Hey gem guys- your input please

Nick and I are doing a job for a friend of his. All the pictured gems came from "proper" jewellery as opposed to plated items. Could you cast your eyes over this little collection and see if there's anything that tweaks interest as frankly we'd appreciate your experience. I can blow up or enhance the images of any items you feel worth a closer look.

Regards

Jon

A few amethysts and garnets.

Dave

I know a major diamond dealer in New York City who refers to that stuff as "Aquarium Gravel". So you can guess what he feels it's worth!

Aquarium gravel haha I like that.

Thanks Dave, we threw it out there in case anyone could spot a "gem" so to speak

Ten quid including postage ?

If you get a better offer, take it !

Is that a mood ring stone? That's gotta be worth a few cents!

Get all of the cabachons out of the picture.

Line up the faceted stones of similar color, clean and close together, but not on top of each other.

That way ruby, which is more red than garnet, and not at all orange, will jump out at you.

And emerald...well, I don't know anything about emerald.

But as it is, it looks like 4metals said, shiny gravel.

I used to have someone I trusted, then they got popped for embezzlement.

ruby, which is more red than garnet

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Actually, not really.
Ruby ranges from pink (pink actually being called a sapphire) through very dark reds, as well as orange reds to purple reds.
Garnet covers the exact same range from pink through dark red, orangy through purple colors.

No one can tell a garnet from a ruby by color alone.

Garnet actually comes in all colors with the rarest being shades of blue. Ruby is only shades of red, but this is because other colors of corundum that are not red are called sapphire. The only difference between ruby and sapphire are the impurities that give the stone color as pure corundum / aluminum oxide is colorless.

Not sure, but it looks like there may be an aquamarine in there. Color is a bit dark, but could be the lighting of the photo. Light blue at top left of purple and oval green.

I know nothing of gems

But, are these ones pointed out by my (terribly drawn) arrows pearls?

I believe you can test by rubbing them on your teeth, if it's rough, it's real.?(read that on the internet...........for what its worth :shock: )

Yes, that is a valid test for pearls. A natural pearl will feel like a fine grit sandpaper, while most plastics will glide over your teeth. Please brush your teeth before testing this way. :lol:

But even if those turn out to be natural pearls, I don't see any of a high enough quality to be worth anything. Pearls need to be round. The rounder the better. Then there's luster; that special way it reflects light from under the surface like a 30 coat lacquer paint job on a classic car. Then color, surface, etc. Not trying to criticize Jon's pearls. They're just an area in the jewelry industry that isn't well understood.

Dave

I thought those stones were after processing by chemical stone removal, but if there are pearls in there that's not the case because pearls do not survive the acid.

Emeralds do survive the acid but appear to have micro cracks after acid treatment, that is because the acid removes the oils the manufacturers or jewelers put on the emeralds to hide the cracks. I have heard it is possible to re-oil enhance the emeralds but it is supposedly not legal. But then again it's probably not legal when they do it the first time either.

Opals often get damaged from the tumbling and are often cracked.

Opals will also get damaged from the heat. Opals have water crystalized in the structure, and heating can cause the water to break the opal.

4metals said:

I thought those stones were after processing by chemical stone removal, but if there are pearls in there that's not the case because pearls do not survive the acid.

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I just saw the smut (although 'sebum' is a fun word) on the backs of a lot of them and knew they had been removed mechanically

I would bet that the stones most likely to be real are the least expensive--not too many people bother with synthetic garnet. You can't do much with just color, but the purples are mostly natural amethyst, though some will be CZ or synthetic. Yellows are probably citrine, could be topaz. Anything large and dark blue is likely to be synthetic sapphire, but the smaller ones could be good. I have limited gemological knowledge & tools, but would be happy to look at them if you're willing to send them across the pond. I also know a very good & trustworthy appraiser/gemologist who would probably take a look if you throw money at it. He's retired, so has nothing to gain from BSing you, but that also means he may not care if he gets work or not hahaha.

On your side of the Atlantic, look for someone with graduate credentials from GEM-A (The Gemmological Association of Great Britain). Their graduate program is rigorous enough to keep away the hucksters! They're a very distinguished group--their program is much harder than the GIA's (Gemological Institute of America). In fact the guy who founded GIA came from GEM-A.

Edit to add: The GEM-A diploma holders will have "FGA" after their name, for Fellow of the Gemmological Association.

In any case, your gemologist will like you better if you take an old toothbrush and soapy water to them first lol.

FrugalRefiner said:

Yes, that is a valid test for pearls. A natural pearl will feel like a fine grit sandpaper, while most plastics will glide over your teeth. Please brush your teeth before testing this way. :lol:

But even if those turn out to be natural pearls, I don't see any of a high enough quality to be worth anything. Pearls need to be round. The rounder the better. Then there's luster; that special way it reflects light from under the surface like a 30 coat lacquer paint job on a classic car. Then color, surface, etc. Not trying to criticize Jon's pearls. They're just an area in the jewelry industry that isn't well understood.

Dave

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That is all good to know. Thank you Dave. Since they can't be removed via acid, I suppose mechanically is the only way with shiny round pearls.

And, I know you wouldn't unjustly criticise another man's pearls. ...critique, maybe...but never criticise

Dave, feel free to criticise my pearls as much as you like. :lol:

I had customers who routinely threw in strings of pearls for stone removal. I told him it was a waste because the pearls are ruined. He said he wants to get paid for the gold on the clasp. Sure, no problem, when he left we cut the string and saved the pearls and threw the clasp in the lot.

For a while fresh water pearls were big but I don't see much of them anymore.

Thanks for all the help gents. We haven't got all the diamonds out yet because we're still processing the base material although I must admit the quantity of gold recovered so far is somewhat healthy.

A bit of the gold that's dropping. I feel a competition coming on, what do you think? 8)

Beautiful! My 2.3g from yesterday pales in comparison.

Don't damage the scale, max 11 lb you know. :mrgreen:
You need a bigger melting dish...

Göran

Hey that's got friends Goran...