Post subject: Gems that would be special, but for one crippling weakness
Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:40 pm
I'm a bit of a genuine 'gem-noob' (diploma student), and have just waded into a group of coloured stone heavyweights with such a ridiculous thread idea, but hell, it might sink or swim.
Following on from the 'dream gems' and 'over-rated gems' threads that seem to capture people imaginations, I thought I'd ask a very hypothetical question for a bit of fun.
"If you could change one poor physical characteristic of one type of gem, what would it be?"
In less fanciful terms, I guess that roughly translates to:
"Which stone would be remarkable if it wasn't for one major weakness?"
I've always thought Sphalerite would be a sensational gem if it wasn't for that hardness. Some of the photos are breath-taking. Push it up to a bog-standard 7-7.5, and you have something special.
However, my favourite transparent facetted stone, from an aesthetic point of view (I tend to normally prefer obaque/translucent cabs and carvings - turquoise fanatic), is Kunzite. I wish that lovely unique and delicate lilac colour would stay forever
Last edited by Kyriakin on Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 11:46 pm Posts: 353 Location: Kingsport, TN
You guys already hit on a couple of mine: sphene and apatite
Sphene is absolutely incredible stuff, for those who haven't seen any. With dispersion higher than diamond, it really doesn't even look like a natural gem. When my wife first laid eyes on one that I had cut, she chided "I didn't think you cut synthetics anymore!" Soft or not, it is one of my favorite gems - particularly the bright yellowish-green stuff...
Another for me is kyanite - it can come in stunning sapphire blue colors. Its relative softness, perfect cleavage (in two directions), and tendency to fray make it a nightmare to cut and a difficult gem to utilize once cut.
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 12:47 pm Posts: 2505 Location: Eastern Europe
sticky11 wrote:
emeralds...too fragile.
Still way more usable then the other softies mentioned.
And even those...
This summer my tolerance to Moh lows went up a notch with a strand of fine fluorite beads.... the things looke so different from the usual $1/handful bead shop fare, I couldn't believe what they were! After a full summer of wear there are a couple of invisible scratches (maybe those even were there to begin with, dunno) - not a problem. I'll wait for allot more to accumulate before considering to re-polish them - perhaps even to a patterned 'satin' finish.
If a blue strand of similar quality would be there... or deep reddish purple .. or some of the interesting color patterns so admired in crystal form... I will not mind the price. Wouldn't go for faceted fluorite, but that's another story.
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 11:10 am Posts: 2698 Location: Rock and Roll Heaven
Whole multitude of stones:
Sphene - Wish it was at least 7 hardness. Fantastic stone!
Kyanite - Love the color! But the soft one way (Ive read everything from 4-5 hardness) & is usually, though not always included. Most stones are not cut very well.
Flourite - Just beautiful, but very soft.
Sphalerite - To soft.
Rhodochriste - Beautiful, but on the soft side.
Dioptase - Very rare faceted. Very small. Killer green color. Not real transparent. Soft.
Apatite - Same as above.
Emerald - Inclusions
Cinnabar - What a color. Way to soft.
Hauyne - So rare. So small. So beautiful.
Lazulite - Same as Hauyne. Also fairly soft.
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