The Gem and Jewelry World's foremost Resource
on The Internet. Open to the public, Free of Charge! We are here to build a strong pool of
information for the benefit of Web's jewelers and craftsmen - and those
interested in jewelry and gemstones.
This book is the culmination of some twenty-five years of personally supported research on the use of inorganic chemicals to induce color and inclusions in gemstone. Prior attempts to use dyes for gemstone colorations had proved very disappointing. The fact that native color in gemstone is derived from the presence of compounds of certain metals as inorganic components (impurities) of the gemstone suggested that the inorganic salts of these metals might serve well to induce color where color is lacking or needs enhancing.... (1991) Complete Story
Since the discovery that the principle of electrochemical displacement of metals can be used effectively and easily to induce inclusions in snakeskin agate, I have tried the method on several of the other gemstone varieties and have found that some respond with interesting and pleasing results. These are coconut agate, Brazil carnelian and troyite. Besides these, several other agates have responded well to the process....
(1991) Complete Story
Dendrites, moss, plume and similar inclusions have added interest
and value to gemstone for about as long as man has been aware of the
beauty and gem potential of such "rock". But apparently up to now,
man has been dependent on inclusions formed in nature. The process
by which they developed in nature has been only vaguely understood
and thought to require long periods of time, even in the geological
concept of time. Any means, therefore, of inducing the formation of
inclusions in gemstone is automatically of more than transitory
interest.... (1991) Complete Story
Tin inclusions can be induced in agate and other gemstone varieties in much the same way as with copper. Just as copper inclusions are made from copper chloride, so tin inclusions are made from tin chloride. Copper chloride imparts green and finally blue-green color to the agates, but tin chloride is colorless unless it happens to have some native color of its own. Furthermore, agate with induced tin inclusions does not lend itself to complementary color variations like the copper included agate does. It seems that, with few exceptions, slabs that have been impregnated with tin chloride will not absorb additional chemicals in solution....
(1991) Complete Story
At first consideration, it might seem poor organization to include browns and yellows in the same chapter. However, I do this because in some instances the same process imparts brown hues to some gemstone varieties and yellow to others. Admittedly, brown may not be a favorite gemstone color in nature among rockhounds and lapidaries, but the browns imparted by some of these processes to at least some of the gemstone varieties I have been using are attractive in cabochons made from them.... (1991) Complete Story
| More...
