[Jewelry making - Article 00445] - Re: [Orchid] CZ-synthetic

[J&N Holt]

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Steve,

    You state , in reference to a statement in Liddicoat's 10th edition
    of his "Handbook of Gem Identification" ; "It is apparent that
    Richard Liddicoat does not insist that a synthetic gem have a
    natural counterpart". I don't know about that but in the 12th
    edition, fourteen years later he was quite clear about the matter.
    Page 85, Chapter X, "Manmade Gem Materials", The first sentence
    says"A synthetic gem material has the same chemical composition,
    crystal structure, and consequently the same physical and optical
    properties as the natural gem it represents".  He then states in the
    third paragraph, same page, quote, "Synthetic gem materials, such as
    flame-fusion corundum, spinel and, later, rutile  and strontium
    titanate have long been availble. (Since strontium titanate is not
    found in nature, it is not a true synthetic gem material.") end
    quote. Can't be much clearer than that! 

    As for  Webster's "Gems, Their Sources Descriptions and
    identification" you say , referring to  a statement made in the
    third edition of that tome, "Even though I never met Mr. Webster I
    think he agrees that a "synthetic" gem does not need a natural
    counterpart". Fourteen years later, in the 5th edition, p. 389,
    Chapter 18 "Synthetic Gemstones" the first line of the chapter
    reads,( quote,) "Present thinking and commercial rules restrict the
    adjective  'synthetic' to materials which, while being manufactured
    by man, have a natural counterpart, however unornamental this might
    be."( end quote). Also crystal, (pun intended), clear. 

    To throw another authority into the fray, Hurlbut and Kammerling's
    book "Gemology" Second edition, (1991) states on page 6, "When a
    man-made material essentially duplicates the optical, physical, and
    chemical properties of its natural counterpart, it is termed a
    synthetic.Later in the same paragraph it states "Other man-made
    materials merely mimic various gems; that is they resemble them but
    do not have the same properties. Such materials are termed
    'imitations' or 'simulants'" etc.. 

    Therefore, in the gemological sense a man made gem material which
    has no natural counterpart is a  simulant. I rest my case. 

    By the way, I also am an old cruising sailor, having "swallowed the
    anchor" some twenty years ago. Should you ever sail into Kodiak,
    give me a call. I'm in the book. Jerry in Kodiak. 



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