jewelry with precious stones.

In our online store you can buy jewelry or make to order. Our experts encrust your jewelry with any precious or semi-precious stones, depending on your wishes. There is no doubt about the quality of jewelry from "Myuvelir"!

Moonstone has been considered one of the most powerful magical minerals since ancient times. A natural gem can be transparent and colorless, have a light gray and bluish tint, sometimes even with a yellow tint.

Adularia is highly valued not only for its beauty, but also for the healing and magical powers it is endowed with. The crystal actively helps in the presence of diseases associated with the nervous system, helps with digestive problems, allergies and asthma. It is considered a symbol and talisman of lovers, it helps to find a soul mate, and if the partner’s feelings pass, then it quickly fades and loses its natural luster.

Powerful magical properties, beauty and value - this is what attracts people to the lunar crystal. However, this is a rather rare gem and its production is limited. Today, fakes for this mineral are very widespread and only a few know how to distinguish a real moonstone from a fake.

How to distinguish a real moonstone from a fake?

One of the most obvious and important features of the moon gem, in the presence of which one can accurately determine its naturalness, is iridescence (the ability to flicker).

• There are several varieties of adularia, which are often passed off as a genuine specimen, due to their similar ability to glow: belomorite and peristerite. You can distinguish a mineral from fakes based on them only by price. Natural crystal will be expensive, unlike more affordable quality imitations.

• You can also distinguish adularia from a synthetic fake made of plastic or glass by considering the presence or absence of a natural glow in it. Without seeing the flicker, you can definitely say that you have a fake in front of you.

• Genuine adularia is not able to refract light at an angle of more than 15 degrees. If it glows the same way from different angles, it is definitely not the original.

• Any natural crystal, due to certain properties, does not heat up, therefore, taking it in hand, it will remain cool for a long time. Thus, it is possible to distinguish most natural minerals from cheap imitations.

• How to distinguish a natural moonstone from a synthetic gem? In the case of a moon crystal, it is worth remembering that an artificially grown or fake gem will be much brighter and richer than the original.

• If you feel the surface of a natural adularia, it may seem that you are touching a silk fabric. An artificial mineral will not have such a strong effect.

• The gem will never be sold in jewelry stores.

Only a specialist or a jeweler can unequivocally determine the authenticity of a piece of jewelry, having carried out the necessary texts and checks. In order not to make a mistake with the choice and not fall for scammers and their fakes, choose stores that specialize in the sale of natural gems.

The Mineral Market online store is a world of jewelry with natural precious and semi-precious gems. Here you will find the widest selection of jewelry in St. Petersburg at an affordable cost.

One can fairly quickly identify most precious and semi-precious stones by their basic characteristics such as color and weight (density). However, for a more accurate recognition of stones, you will need special instruments that allow you to examine the internal structure of the mineral.

Steps

Stock up on a table of characteristics of gems

Part 1

Examine the surface of the stone. If it is rough and rough, this stone is not precious.

Check if the stone is deformable. If the stone is easily deformed, for example, as a result of a slight blow with a hammer, compression, bending, it is most likely a metal ore, and not a precious mineral.

• Gemstones have a crystalline structure. The outer shape of a stone can be changed by cutting, splitting or grinding it, but for every mineral there is a set of crystalline facets that cannot be changed by simple pressure.

1. Some materials look like gems without actually being gems. For example, pearls and petrified wood can be mistaken for precious stones, but they are not in the strict sense of the word.

2. Determine if the stone is artificial. Artificial (or synthetic) stones have the same structure, chemical composition and physical properties as their natural counterparts, but they are not mined, but are produced in a laboratory. As a rule, an artificial stone can be distinguished from a natural one by comparing several characteristics.

