[Jewelry making - Article 00008] - Re: [Orchid] Zachariah turquoise treatments

[Nick]

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>        I hate to sound cynical, but I believe the real trick would be
>     to find sources whose gemstones are NOT treated by the methods you
>     mentioned. Many of them are in fact, usual, not unusual. Well,
>     except the Zachery treatment. And most lasered diamonds of
>     significance are disclosed on lab reports. 
>
>        I fully understand your quest for a reference collection, as I
>     am striving for the same, but I've always gone about it by dragging
>     my portable gem ID equipment to gem shows to test in person. I
>     regret I don't have any links to share, but I will let you know if
>     I come across any. If you find sources, please let me know as well.
>     Thank you. 

James

    Thanks for your reply and sorry for the belated reply to your
    comments. 

    I know what you mean by trying to find stones that are NOT treated,
    however the treatments I mentioned are not your usual commonly
    encountered treatments and in many cases they are not so easy to
    PROVE they are treated. Even some of the more commonly encountered
    treatments are not so easy to prove, let alone the unusual! Take
    irradiated tourmalines or quartz for instance. You may have a gut
    feeling or good idea the colour is unnatural, but to prove the fact
    is a different matter entirely, especially if you are using 'basic'
    gemmological equipment. Even with advanced equipment (UV-Vis-NIR,
    FTIR, Raman, EDXRF, LIBS etc.....) it is still not possible to prove
    some irradiated stones at present. 

    Hence my e-mail was seeking sources of stones where the facts were
    known and could not be disputed. Take the newer lasered stones I
    mentioned. These are not always so easy to detect, unlike the
    traditional lasered stones with a surface reaching drill-hole(s). I
    have been in contact with the Japanese laboratory that discovered
    this treatment and they are still unsure where I can find a source of
    100% known material treated in this way. Of course there is someone
    out there treating diamonds in this way, but I haven't located them
    yet, suppose I should try a more detailed google search some time,
    but being a gemmologist I tend to ask friends and business
    colleagues for reliable sources. You cannot trust anyone (many),
    unfortunately, who you have never dealt with these days. 

    In response to my original e-mail I had one kind Orchidian offer to
    send me some 100% treated material (not sure which material mind you,
    but I think the treated turquoise). Nothing has arrived yet, and it
    doesn't matter if nothing does come, however the offer and thought
    were there and I appreciate the offer. Perhaps the kind person did
    not realise I was outside the USA and changed their mind. 

    Keep up the good work James. Looks like you know your subject. I
    just don't know where you get the time to reply to all the e-mails,
    but I am glad you do as it saves me some work ;-) I will try to chip
    in every now and then though ;-)

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