[Jewelry making - Article 00005] - [Orchid] Naming gem materials

[Steelybone]

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>      Actually, this leads to a question for me: do you trust Rio? Or
>     Fire Mountain? I know the former has GGs on staff, and I've been
>     told they spot-check the beads, but I would bet they don't test
>     everything. 

    I've noted that Fire Mountain is being pretty cautious in its naming
    of materials, but don't know if that means they test, or if they
    parrot what their sources tell them.  I personally went around with
    them a bit over the "Ching Hai jade" question - their paper catalogs
    had quotation marks around the "jade", but their website didn't.  My
    initial inquiry got a throwaway answer that there were no quotes,
    and of course jade comes in many different colors.  I kept at it
    until someone (who sounded a bit more knowledgeable about
    stones)replied that the stuff was a form of dolomite.  Now that I
    can test for .... but of course, I haven't yet ... In general I'll
    believe anything that they announce as treated, is;  but I got some
    gorgeous faceted rock crystal, sold as natural quartz, for such a
    steal that I seriously wonder. 

    Surely there are some Fire Mountain insiders lurking out there that
    can give us the straight of it? 

Tas
www.earthlywealth.com

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