   • Inside artificial stones, not even, but curved steps (surfaces) of growth are often observed.
   • Often in stones of artificial origin there are spherical gas bubbles arranged in the form of chains, but be careful, as sometimes gas bubbles come across in natural stones.
   • Thin plates of platinum or gold may remain on the surface of artificial stones.
   • Acicular, V-shaped and filamentous inclusions, as well as a columnar internal structure, are often found in artificial stones.

3. Beware of fakes. A fake stone at first glance looks the same as a natural one, but it is made of a completely different material. Fake gemstones can be either natural or artificial, and there are several fairly effective methods to distinguish them from real gems.

   • The surface of a fake stone can be uneven and pitted, like the peel of an orange.
   • On some fake stones, wavy and spiral marks are noticeable.
   • Quite large gas bubbles are often observed inside fake stones.
   • Often, fake stones weigh noticeably less than their originals.

4. Determine if your gem is a compound gem. Compound stones include several different minerals. Such composite stones may be entirely composed of individual gemstones, but often they also include synthetic materials.

   • To determine the joints, illuminate the stone with a small flashlight with a thin beam.
   • Look closely at the difference in gloss and color of the various areas, also paying attention to the presence of possible gluing points (filled with colorless glue).
   • See also if there is a "red ring effect". As you turn the stone, look to see if you can see the red ring around its outer surface. In the case of the appearance of such a ring in front of you, most likely, a composite stone.

   Part 2

   main features

   1. Pay attention to the color of the stone. Often the color of a gemstone is the first clue to the type of stone. The concept of stone color can be divided into three components: the actual color, tone and saturation.

      • When determining the color of a stone, do not light it further, unless the stone is dark and you need to determine if it is black, dark blue, or another dark color.
      • The "color" of gemstones varies widely. Try to identify the color as accurately as possible. For example, if the stone is yellowish green, say so instead of simply describing it as "red." Mineralogists distinguish more than 30 colors of stones.
      • "Tone" indicates whether the stone's color is dark, light, or somewhere in between.
      • "Saturation" characterizes the intensity of the color. First you need to determine whether the stone has a warm (yellow, orange, red) or cold (purple, blue, green) color. For warm colors, check for brown undertones. For cold colors, the presence of gray shades is important. The more brown or gray shades present in the stone, the less saturated its color.

   2. Pay attention to the transparency of the stone. Transparency characterizes the proportion of light passing through the stone. Stones are divided into transparent, translucent and opaque.

      • Through transparent stones, objects located behind them are clearly visible (diamond is an example of such a stone).
      • Through a translucent stone, you can also see objects behind it, but their outlines are blurred, and often the color of the image does not match the original (for example, amethyst and aquamarine).
      • Through an opaque stone, objects located behind it (for example, opal) are not visible.
   3. • To estimate the mass of a stone, place it in the palm of your hand and ask yourself if the stone weighs as much as you would expect given its volume, or if its mass is much different than you expected.
      • Gemologists (specialists in gemstones) make extensive use of weighing, and determining the density of stones is widely used in their evaluation.
      • For example, aquamarine is relatively light, while similar blue topaz is much heavier. Similarly, a diamond is significantly lighter than the artificially produced cubic zirconia that looks like it.

   4. Examine the stone cut. Although this method is not safe and requires some skill, a number of gemstones can be cracked along certain planes. Often these planes can be identified by the way light is refracted as it hits the stone.

      • Most often, gemstones have faceted flat edges, a convex or rounded shape (in the absence of cutting), the appearance of a cameo (engraving) or beads. These basic cuts may include others at a finer level.

   Part 3

   a closer examination of gems

   1. Consider whether destructive verification methods are acceptable. There are trials that you will not want to do if you want to keep the stone intact. Such tests are hardness measurement, friction and splitting.

      • Some stones are harder than others, and the hardness of minerals is usually measured on the Mohs scale. Swipe the surface of your stone with the various minerals included with the hardness test kit. If a stone has a scratch, it means that it is softer than the corresponding mineral. If the stone remains intact, its hardness is higher than the mineral used.
      • When testing by friction, run a stone over the surface of the ceramic tile. Then compare the mark left by the stone with the scale given in the table of characteristics of precious stones.
      • "Cracking" means breaking the crystal apart. If there are separate layers along the surface, chip them off and inspect the surface underneath. In the absence of them, you will have to hit the stone quite hard to split it. Check if the surface of the stone is uneven, fragmented, rounded or shell-shaped, stepped or granular.

   2. Study the optical properties of the stone. Each type of gemstone has its own optical characteristics. Depending on the stone, you will observe characteristic overflows of color, asterism, splitting of light into individual colors, and so on.

      • Observe the light effects by shining a thin beam flashlight through the stone.
      • Light color change is one of the main methods for judging a gemstone, so every stone should be subjected to this procedure. Follow the color of the stone under natural light, incandescent light and fluorescent light.

   3. Look at the shine of the stone. Glitter characterizes the intensity of light reflected by the surface of the stone. When checking the gloss, aim the light at the smoothest facet of the stone.

      • Rotate the stone so that the light reflects off its surface. After that, inspect the stone with the naked eye and with a 10x magnifying glass.
      • Determine what kind of stone has: dull, waxy, metallic, shining (like a diamond), glassy, ​​cloudy, shiny.

   4. See how the stone scatters light. When white light is scattered, the stone splits it into spectral components (light of different colors), resulting in a spectral decomposition of a beam of ordinary daylight. The intensity of this splitting depends on the type of gemstone.

      • Enlighten the gemstone with a thin beam of a flashlight and follow the course of light inside the stone. Determine if the beam splits weakly, moderately, strongly, or very strongly into spectral components.

   5. Determine the refractive index. This can be done with a refractometer. With this device, you can measure the angle of refraction of light as it passes through a stone. Each gemstone has its own angle of refraction, so determining the value of this angle will allow you to figure out which stone is in front of you.

      • Place a small drop of special liquid on the metal surface of the refractometer near the back of the semi-cylinder (the window on which the stone will be placed).
      • Lay the stone with a flat surface on a drop of special liquid and press it with your fingers towards the surface of the half-cylinder.
      • Look at the stone through the eyepiece without magnification. Keep looking until you see the outline of the drop, then make sure the bottom surface of that drop is in focus. Record the micrometer readings rounded to the nearest hundredth.
      • Use a magnifying lens to get more accurate readings and round to thousandths.

   6. Use double refraction. This method also makes it possible to estimate the refractive index. In this test, the stone is rotated six times in a refractometer, while changes in the passage of light through it are recorded.

      • The scheme is the same as in determining the refractive index. However, instead of holding the stone stationary, rotate it 180 degrees in 30-degree increments. After each 30 degree rotation, measure the refractive index.
      • Subtract the smallest refractive index from the maximum to determine the birefringence index, which is a measure of the material's optical anisotropy. Round your result to the nearest thousandth.

   7. Look for single and double refraction. Use this test for transparent and translucent stones. In this case, it is determined whether the crystal is unirefringent or birefringent. Some stones are a conglomeration of the above crystals.

      • Turn on the light in the polariscope and place the stone face down on the lower glass lens (polarizer). While looking at the stone through the top lens (analyzer), rotate it until the stone looks the darkest. This is the starting position.
      • By turning the analyzer 360 degrees, observe how the illumination of the stone changes.
      • If the stone, having become dark, does not brighten, then it is a single-refractive mineral. If the stone brightens again after darkening and vice versa, then it is most likely birefringent. And finally, if the mineral remains light, it represents a conglomerate of such minerals.
   • Before examining a gemstone, wipe its surface with a soft cloth. Take a piece of fabric and, folding it four times, place a stone inside. Lightly rub the stone through the fabric with your fingers, thereby removing dirt, fingerprints, and grease stains from its surface.
   • When working with a stone, use tweezers so as not to stain the surface of the stone.